Multiple folders for one agent

Giving a sandboxed agent extra host folders through bind mounts, how bind modes relate to workspace access, and the sources OpenClaw blocks by default.

Multiple folders for one agent

Use Docker bind mounts when one sandboxed agent needs more than its primary workspace. Each entry maps a host folder to a container path with an explicit access mode:

host-directory:container-directory:ro
host-directory:container-directory:rw

ro makes the mounted folder read-only inside the sandbox.
rw lets sandboxed tools and processes change the host folder.
The container path is the path the agent uses. Host paths are not exposed automatically.

This example gives the research agent a writable primary workspace, read-only reference material at /reference, and a separate writable output folder at /drafts:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      sandbox: {
        mode: "all",
        scope: "agent",
      },
    },
    entries: {
      research: {
        default: true,
        workspace: "/srv/openclaw/research-workspace",
        sandbox: {
          workspaceAccess: "rw",
          docker: {
            binds: ["/srv/shared/reference:/reference:ro", "/srv/shared/drafts:/drafts:rw"],
            // Required because these sources are outside the agent workspace.
            dangerouslyAllowExternalBindSources: true,
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

workspaceAccess and bind modes are independent:

Setting	Controls
`workspaceAccess: "none"`	Uses a writable isolated sandbox workspace; does not expose the agent workspace.
`workspaceAccess: "ro"`	Mounts the agent workspace read-only at `/agent`.
`workspaceAccess: "rw"`	Mounts the agent workspace read/write at `/workspace`.
`docker.binds` entry `:ro`/`:rw`	Controls only that additional host folder at its configured container path.

Changing workspaceAccess does not change an additional bind from ro to rw, or vice versa. Global and per-agent docker.binds are merged. Keep scope: "agent" or "session" for per-agent binds; scope: "shared" ignores all per-agent Docker overrides and uses only global binds. When multiple binds use the same container destination, the last entry wins, including its source and read-only mode. Per-agent entries follow global entries. Shell and file tools use that same selection. Managed read-only skill mounts remain authoritative at their destinations. Relative file paths and host-path aliases resolve through the selected container mount, including nested overrides. Workspace-only writes, edits, listing, and patches use the container workspace boundary even when an explicit bind replaces its host folder. Additional mount read exceptions do not grant writes outside that boundary. Bind mounts are the supported multi-folder boundary because Docker constructs the container’s filesystem view with mount isolation, and the ro/rw mode applies to every process in the sandbox. That boundary covers exec, filesystem tools, child processes, and libraries without duplicating path-authorization checks across each OpenClaw code path. A host-side path allowlist cannot provide the same complete boundary when an allowed shell or dependency can access files directly. The opt-in dangerouslyAllowExternalBindSources only permits sources outside the workspace roots. It does not disable OpenClaw’s blocked system, credential, Docker socket, symlink-parent, or reserved-target checks. Prefer the smallest folder, use ro unless writes are required, and recreate the sandbox after changing mounts:

openclaw sandbox recreate --agent research

Other bind behavior

agents.defaults.sandbox.docker.binds configures global mounts. The format is the same host:container:mode form (for example, "/home/user/source:/source:rw"). agents.defaults.sandbox.browser.binds mounts additional host directories into the sandbox browser container only. When set (including []), it replaces docker.binds for the browser container; when omitted, the browser container falls back to docker.binds.

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      sandbox: {
        docker: {
          binds: ["/home/user/source:/source:ro", "/var/data/myapp:/data:ro"],
        },
      },
    },
    entries: {
      build: {
        default: true,
        sandbox: {
          docker: {
            binds: ["/mnt/cache:/cache:rw"],
          },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Bind security

Binds bypass the sandbox filesystem: they expose host paths with whatever mode you set (:ro or :rw).
OpenClaw blocks dangerous bind sources by default: system paths (/etc, /proc, /sys, /dev, /root, /boot), Docker socket directories (/run, /var/run, and their docker.sock variants), and common home-directory credential roots (~/.aws, ~/.cargo, ~/.config, ~/.docker, ~/.gnupg, ~/.netrc, ~/.npm, ~/.ssh).
Validation normalizes the source path, then resolves it again through the deepest existing ancestor before re-checking blocked paths and allowed roots, so symlink-parent escapes fail closed even when the final leaf doesn’t exist yet (e.g. /workspace/run-link/new-file still resolves as /var/run/... if run-link points there).
Bind targets that shadow the reserved container mount points (/workspace, /agent) are also blocked by default; override with agents.defaults.sandbox.docker.dangerouslyAllowReservedContainerTargets: true.
Bind sources outside the workspace/agent-workspace allowlisted roots are blocked by default; override with agents.defaults.sandbox.docker.dangerouslyAllowExternalBindSources: true. Allowed roots are canonicalized the same way, so a path that only looks inside the allowlist before symlink resolution is still rejected as outside allowed roots.
Sensitive mounts (secrets, SSH keys, service credentials) should be :ro unless absolutely required.
Combine with workspaceAccess: "ro" if you only need read access to the workspace; bind modes stay independent.
See Sandbox vs Tool Policy vs Elevated for how binds interact with tool policy and elevated exec.

Gateway

Remote access

Security

Nodes and media

Web interfaces

Multiple folders for one agent