LangBot Deployment & Configuration

Covers running LangBot in production. For development see langbot-dev.

Docker Compose (recommended)

git clone https://github.com/langbot-app/LangBot
cd LangBot/docker

# Full stack (sandbox/Box + stdio MCP hosting + skill add/edit enabled)
docker compose --profile all up

# Basic (no Box runtime)
docker compose up

The all / box profile starts three services:

• langbot — main app, serves API + UI on :5300.
• langbot_plugin_runtime — plugin runtime (control :5400, debug :5401).
• langbot_box — Box sandbox runtime (:5410). Uses the host Docker socket to spawn sandbox containers, so the Box root host path and in-container path must be identical (BOX__LOCAL__HOST_ROOT=${LANGBOT_BOX_ROOT:-${PWD}/data/box}). OSS allows its RPC and managed-process relay to run without a token when both sides leave LANGBOT_BOX_CONTROL_TOKEN unset. For an exposed endpoint, set the same value of at least 32 non-whitespace characters in both the LangBot and Box containers. Generate it once with openssl rand -hex 32; never put it in box.runtime.endpoint or commit it to config.

A Compose deployment may optionally set LANGBOT_PLUGIN_RUNTIME_CONTROL_TOKEN on both langbot and langbot_plugin_runtime when port 5400 needs shared-secret protection. OSS defaults to leaving it unset on both sides. If enabled, generate one value with openssl rand -hex 32; configuring only one side causes the control connection to fail. Kubernetes may use the langbot-plugin-runtime-control Secret shown in docker/kubernetes.yaml.

With Box off, the dashboard/skills list stays visible (read-only) but sandbox tools, skill add/edit, and stdio MCP are disabled. Set box.enabled: false (or BOX__ENABLED=false) to match.

Kubernetes

See docker/kubernetes.yaml and the deployment guide at https://docs.langbot.app. docker/deploy-k8s-test.sh is a test helper.

config.yaml (generated at data/config.yaml on first run)

Top-level sections: api, system, command, concurrency, proxy, database, vdb, storage, plugin, monitoring, box, space.

Key settings:

Many keys have ENV__SUBKEY overrides (e.g. BOX__BACKEND, BOX__ENABLED).

Runtimes & flags

• LangBot started directly spawns the plugin runtime over stdio.
• In containers it connects to a standalone runtime over WebSocket; start with --standalone-runtime.
• Box has a parallel --standalone-box flag; the Docker box host is langbot_box:5410.

Global API key — enabling for agents/automation

# data/config.yaml
api:
    port: 5300
    global_api_key: 'a-strong-secret'   # empty disables it

This key authenticates both the HTTP API and the MCP server (/mcp) without a login session. See langbot-mcp-ops for using it, and docs/API_KEY_AUTH.md.

Pitfalls

• "No supported sandbox backend (Docker / nsjail / E2B)" with Docker running usually means the user isn't in the docker group → sudo usermod -aG docker <user> and restart in a new shell.
• Box root host/container path mismatch breaks sandbox container creation.
• Don't commit a non-empty api.global_api_key to version control.