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boxd client tools run on your Mac and bridge local resources into your machines. Once enabled, you can paste images into Claude Code, read files from your local filesystem, and control a local Chrome browser, all from inside a VM. Driving the browser is covered in Launch a Browser.
Currently available for macOS (Apple Silicon) only.

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Enable

The client utilities are built into the boxd CLI you already installed in the Quickstart, so there is nothing extra to download. They’re off by default. Turn them on for you laptop like this:
This installs a small background agent (a launchd agent on macOS) and registers this device with boxd. Manage it any time with:

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How it works

boxd config set client-utils.enable true registers your machine under a device id and starts a background agent that keeps a connection open to boxd. Every VM you enter with boxd connect carries that device id, so the boxd local commands inside the VM route back to your machine through boxd. The routing is automatic and keeps working across reconnects. Run boxd config get client-utils.enable to confirm it’s enabled and running.

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Clipboard and image pasting

With client tools enabled, you can paste images from your Mac’s clipboard directly into Claude Code running inside a VM. This works via an xclip shim that intercepts clipboard reads and routes them through boxd to your Mac’s clipboard. This is especially useful for sharing screenshots, diagrams, or UI mockups with Claude Code without manually transferring files.

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Reading local files

List and read files on your local machine from inside a VM:
Output from ls shows absolute paths with type and size:
All commands accept --json for structured output.

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Path access

For security, only files under your home directory are accessible. Paths outside it are blocked.

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Updating

Re-run the boxd install command to update. It upgrades the boxd CLI in place, and the next time you run boxd, the client agent automatically restarts on the new version. If boxd local commands inside a VM show a message about updating, it means the agent on your machine is missing features available in the latest version.