Rooz is a CLI tool that enables you to work in containers. It is intended for developers and DevOps engineers. Because of that, it comes with a built-in support for git repositories, SSH keys generation, support for git-safe secrets, shared caches, sidecar containers, declarative configuration, and a robust CLI. Rooz is designed to share as little as possible with the host so it can also orchestrate your workspaces on remote Docker/Podman hosts.
Rooz requires one of the following container backends:
- Docker >= 29.5.0
- Podman >= 6
- Rancher Desktop - untested atm
The engine is assumed to be yours - a rootless daemon on your own machine, or a remote one only you use. Rooz defends your host, your other workspaces and your secrets against the repositories you open; it cannot defend a workspace against another tenant of the same engine. Anyone who can reach the engine API can read every volume, run containers on your networks, and name images and volumes whatever they like, so sharing one engine between people who do not trust each other is out of scope.
curl -sSL https://github.com/queil/rooz/releases/latest/download/rooz-aarch64-apple-darwin -o ./rooz && chmod +x ./rooz && sudo mv ./rooz /usr/local/bincurl -sSL https://github.com/queil/rooz/releases/latest/download/rooz-x86_64-apple-darwin -o ./rooz && chmod +x ./rooz && sudo mv ./rooz /usr/local/bincurl -sSL https://github.com/queil/rooz/releases/latest/download/rooz-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu -o ./rooz && chmod +x ./rooz && sudo mv ./rooz /usr/local/bincurl -sSL https://github.com/queil/rooz/releases/latest/download/rooz-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu -o ./rooz && chmod +x ./rooz && sudo mv ./rooz /usr/local/binEvery release also carries SHA256SUMS, and the binaries have signed build provenance
(gh attestation verify ./rooz --repo queil/rooz).
To initialize rooz run the following command:
rooz system initThe command creates:
-
an SSH key pair (ed25519) intended to use for auth wherever SSH keys can be used (like github.com)
The generated key gets stored in a volume and then mounted read-only under
~/.sshto all rooz workspace containers, so a workspace cannot overwrite or delete it. Note that workspace containers can still read the key - that is the point of mounting it - and the workspace image and user come from the repository's configuration. Do not open repositories you would not trust with that key. -
an age encryption key pair intended to use for encryption of sensitive config data (i.e. secrets)
The identity is stored on your machine, at
~/.config/rooz/age.key($XDG_CONFIG_HOME/rooz/age.keyif set, or whereverROOZ_AGE_KEY_FILEpoints), mode0600. It is never written to the engine: a container engine hands the contents of every named volume to every one of its API users, and this key decrypts every secret you have ever encrypted with rooz - including ciphertext you commit to a repository. Only the CLI uses it; nothing inside a container ever needs it.ℹ️ It's important to back up the generated age identity - copy that file somewhere safe. If the key is lost all the existing config files with encrypted vars won't decrypt and re-encrypting will be required. To init rooz with an existing age identity use the
--age-identityswitch. Working from a second machine against the same engine means copying the identity file there.ℹ️ Upgrading: earlier versions kept the identity in the
rooz_sys-configvolume. The first rooz command after upgrading takes it out of the volume and keeps it aside atage.engine.bak, printing where it went - it is not adopted as this machine's identity, because rooz cannot tell your own upgraded key from one somebody else with engine access wrote there, and using theirs would encrypt every secret you save afterwards to their recipient. Check the file, then install it yourself:rooz system init --force --age-identity "$(cat ~/.config/rooz/age.engine.bak)". If that engine is shared with anyone, treat the identity as compromised instead: re-key withrooz system init --forceand re-encrypt your secrets.
You can regenerate the age identity by specifying the --force parameter. Please note that the existing
age key will be wiped out.
The SSH key pair is deliberately kept across re-inits - every existing workspace mounts it - so --force
does not touch it. To replace it (the remediation if you believe it leaked) run:
rooz system init --rotate-ssh-keyThat generates a new pair in place and prints the new public key. Register it wherever you used the old one and de-register the old one; running workspaces pick the new key up on their next start.
ℹ️ Read more in the Configuration section
Rooz works best with user's provided custom image(s).
You can pass image, shell, and user via cli parameters but it's much more convenient to set it up
in your host's ~/.bashrc (or a non-bash equivalent), and only override it via cli when required.
export ROOZ_USER=queil
export ROOZ_IMAGE=ghcr.io/queil/image:latest
export ROOZ_SHELL=bash
export ROOZ_CACHES='~/.local/share/containers/storage/'Rooz exposes some system config via rooz system configure. At present it only allows to specify .gitconfig used by rooz for cloning. It can be used e.g. to specify aliases. This feature is new and may be extended in the future. The age identity is not part of it - that lives on your machine (see Init).
rooz new myworkspacerooz new -g git@github.com:your/repo myworkspace2rooz enter myworkspace2rooz tmp --image alpine --shell shℹ️ Rooz supports yaml as configuration formats.
Most of the settings can be configured via:
-
environment variables
-
a config file specified via
--config(onrooz new) :information_source: it can be a local file path or a remote git file like:git@github.com/my/configs//path/in/repo/config.rooz.yamlℹ️ rooz does not look for configuration in the repositories it clones. To use a repository's own config file, pass it explicitly:
rooz new ws -g <url> --config <url>//.rooz.yaml -
cmd-line parameters
The configuration file provides the most options: example
Configuration authored by the repository being opened (a --config git:... source, such as its
.rooz.yaml) may set anything that only shapes the workspace container - image, shell, command,
args, env, install, ports, data, mounts, sidecars, extra_repos, vars, user, init. That
grants the repository nothing it does not already have: the workspace runs its code either way.
Fields that reach past the workspace - your host, your other workspaces, your secrets - are yours to set:
| field | why | how to allow it anyway |
|---|---|---|
secrets |
plaintext would land in a container the repository controls | list the source in ROOZ_TRUSTED_CONFIGS if it is yours (see Trusted config sources), or move the settings into your own local --config file |
caches |
a cache volume is shared with your other workspaces | list the same paths in --caches / ROOZ_CACHES, or list the source in ROOZ_TRUSTED_CONFIGS |
privileged |
full access to the host running the engine | ROOZ_ALLOW_PRIVILEGED=<names> (refused on any config file's say-so, including your own) |
sidecar vpn |
NET_ADMIN and /dev/net/tun - real root's reach into the kernel's netfilter code on a rootful engine |
ROOZ_ALLOW_VPN=<names> (refused on any config file's say-so, including your own) |
Clone URLs (the root repo, extra_repos, --config git:...) may use ssh://, git+ssh://,
the scp-like user@host:path, https://, http://, git:// or file://. Anything else -
ftp://, invented schemes, and name::address remote helpers such as ext:: (which hands git
a command to run) - is refused.
http:// and git:// authenticate nothing: whoever sits on the network path decides what the
clone contains, including any --config file rooz reads from it. Those clones
print a warning. Set ROOZ_REQUIRE_SECURE_TRANSPORT=true to refuse them outright.
ℹ️ the default image is docker.io/chainguard/git:latest-dev
There are a few ways of specifying images:
-
via the
ROOZ_IMAGEenv variable -
via the
--imagecmd-line parameter -
via
imagein a config file (--config):image: ghcr.io/queil/image:dotnet shell: bash
rooz runs as uid 1000 (always - it's hard-coded) so make sure it exists in your image
(with rooz_user as the name - it can be overridden via ROOZ_USER or --user)
The name must be a plain account name (letters, digits, _, -, ., not starting with - or
.): it becomes the workspace home /home/<user>, which is where the ssh key volume mounts and
what ~/ mount targets expand to.
The default shell is bash but you can override it via:
ROOZ_SHELLenv var--shellcmd-line parameter (onrooz enter)- in a config file via
shell
rooz supports basic path-keyed shared caches. It can be set in a config file like:
caches:
- ~/.nugetAll the workspaces specifying a cache path will share a container volume mounted at that path enabling cache reuse.
It also can be set globally via ROOZ_CACHES (comma-separated paths), or per workspace with --caches.
The global paths get combined with the config file's paths.
--config git:... source not listed in ROOZ_TRUSTED_CONFIGS), rooz refuses its cache paths
unless you list the same paths yourself with --caches (on rooz new) or ROOZ_CACHES - the latter also
covers rooz update, which re-reads a repository-authored config on every run. Config files you wrote
locally and pass with --config are unaffected.
ℹ️ Cache volumes are scoped to the operator, not just the path. The scope defaults to the
uid of the rooz process, so one person's workspaces share their caches while unrelated operators on a
shared engine (a remote DOCKER_HOST, a multi-user socket) get separate volumes. Toolchain caches hold
configuration that the toolchain executes (~/.cargo/config.toml, ~/.m2/settings.xml, ...), so sharing
them across operators means sharing code execution.
If several machines share one remote engine and their local uids collide (both 1000, say), set a
distinct ROOZ_CACHE_SCOPE per operator. Note that the scope is a collision boundary, not an
authorization boundary: anyone able to create workspaces on an engine can name any scope.
A sidecar with install steps is built once: rooz runs the steps in a container and commits the
result as localhost/rooz/<workspace>/<sidecar>:latest, then starts the sidecar from that image.
The sidecar is created from the image id rooz got back from that commit, never from the name -
and the id is recorded on the sidecar container (dev.rooz.runtime-image), which is what a later
run checks before skipping the install stage. A name in the engine's image namespace is not evidence
of what carries it, and neither are the labels on it: anyone able to tag an image can write both. An
id is the image's content, so it cannot be pointed at somebody else's image. If the recorded id is
gone or no longer what rooz committed, the install stage runs again and the tag is rebuilt over.
Removing a workspace removes the images rooz built for it.
A privileged container has full access to the host running the container engine, so rooz does not
grant it on a config file's say-so. If privileged: true appears in a config file (a local or git
--config file, including its sidecars), workspace creation aborts and names the containers involved. To go
ahead, confirm explicitly with either:
ROOZ_ALLOW_PRIVILEGED=<names>- a comma-separated list of the container names you are allowing, e.g.ROOZ_ALLOW_PRIVILEGED=dkr. Pure consent: the configuration is applied exactly as written, and anything not named is still refused.ROOZ_ALLOW_PRIVILEGED=true- allows whatever the configuration privileges. Convenient for CI, blunt everywhere else.--privileged true- consents and makes the work container privileged whether or not the configuration asked for it.
Name the containers rather than reaching for true. The common case is a container-engine sidecar
(docker-in-docker and friends): the daemon's container needs the privilege, the workspace talking to
it over DOCKER_HOST does not. Naming it keeps the setting safe to leave in your shell profile - a
standing =true would wave through a privileged container that a repository's own config file
slipped into the merged configuration, which is exactly what this check exists to stop.
vpn: true on a sidecar gives it what WireGuard (wg-quick, kernel or wireguard-go), OpenVPN and
the like need to run inside it, and nothing more: the NET_ADMIN capability, the /dev/net/tun
device and net.ipv4.conf.all.src_valid_mark=1. All three are scoped to the sidecar's own network
namespace - unlike privileged, it does not reach the host's devices or network.
It still opens the kernel's netfilter and netlink interfaces to the sidecar, which on a rootful
engine is real root's reach into code with a history of container escapes. So, like privileged,
rooz does not grant it on a config file's say-so: name the sidecars with ROOZ_ALLOW_VPN=<names>
(or ROOZ_ALLOW_VPN=true for any). The consent is separate from ROOZ_ALLOW_PRIVILEGED - allowing
one does not allow the other.
sidecars:
vpn:
image: docker.io/linuxserver/wireguard:latest
vpn: true
egress: true # to reach the WireGuard endpoint
init: false # the image's s6-overlay must run as pid 1
mounts:
/config/wg_confs/wg0.conf:
content: |
[Interface]
...- the sidecar must run as uid 0 (the default) -
NET_ADMINis not effective for a non-root user, sovpnwith any otheruidis refused - kernel WireGuard needs the
wireguardmodule loaded on the engine's host - a container cannot load it; without itwg-quickfalls back towireguard-goover/dev/net/tun - full tunnels (
AllowedIPs = 0.0.0.0/0) work:wg-quickfindssrc_valid_markalready set and the work container keeps reaching the sidecar over its pair network - leave out
DNS =- it callsresolvconf, which conflicts with the engine-managed/etc/resolv.conf - the tunnel is the sidecar's: give the work container (or
peers:) access through a proxy the sidecar runs, e.g.HTTP_PROXY=http://vpn:3128
file: takes a data value's content from a file instead of inlining it, the way a Kustomize config
map generator does. It works wherever content: does: data, inline mounts and sidecar mounts.
data:
hello.sh:
file: files/hello.sh
executable: true
mounts:
~/bin/hello.sh: hello.sh
~/.config/starship.toml:
file: files/starship.toml- the path is relative to the config that declares it (a base's files are relative to that base),
below its directory: no absolute paths, no
.. - a local config reads the file from disk; a config from git reads it from the same checkout, next to the declaring file
- symlinks are refused - the file, or any directory on the way to it
- at most 64 KiB, valid UTF-8 text. For anything bigger or binary use a volume or
generate: - the content is used as is - not templated. Anything that needs
{{ vars }}belongs incontent: - the stored config keeps the reference, not the content
Port mappings for the work container can be specified via a config file only:
ports:
- "80:8080"
- "22:8022"Rooz supports basic variable replacement/templating:
- handlebars syntax is used
- variables are declared via
vars - secrets are declared via
secrets - secrets are decrypted before expanding
- handlebars can be used in the most of the config values but not in YAML keys
- vars/secrets replacement works within
varsthemselves too. However, only if the var usage is below the var definition (in the document order). - the secret section does not support var/secrets replacement
secrets:
sqlPassword: '----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----|YWdlLWVuY3J ... truncated'
vars:
sqlUser: admin
sqlConnectionString: "uid={{ sqlUser }};pwd={{ sqlPassword }}"
env:
SQL_CONNECTION_A: "database=A;{{ sqlConnectionString }}"
SQL_CONNECTION_B: "database=B;{{ sqlConnectionString }}"
sidecars:
tool:
env:
SQL_USER: "{{ sqlUser }}"
SQL_PASSWORD: "{{ sqlPassword }}"
Rooz uses age encryption to safely store sensitive data (like API keys) in config files.
Make sure your rooz has been initiated with rooz system init
Run touch example.yaml and rooz config edit example.yaml. Your default editor should open.
Paste the following config, save & quit.
secrets:
apiKey: 1744420283158995
env:
API_URL: https://api.rooz.dev/v1
API_KEY: "{{ apiKey }}"
Now cat example.yaml and you should see something like the below:
secrets:
apiKey: '----BEGIN AGE ENCRYPTED FILE-----|YWdlLWVuY3J ... truncated'
env:
API_URL: https://api.rooz.dev/v1
API_KEY: "{{ apiKey }}"
Now, we can create a new workspace like:
rooz new secrets-test --config ./example.yamlAnd enter the container and the API_KEY var is value gets decrypted and injected:
rooz enter secrets-test
> echo $API_KEY
1744420283158995Expanding a secret needs two things: a configuration that is yours, and your say-so.
Your say-so. A secret is expanded only into a configuration you have released it to. Without
that, rooz new aborts and names the secrets involved. Consent with either:
ROOZ_ALLOW_SECRETS=<names>- a comma-separated list of the secrets you are releasing, e.g.ROOZ_ALLOW_SECRETS=dbPassword. Anything not named is still refused, which makes this safe to leave in your shell profile, and it also coversrooz update(which re-renders the configuration on every run).ROOZ_ALLOW_SECRETS=true- releases whatever the configuration declares. Convenient for CI.--allow-secrets true- the same, for a singlerooz new.
The reason is that a local --config path is not proof of authorship: a repository can ship a config
file and its README can tell you to pass it (rooz new ws --config ./setup.yaml), and that file then
picks the image, entrypoint, install steps and environment your plaintext lands in. Naming the
secrets keeps a standing consent from covering a file you did not write.
A configuration that is yours. Secrets are expanded only when the whole configuration is one
you wrote - a local file passed with --config, with nothing else merged into it, or a source you
listed as yours in ROOZ_TRUSTED_CONFIGS. Rooz refuses to expand secrets and fails with an explanation
if the workspace also merges:
- a
--config git:...source you have not listed - it may be the repository's own configuration; - a
baseslayer outside a trusted directory. A base layer is a separate file your config points at; it may be a team overlay or something copied out of a repository, and after the merge nothing can tell its fields apart from yours.
The reason: every templated field - env, install, command, shell, data content, sidecar
env - can be written by whoever authored that content. A layer shipping env: {LEAK: "{{ MY_SECRET }}"}
would otherwise receive your decrypted secret inside a container whose image and entrypoint it also
controls. vars keep working everywhere, since they are not sensitive.
--config file from one you
copied out of a repository you are opening, so releasing a secret to a configuration means you have
read it. Never point --config at a file that came from the repository, and read a base layer before
you include it.
Encrypting a secret to your age identity does not tie it to your configuration: anyone who has seen the ciphertext can paste it into a config of their own, and rooz would decrypt it for them. So rooz decides what is yours by where the configuration comes from, and you tell it:
export ROOZ_TRUSTED_CONFIGS='git@github.com:me/rooz-configs,~/rooz-configs'- a repository URL - a
--config <url>//<path>from it counts as yours, including itsbases(they are read from the same clone). Matched exactly as you pass it to--config:.../configsand.../configs.gitare different entries. Never trusted overhttp://orgit://, where anyone on the network path can substitute the content. - a local directory - a
--configfile counts as yours,basesincluded, when the file and every base it pulls in resolve (symlinks followed) inside it.
A trusted source gets what your own local file gets: secrets (still subject to ROOZ_ALLOW_SECRETS)
and shared caches. Trusting a repository means trusting everyone who can push to it - list only
repositories that are yours alone.
Decrypted secret values are never written to the workspace-config volume. The container's environment
and generated files are populated from the real values at creation time, but the persisted
runtime.config - the file rooz config show <ws> --part runtime prints - has every occurrence of a
secret replaced with ***. Config files in that volume are written owner-only.
ℹ️ shell is the one field left unmasked, because rooz enter executes it. Do not
reference secrets from shell.
It's similar to docker-compose but super simple and limited to bare minimum.
-
roozhas a limited support for sidecars (containers running along). It is only available via the config filesidecars: sql: image: my:sql command: - --some env: TEST: "true" tools: image: my:tools
imagemay be omitted in individual config layers (e.g. an overlay extending a sidecar defined in a base viabases:) but must be set for each sidecar once all layers are merged, otherwise creating the workspace fails.
Workspace networking follows a hub-and-spoke model:
- the work container can reach every sidecar — it shares a dedicated pair network with each one
- a sidecar can always reach the work container (pair-network reachability is symmetric; keep listeners in the work container minimal)
- sidecars cannot reach each other unless explicitly connected via
peers: - workspaces are isolated from each other
peers: lists other sidecar names a sidecar may talk to. Each declared relation gets its own network, a: peers [b] and b: peers [a] are equivalent, and peer names must refer to sidecars defined in the same workspace. Sidecars resolve each other by name over their peer network:
sidecars:
claude:
peers: [proxy] # claude's only egress path is the proxy
proxy:
egress: true # reachable only by the work container and claude
dkr:
peers: [images] # docker-in-docker pulling via the mirror
images:
egress: true # registry pull-through cacheUnlike other list fields (replaced by higher config layers), peers merge as a deduplicated union across layers: an overlay can add reachability edges but cannot remove inherited ones.
default-address-pools with a smaller subnet size (e.g. "size": 24) in daemon.json. Podman (netavark) is not affected.
The work container addresses sidecars by their names (sql and tools in the first example above). The usual container ID and IP work too, but are not as convenient.
- the
entercommand lets you specify--containerto enter (otherwise it enters the work container).
Supported keywords:
image- set containers imageenv- set environment variablescommand- override container entrypoint (ENTRYPOINTin Dockerfile)args- override container entrypoint arguments (CMDin Dockerfile)mounts- mount automatically-named rw volumes at the specified paths (so they can survive container restarts/deletes). It supports:
mounts:
# simple empty rw volumes
- /my_test/data/
# config files with a specified content
- mount: /etc/tool/
files:
config.json: |-
{"some": "config"}
other.yaml: |-
some: configports- port bindings in the"8080:8080"formatvpn(bool) - grantsNET_ADMIN,/dev/net/tunandsrc_valid_markfor in-sidecar VPNs, with operator consent (see VPN sidecars)peers- names of other sidecars this sidecar may reach (see Networking; merged as a union across config layers)work_dir- set working directorymount_work(bool) - if true then the work volume is mounted at/work
-
cloned git repos are under
/work/{repo_name}whererepo_nameis the default one generated bygitduring cloning. -
you can enable
roozdebug logging by setting theRUST_LOG=roozenv variable -
if
roozmisbehaves you can go nuclear and runrooz system pruneto remove ALL the rooz containers and volumes. You can also remove just the workspaces, (leaving shared caches volumes, and the ssh volume untouched), by:rooz rm --all --force⚠️ rooz system prunedeletes all your state held withroozso make sure anything important is stored before.
- cache volumes gained an operator scope in their name (
rooz_cache_<scope>_<path>), so caches created by earlier versions are orphaned on first use of the new version. Caches are disposable - they get repopulated, androoz system pruneremoves the leftovers.
- auto-resizing rooz session to fit the terminal window (if resized) is not implemented. Workaround: exit the session, resize the window to your liking, enter the container.
Rooz connects to a local Docker daemon by default. It can also work with any number of remote
hosts at the same time: rooz remote forwards each host's Docker/Podman socket over SSH to a
local unix socket, and -H <host> points a rooz command at one of them.
Rooz needs the engine socket path. Either give it to rooz when adding the host (--socket, below),
or export it at the top of ~/.bashrc on the host (it is read by a non-interactive ssh command):
- For Docker as root:
export DOCKER_HOST=/var/run/docker.sock - For rootless Docker:
export DOCKER_HOST=/run/user/1000/docker.sock(assuming your-user has uid=1000) - For Podman:
export DOCKER_HOST=/run/user/1000/podman/podman.sock(assuming your-user has uid=1000)
Define your hosts (stored in ~/.config/rooz/remotes.yaml, or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/rooz/remotes.yaml):
rooz remote add box1 ssh://your-user@box1
rooz remote add box2 ssh://your-user@box2 --socket /run/user/1000/podman/podman.sock
rooz remote lsThen keep this running (e.g. in a spare terminal or tmux):
rooz remote # connects to all configured hosts
rooz remote box1 # or just some of themEach host's engine socket is forwarded to $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/rooz/<host>.sock (~/.rooz/<host>.sock
if XDG_RUNTIME_DIR is not set). Hosts are independent: one being down or reconnecting does not
affect the others. Only one rooz remote can serve a given host at a time.
rooz -H box1 new myws # one-off
export ROOZ_HOST=box2 # per shell: every rooz command in it targets box2
rooz list # lists box2's workspaces
rooz list --all-hosts # workspaces of every connected host
rooz -H box1 code myws # attaches VsCode to the workspace on box1Precedence: -H / ROOZ_HOST, then DOCKER_HOST, then the local engine. There is deliberately no
global "current host": use one terminal (or ROOZ_HOST) per host. rooz system prune and
rooz remove --all print the target they are about to hit.
Workspaces, volumes, SSH keys and caches live on each host's engine, so the same workspace name on
two hosts is two unrelated workspaces. The age identity and ROOZ_TRUSTED_CONFIGS are local and
apply to every host.
If any remote containers publish ports listed in their forward-ports label, rooz remote forwards
them to the same port on 127.0.0.1. Local ports are shared by all hosts: if a port is already bound
by another process or forwarded for another host, it is skipped with a warning.
rooz code starts code with DOCKER_HOST set to the selected host's socket. If VsCode is already
running it may ignore that and use its own docker.host setting instead:
"docker.host": "unix:///run/user/1000/rooz/box1.sock"- Make sure podman remote socket is enabled:
podman info should contain the following YAML:
remoteSocket:
exists: true
path: /run/user/1000/podman/podman.sockIf exists: true is missing, try this command: systemctl --user enable --now podman.socket
- Make sure you have the podman socket exposed as the
DOCKER_HOSTenv var like:
export DOCKER_HOST=unix:///run/user/1000/podman/podman.sock
-
Use fully-qualified image names or define unqualified-search registries
/etc/containers/registries.conf -
When running more complex podman in podman scenarios (like networking) you may need to run rooz with
--privilegedswitch more info.
