Local sandboxing helps reduce the potential impact of unintended commands by limiting access to files, network resources, and credentials on your machine. In the GitHub Copilot app, you configure it per project for local repository and working tree sessions.
The project’s sandbox settings include:
- Filesystem: Additional read/write, additional read-only, and denied folder lists.
- Network: Outbound internet and local network settings.
- Credentials: Git credentials for authenticated HTTPS git operations, and GitHub CLI credentials for GitHub CLI authentication.
These project settings describe the policy that the app requests when a sandboxed session starts. The effective policy can be more restrictive when enterprise-managed settings apply.
If your operating system cannot enforce the requested policy, the sandboxed shell fails with an error rather than running without a sandbox.
## [Get started](#get-started)
Local sandboxing is off by default. Open the app settings, select your project, and turn on Sandbox new sessions under “Sandbox”. This applies to new sessions in the project, not sessions already running. Changes to filesystem, network, and credential settings apply to new sessions or when an existing session restarts.
To enable sandboxing for an active local session, enter /sandbox on. This changes that session without changing the project default.
Local sandboxing does not apply to cloud sandbox sessions or sessions running on a remote host. GitHub Copilot app and Copilot CLI sandbox settings are configured separately.
Local sandboxing is in public preview and subject to change.
Learn more about configuring local sandboxing in the GitHub Copilot app.