swadhinbiswas/warren

A rootless, zero-daemon CLI runtime that lets you install and run unlimited - swadhinbiswas/warren

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README

Warren

Install any CLI tool unlimited times. Every instance is its own world.

Warren is a production-grade, rootless, zero-daemon CLI runtime. It lets you install and run unlimited, completely isolated instances of any CLI or TUI application on your Linux machine. Like a rabbit warren, it creates a network of isolated tunnels—each self-contained yet sharing the same ground. Fast, rootless, and invisible infrastructure. Why Warren? Ever needed to log into two different GitHub accounts using the gh CLI? Or test a beta version of a tool without breaking your stable setup? Or maintain separate configurations for work and personal projects? With Warren, you can: warren dig gh --as gh-work warren dig gh --as gh-personal

gh-work # Logs into your company GitHub gh-personal # Logs into your personal GitHub Both instances behave independently. They share the host machine but nothing else. Non-Goals Warren is not a container runtime (like Docker), a virtual machine, or a privilege escalation tool. It stays lightweight (single binary), rootless (no sudo ever), zero-daemon (no background processes), and incredibly fast (<50ms startup overhead). Features

Isolated Filesystems: Each instance gets its own home/, config/, cache/, data/, and tmp/ directories. Installer Rewriting: Automatically rewrites paths inside installation scripts on-the-fly to keep them contained. Rootless by Design: Will absolutely refuse to run as root. Universal Shell Support: Works seamlessly across Bash, Zsh, Fish, and Nushell. Zero Overhead: No daemons or containers. Just a thin, native bash launcher script.

Installation Method 1: The One-Liner (Recommended) Run the automated install script. This will download the latest binary and automatically configure your shell (bash, zsh, fish, or nushell). curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/swadhinbiswas/warren/main/install.sh | bash Method 2: Via Cargo (crates.io) If you already have Rust installed, you can build and install Warren directly from crates.io: cargo install warren-cli warren shell install # Sets up your PATH Quick Start 1. Install a new instance from a remote script: warren dig "curl -fsSL https://opencode.ai/install | bash" --as opencode-work 2. See what you've installed: $ warren ls

ALIAS APP VERSION CREATED opencode-work opencode 0.4.2 just now 3. Run your instance: opencode-work --version

or

Intelligent Rewriting: When you install a tool via a bash script, Warren intercepts it. It scans for hardcoded paths (like /usr/local/bin or ~/.config) and rewrites them to point inside the instance's private directory (~/.warren/instances/<alias>). Environment Injection: Warren generates a lightweight wrapper script in ~/.local/bin. When you run your alias, this script forcibly overrides $HOME, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME, $XDG_DATA_HOME, and $TMPDIR. Execution: The target application boots up, entirely unaware that its "home directory" is actually a sandbox inside ~/.warren/.

Command Reference

Command Description

warren dig <source> --as <alias> Install a new isolated instance

warren run <alias> Run an instance explicitly

warren ls List all installed instances

warren inspect <alias> View paths, version, and disk usage

warren clone <src> <dest> Deep copy an instance

warren export <alias> Export an instance to a portable .tar.gz archive

warren import <archive> Import a previously exported instance

warren update <alias> Re-run the installer to update the binary

warren rm <alias> Delete an instance and all its isolated data

warren shell install Add Warren to your terminal's PATH

Shell Support Warren automatically detects your shell and configures your $PATH. It natively supports:

Bash (~/.bashrc / ~/.bash_profile) Zsh (~/.zshrc) Fish (~/.config/fish/config.fish via fish_add_path) Nushell (env.nu via $env.PATH)

License MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

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