[barelyworkingcode]

Closes #181

Sandboxed Claude launches (a claude session and a sandboxed claude-code terminal) now run with CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR set to a relay-owned folder, <user config dir>/relay/sandbox-claude. The profile grants that folder read-write, so Claude Code keeps and refreshes its login there instead of hitting the keychain write the sandbox refuses. Unsandboxed and SSH-host launches are unchanged. A key the template's env sets still wins.

Relay creates the folder at launch, mode 0700, and seeds it with links to ~/.claude's settings.json, CLAUDE.md, skills, agents, commands, projects and sessions. It never links .credentials.json or .claude.json, and never overwrites an entry that is already there. A path that isn't a real directory refuses the launch with sandbox_unavailable, and the message names the path. The keychain grants are unchanged.

What you'll notice: every sandboxed Claude is logged out once. Run /login once in any sandboxed Claude. The folder is shared, so that one login covers Relay.app, every verify stack and the nightly. The folder does not move with --config-dir. Until that login, the nightly's five sandboxed-Claude screen journeys (session-agent-state, session-drop-in, session-drop-in-tool-refused, chief-of-staff-send, cos-start) fail. That is a known limitation, not a regression in this code.

Not proven here, by owner decision: a live /login in the sandbox and a refresh past the 8-hour token lifetime. The owner verifies those through daily use.

Roll back: revert this PR's merge commit. Sandboxed Claude then reads the keychain login again. The folder can stay or be deleted by hand.

Docs: docs/session-host.md (new subsection and grant row), docs/FEATURES.md row G1.44, docs/testing.md.

Fix attempts: 1 (plus one comment-only round from review). Tokens: about 0.6M across subagents.

Review: no blocking findings (default model, round 1; two comment nits fixed in 80db98c; two theoretical items logged in the run report)
Red on main: TestBug181SandboxedClaudeSessionConfigDir fails on main 448d6e1 at bug181_sandboxed_claude_login_test.go:91 (CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR = ""); TestBug181SandboxClaudeDirSeeded fails at :179 (folder missing)
Real-app check: relay sandbox claude-code on the head's bundle (stack r181) started a real sandboxed Claude, which wrote .claude.json, cache and backups into the new folder; links seeded, no credentials file; before (main): no such folder, CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR unset
Journey: n/a: the change is reached only by a logged-in sandboxed Claude, which the nightly's existing screen journeys cover; the stack's api phase ran unchanged (pass=5 fail=0 blocked=0 notrun=2)
Break-and-restore: dropped the folder's read-write grant in sandboxSpecForLaunch; TestBug181SandboxClaudeDirWritable went red (write inside the folder exit 1); restored byte for byte

Run report: barelyworkingcode/claude-process#55

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[barelyworkingcode]

Verified: 80db98c · repo-suite: ok relaye2e/features 490.389s · devboxverify: SUMMARY pass=5 fail=0 blocked=0 notrun=2 (stack r181, --phase api) · real-app: PASS (relay sandbox claude-code; real Claude wrote into the new folder, links seeded, no credentials file) · log: devbox:/tmp/r181-stack.log

[barelyworkingcode]

Merged under merge-check: approved, target, verified, contract, evidence, owner and weakening PASS; ci NA.