Fence wraps commands in a sandbox that blocks network access by default and restricts filesystem operations based on configurable rules. It's most useful for running semi-trusted code (package installs, build scripts, CI jobs, unfamiliar repos) with controlled side effects, and it can also complement AI coding agents as defense-in-depth.

# Block all network access (default)
fence curl https://example.com  # → 403 Forbidden

# Allow specific domains
fence -t code npm install  # → uses 'code' template with npm/pypi/etc allowed

# Block dangerous commands
fence -c "rm -rf /"  # → blocked by command deny rules

You can also think of Fence as a permission manager for your CLI agents. Fence works with popular coding agents like Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor Agent, OpenCode, Factory (Droid) CLI, etc. See agents.md for more details.

Install

macOS / Linux:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Use-Tusk/fence/main/install.sh | sh

Other installation methods

Go install:

go install github.com/Use-Tusk/fence/cmd/fence@latest

Build from source:

git clone https://github.com/Use-Tusk/fence
cd fence
go build -o fence ./cmd/fence

Additional requirements for Linux:

• bubblewrap (for sandboxing)
• socat (for network bridging)
• bpftrace (optional, for filesystem violation visibility when monitoring with -m)

Usage

Basic

# Run command with all network blocked (no domains allowed by default)
fence curl https://example.com

# Run with shell expansion
fence -c "echo hello && ls"

# Enable debug logging
fence -d curl https://example.com

# Use a template
fence -t code -- claude  # Runs Claude Code using `code` template config

# Monitor mode (shows violations)
fence -m npm install

# Show all commands and options
fence --help

Configuration

Fence reads from ~/.config/fence/fence.json by default (or ~/Library/Application Support/fence/fence.json on macOS).

{
  "extends": "code",
  "network": { "allowedDomains": ["private.company.com"] },
  "filesystem": { "allowWrite": ["."] },
  "command": { "deny": ["git push", "npm publish"] }
}

Use fence --settings ./custom.json to specify a different config.

Import from Claude Code

fence import --claude --save

Features

• Network isolation - All outbound blocked by default; allowlist domains via config
• Filesystem restrictions - Control read/write access paths
• Command blocking - Deny dangerous commands like rm -rf /, git push
• SSH Command Filtering - Control which hosts and commands are allowed over SSH
• Built-in templates - Pre-configured rulesets for common workflows
• Violation monitoring - Real-time logging of blocked requests (-m)
• Cross-platform - macOS (sandbox-exec) + Linux (bubblewrap)

Fence can be used as a Go package or CLI tool.

Documentation

• Index
• Quickstart Guide
• Configuration Reference
• Security Model
• Architecture
• Library Usage (Go)
• Examples

Attribution

Inspired by Anthropic's sandbox-runtime.