Getting started

Install

gh release download -R amxv/boatparty -p install.sh -O - | bash

This installs boatparty into ~/.local/bin; see Releases and installation for options. boatparty needs ssh, ssh-keygen and git on PATH, on macOS or Linux.

Store a key

boatparty talks to boat’s API with a scoped key, read from standard input only:

boat api-key create boatparty --ttl 90d \
  --actions sandbox.create,sandbox.read,sandbox.update,sandbox.stop,sandbox.resume,sandbox.delete,ssh,host,snapshot.read,snapshot.write,account.read,file.read,file.write \
  --json | jq -r .secret | boatparty login --key-stdin

login checks the key with boat first (--no-verify skips that). BOATPARTY_BOAT_API_KEY overrides the stored key for one process.

Check the machine

boatparty doctor

doctor checks the tools, the account file, the key and its scope, matches every project’s records with boat, and reports stale SSH files and control sockets. Every failed check prints the command that fixes it.

Set up a project

In a Git repository with at least one commit:

boatparty init

init writes boatparty.toml with the project name (from the directory, or --name), the presets for the stacks it detects (Rust, Node, pnpm, Bun, Python, Go) and a guessed [commands] entry, and registers the project in account.toml. Commit the file.

Run something

boatparty cheers -- cargo test --locked    # every word after -- is quoted
boatparty cheers --sh 'make 2>&1 | tail'   # one shell line
boatparty cheers test                      # a [commands] entry

The first command creates the sandbox and installs dependencies; later ones reuse both. cheers exits with the command’s status, or 125 when boatparty itself failed. Then:

boatparty status     # this project's sandboxes
boatparty limits     # starts left, running sandboxes, per-project usage
boatparty log        # recent runs

Leave the sandbox alone between commands: it stops by itself five minutes after the last one, and stopping it by hand only costs a start on the next command.

Teach an agent

boatparty skill

writes a skill for coding agents under the state directory and prints its path. Copy it into an agent’s skills directory if you want an agent to use boatparty.