Decision: Brand rename sbox → abx

Status: implemented Implemented: 2026-09-09

Problem

The project initially used sbox as the CLI command name and brand identifier (see 2026-09-02-sbox-cli-naming.md). A rename became necessary for the following reasons:

1. Name collision: sbox is close to the SELinux sandbox tool name, with a potential conflict on some Linux distributions.
2. Brand recognition: sbox is too generic and cannot build a strong association with the Agent Sandbox brand.
3. Config directory: the ~/.sbox/ directory name is not intuitive enough.

A new short name was needed that preserves typing efficiency while improving brand recognition.

Decision

Unify all brand references from sbox to abx (short for Easy Sandbox).

Scope of change

1. CLI entry point: pyproject.toml [project.scripts] changed from sbox = ... to abx = ...
2. Config directory: ~/.sbox/ → ~/.abx/
3. Environment variable prefix: add the ABX_ prefix (e.g. ABX_SERVER_DISABLED_GROUPS) while keeping SANDBOX_* compatibility
4. Internal code references: ctx.meta keys changed from sbox.* to abx.*
5. Docs and AGENTS.md: all CLI examples updated from sbox to abx
6. Template directory: ~/.sbox/templates/ → ~/.abx/templates/

Backward compatibility

• SANDBOX_API_KEY / E2B_API_KEY environment variables remain supported (first-match-wins precedence).
• No automatic sbox → abx migration (a new config directory is created the first time the user runs abx).

API Design

N/A — this decision does not involve API changes. It only renames the CLI command, config directory, and environment-variable prefix.

Alternatives considered

• esb — collides with the finance-domain Enterprise Service Bus acronym. Rejected.
• ez — too short and ambiguous. Rejected.
• ezsb — four letters type less well than three. Rejected.
• Keep sbox — leaves the name-collision and brand-recognition problems unsolved. Rejected.

Dependencies

• 2026-09-02-sbox-cli-naming.md (the original naming decision, superseded by this ADR)
• pyproject.toml (entry-point configuration)
• transport/config.py (config paths)

Test Strategy

• abx --help prints normally.
• The ~/.abx/ directory is created automatically on first use.
• No residual hardcoded sbox references remain in the source (grep -r sbox src/ returns 0 results).

Acceptance criteria

• ✅ The CLI command name is abx.
• ✅ The config directory is ~/.abx/.
• ✅ No sbox residue remains in the source.
• ✅ The ABX_* environment-variable prefix takes effect in the server module.

Implementation

• Entry point: pyproject.toml abx = "agent_sandbox.cli.main:cli"
• Config directory: ~/.abx/ in src/agent_sandbox/transport/config.py
• Context key: ctx.meta["abx.output"] in src/agent_sandbox/cli/main.py
• Server environment variables: ABX_SERVER_DISABLED_GROUPS, ABX_SERVER_BASE_DIR