stoat: a single Go binary that lets AI agents spin up and control QEMU VMs safely
Bright-Fun-1638 · reddit · 2026-09-12
- The author needed agent-native sandboxed execution for Claude Code: Docker lacks systemd/kernel modules/loopback, and VirtualBox/VMware assume a human in a GUI — so he built stoat, a single Go binary that starts QEMU directly and exposes agent-friendly tools.
- Usage: stoat create dev --image debian-13, stoat up dev, then stoat mcp install claude-code wires tools into Claude Code.
- Agents get tools for exec, files, packages, ports, services, logs, and snapshots inside the VM; broken states can be rolled back via snapshots.
- Each VM has an agentaccess level from none to exec, letting you hand over one guest fully while keeping another read-only.
- Linux with KVM only for now; GCP/AWS connectors and OSX/Windows binaries are planned.
Related event: stoat: A Single Go Binary Giving Agents Snapshot-Isolated QEMU VMs(2 posts)→
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