From 69589bd5e566431b0e05e797f8522569c6cc15b8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alex Clarke <alex.j.tusa@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:20:17 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] feat: Added a --fresh flag to let users create a truly bare
 bones sandbox without bootstrapping their config

---
 src/cli/mod.rs     | 41 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
 src/main.rs        |  2 +-
 src/sandbox/mod.rs | 10 +++++++++-
 3 files changed, 48 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/cli/mod.rs b/src/cli/mod.rs
index ce40693..7f802c3 100644
--- a/src/cli/mod.rs
+++ b/src/cli/mod.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ use crate::cli::completer::{
 };
 use crate::config::{AssetCategory, InstallFilter, MemoryScope};
 use anyhow::{Context, Result};
-use clap::ValueHint;
+use clap::{ArgGroup, ValueHint};
 use clap::{Parser, crate_authors, crate_description, crate_version};
 use clap_complete::ArgValueCompleter;
 use is_terminal::IsTerminal;
@@ -27,7 +27,20 @@ use std::io::{Read, stdin};
 {usage-heading} {usage}
 
 {all-args}{after-help}
-"
+",
+	group(
+		ArgGroup::new("sbx-mode")
+			.args(["sandbox", "fresh"])
+			.multiple(true)
+			.conflicts_with_all([
+				"model", "prompt", "role", "session", "agent", "rag", "rebuild_rag",
+				"macro_name", "execute", "code", "file", "no_stream", "no_memory",
+				"init_memory", "dry_run", "info", "build_tools", "install",
+				"install_from", "sync_models", "list_models", "list_roles",
+				"list_sessions", "list_agents", "list_rags", "list_macros",
+				"list_skills", "skill", "tail_logs", "completions", "update",
+			])
+	),
 )]
 pub struct Cli {
     /// Select a LLM model
@@ -168,8 +181,11 @@ pub struct Cli {
     #[arg(long, requires = "update")]
     pub force: bool,
     /// Launch Coyote inside a Docker sandbox (via `sbx`); name defaults to current directory basename
-    #[arg(long, exclusive = true, value_name = "NAME")]
+    #[arg(long, value_name = "NAME")]
     pub sandbox: Option<Option<String>>,
+    /// Create the sandbox without copying host config or vault password file
+    #[arg(long, requires = "sandbox")]
+    pub fresh: bool,
 }
 
 impl Cli {
@@ -515,4 +531,23 @@ mod tests {
     fn parse_sandbox_is_exclusive() {
         assert!(Cli::try_parse_from(["coyote", "--sandbox", "--agent", "foo"]).is_err());
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_fresh_flag_requires_sandbox() {
+        assert!(Cli::try_parse_from(["coyote", "--fresh"]).is_err());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_fresh_flag_with_sandbox() {
+        let cli = parse(&["--sandbox", "--fresh"]);
+        assert_eq!(cli.sandbox, Some(None));
+        assert!(cli.fresh);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_fresh_flag_with_named_sandbox() {
+        let cli = parse(&["--sandbox", "foo", "--fresh"]);
+        assert_eq!(cli.sandbox, Some(Some("foo".to_string())));
+        assert!(cli.fresh);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 01f4d20..f31d934 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
     }
 
     if let Some(name) = &cli.sandbox {
-        return sandbox::launch(name.clone());
+        return sandbox::launch(name.clone(), cli.fresh);
     }
 
     install_builtins()?;
diff --git a/src/sandbox/mod.rs b/src/sandbox/mod.rs
index 3d31b04..2379deb 100644
--- a/src/sandbox/mod.rs
+++ b/src/sandbox/mod.rs
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ const SANDBOX_AGENT: &str = "coyote";
 #[folder = "assets/sbx-kit/"]
 struct EmbeddedKit;
 
-pub fn launch(name: Option<String>) -> Result<()> {
+pub fn launch(name: Option<String>, fresh: bool) -> Result<()> {
     ensure_sbx_installed()?;
     bail_if_nested()?;
 
@@ -28,6 +28,14 @@ pub fn launch(name: Option<String>) -> Result<()> {
 
     if sandbox_exists(&name)? {
         info!("Re-attaching to existing sandbox '{name}'");
+        if fresh {
+            debug!("--fresh ignored: re-attaching to existing sandbox '{name}'");
+        }
+    } else if fresh {
+        let msg = format!("Creating fresh sandbox '{name}' (no host config will be copied)");
+        info!("{msg}");
+        println!("{msg}");
+        create_sandbox(&name, &kit_path)?;
     } else {
         create_sandbox(&name, &kit_path)?;
         copy_host_files(&name)?;