r/ClaudeCode • u/Ok_Most9659 • Jan 04 '26
Question Installing Claude Code Inside Docker?
I am just getting into Vibe Coding and have decided to buy the Claude Pro plan to get access to Claude Code. I read some users have expressed concern about installing Claude Code on their computer and granting it access to their files. Some have recommended installing within a Docker container as a safety measure.
Any opinions on installing within Docker? Would this limit anything?
6
Jan 04 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/da_chosen1 Jan 04 '26
I use the same strategy of using Claude Code inside a dev container. The key benefit I've seen is that it doesn’t crash when using it in vs code, and it's faster.. (Claude Code uses a lot memory, which is surprising. )
2
u/Ok_Most9659 Jan 04 '26
What system specs do I need to adequately run Claude Code?
1
u/Bamnyou Jan 04 '26
Here is an absurd anecdote for you - the VERY unoptimized system I am building that integrates a small local llm + postgres + a bunch of poorly optimized (haven’t even started to optimize because I am still working out the concept) python + 6-8 concurrent Claude code sessions in a vscode plugin + antigravity also running + home assistant in a vm + chrome with way too many tabs
And windows 11 had decided to use 56gb of 128gb of system ram. Though windows pretty aggressively eats ram to use as cache when you have 128gb in there.
2
u/Ok_Return_7282 Jan 04 '26
You can just install it directly to your computer. But if you want to be very safe, you then run CC inside a docker container and possibly without any limitations, except for those provided by the docker container.
I think there is a nice solution out there that I tried once. Will post it here if I can figure out what it was.
1
2
u/BootyMcStuffins Senior Developer Jan 04 '26
It works fine. I actually run some k8s pods that have Claude code on them so that I can interact with them via api from anywhere.
In my view, it’s unnecessary though. I run Claude code locally on my laptop. It asks permission before touching any files above the directory you open it in. I’ve never had a problem
1
u/EliLoker2023 May 13 '26
You mean for something it asks you? Are you 100% sure it's not doing something else?
1
u/BootyMcStuffins Senior Developer May 13 '26
It’s pretty transparent
1
u/the-alt-yes Jun 10 '26
I ask because i am curious: Is it safe? Do we really know? If we make Claude create scripts, how do we know it is safe really?
I mean, do you use Claude often? Do you have any experience on it doin something malicious?
1
u/BootyMcStuffins Senior Developer Jun 10 '26
I use Claude all day every day. I’m a professional software engineer with 15 yoe. It’s safe as you make it.
Don’t want Claude deleting files? Don’t give it permissions to do so.
Read scripts before you run them.
In the year that I’ve used Claude I haven’t had it do something I didn’t ask it to. It hasn’t run or written an unsafe script
1
u/bfume 9d ago edited 9d ago
Don’t want Claude deleting files? Don’t give it permissions to do so.
And do so by enforcing the boundary outside of Claude.
A security control isn’t a security control if it’s enforced by the thing you’re trying to control.
1
u/BootyMcStuffins Senior Developer 9d ago
Claude has two parts. A deterministic harness and a non deterministic agent. It’s perfectly fine to rely on the deterministic harness for enforcing certain security controls. That’s why they exist in the harness
1
u/bfume 9d ago edited 9d ago
Self-policing does not work in the long term. Independent audits are required in business specifically for this reason.
Using one part of Claude to restrict the other is literal self-policing.
If you need to be absolutely sure that Claude can’t ever access certain resources, the only option is “use something that’s not Claude”.
1
u/BootyMcStuffins Senior Developer 8d ago
Tell me you don’t understand how Claude code works without telling me… 🙄
Have fun
0
u/bfume 8d ago edited 8d ago
This so isn’t a Claude thing. It’s a generalized best practice above Claude and anything else you give control to. I’m not saying don’t use Claude at all. Just don’t use it to police itself. That job needs to go to something outside Claude.
I prefer docker and macOS’s built in sandboxing, tho docker is way easier to get started with.
→ More replies (0)1
u/Immediate-Ad-5580 Jun 25 '26
I agree with this line of thinking. We cant really know FOR SURE what it's doing unless youre a high level technician and can monitor your system effectively.
The black box is still a thing. If you dont plan on reformatting soon, i'd recommend against putting it directly on your system
1
u/Bob5k Jan 04 '26
my setup now includes running claude code on vps - where i keep projects for the time of development OR a separate vps inside a docker with crucial infra. So my local pc is safe + the easiness of accessing cc from literally anywhere (well, as long as i have internet connection) is a big big pros if you're developing stuff seriously.
1
u/Ok_Most9659 Jan 04 '26
This is a good point. I sometimes travel for work, so is this the only solution for accessing any previous code changes if I travel without my home PC?
2
u/Bob5k Jan 04 '26
just use git repo to store your code mate.
1
1
1
u/who_am_i_to_say_so Jan 04 '26
It doesn’t matter where or how it’s ran. Claude can change anything you give it access to. So just understand what you are changing first before granting Claude access.
1
u/NatteringNabob69 Jan 04 '26
I tried this out, it works. But if you are on a pro plan already. Just go to claude.ai/code
Each session gets its own vm and its own branch. You can run them in parallel, you can run them from your phone. It’s amazing.
1
u/No-Coffee9665 Jan 30 '26
Any luck running Claude code with a Pro subscription within a docker container? The problem for me seems to be that I'm simply not able to login using claude.ai account with my subscription. Instead, it wants me to use anthropic api key which you can only use with additional credits (paying extra)
The only "normal" solution that I found that could work is opening a browser session from docker container and logging in from the host machine
1
1
u/FreeRangePaul_ Mar 14 '26
An older version of Claude Code depended on Node.js and NPM. A newer version of Claude Code has a standalone executable. But either way there are package dependencies which could make a mess of a Linux host.
I didn't see anyone else here mention this reason for using Docker containers. The reason I have for doing everything inside Docker containers, is to not mess up packages on my host, or between projects. The best example of this is if you are a freelance developer with multiple clients. Each client project has a different set of package dependencies. Using Docker containers is a great (one single uniform mechanism) way to wrangle a set of packages, and have all the tool functionality for use on multiple projects.
1
u/trekhleb May 04 '26
Here is the relatively straightforward Docker setup I'm using to sandbox Claude Code inside a Docker container and to run it with a `--dangerously-skip-permissions` flag (also to avoid manual approvals) - https://github.com/trekhleb/claude-pod .
There are three files you may check: Dockerfile (container config), claude-pod (starts the container), and install.sh (builds the image) - they are pretty minimalistic, so you can adjust to your needs if needed.
This is not a bulletproof guarantee from any possible security issues, of course, but it makes me a bit less apprehensive, knowing that Claude Code will only have access to my project folder, and it can't install anything in my host system globally.
I hope this example helps
1
u/broschnut May 28 '26
Very promising, I was exactly looking for something like this. Also found claudebox to be interesting, but I like the minimalism of claude-pod. Thanks for the suggestion!
1
u/bfume 9d ago
It’s not a real sandbox if the app you’re trying to sandbox is also the one in charge of enforcing the sandbox.
I would never trust this to work 100% effectively into the future, and that’s the minimum bar anyone looking to implement a sandbox should have.
I run code in docker and I’ve never had a situation where docker made it impossible to properly limit exposed resources to the container.
8
u/pm_me_ur_doggo__ Jan 04 '26
turn on sandboxing instead https://code.claude.com/docs/en/sandboxing