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In this quickstart, you’ll install Container Use, connect it to your coding agent, and experience the core workflow: agents work in isolated environments while your files stay untouched, then review and decide what to do with their work.

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1. Install Container Use

Make sure you have Docker and Git installed before starting.
  • Homebrew (macOS)
  • Shell Script (All Platforms)
  • Build from Source
brew install dagger/tap/container-use
container-use version   # → confirms install

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2. Point your agent at Container Use

Container Use works with any MCP-compatible agent: Just add container-use stdio as an MCP server. This example uses Claude Code but you can view instructions for other agents.
1

Add MCP Configuration

cd /path/to/repository
claude mcp add container-use -- container-use stdio
2

Add Agent Rules (Optional)

Save CLAUDE.md file at the root of your repository:
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dagger/container-use/main/rules/agent.md >> CLAUDE.md
3

Trust Only Container Use Tools (Optional)

For maximum security, restrict Claude Code to only use Container Use tools:
claude --allowedTools mcp__container-use__environment_checkpoint,mcp__container-use__environment_create,mcp__container-use__environment_add_service,mcp__container-use__environment_file_delete,mcp__container-use__environment_file_list,mcp__container-use__environment_file_read,mcp__container-use__environment_file_write,mcp__container-use__environment_open,mcp__container-use__environment_run_cmd,mcp__container-use__environment_update

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3. Run your first parallel task

Let’s create a demo repository and ask your agent to build something: 
# start a demo repo
mkdir hello
cd hello
git init
touch README.md
git add README.md
git commit -m "initial commit"
Now prompt your agent to do something: 
"Create a Flask hello‑world app in Python."
After a short run you’ll see something like: 
✅ App running at http://127.0.0.1:58455
🔍 View files:  container-use checkout {id}
📋 Dev log:     container-use log {id}
Replace {id} with your actual environment ID like fancy-mallard
Notice your local directory is still empty, because the agent worked in an isolated environment: 
$ ls
README.md
You can see all environments with container-use list.

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4. Review the work

See what the agent changed: 
container-use diff {id}
Check out the environment locally to explore: 
container-use checkout {id}

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5. Accept or discard

Accept the work and keep the agent’s commit history: 
container-use merge {id}
Or stage the changes to create your own commit: 
container-use apply {id}
🎉 That’s it – you’ve run an agent in parallel, checked its work, and decided what to do with it.