# sandbox-mcp gives AI agents a throwaway Windows 11 machine to test apps, via CLI or MCP

Canonical: https://theagenticweekly.com/news/sandbox-mcp-windows-sandbox · Evidence: Reported · First seen: 2026-11-07 17:37 UTC · Source published: 2026-11-06 19:02 UTC · Brief published: 2026-11-08 07:10 UTC · Updated: 2026-11-08 07:10 UTC · Author: Agentic Weekly

> sandbox-mcp is an MIT-licensed CLI and MCP server, created on GitHub on Nov 6, 2026, that automates Windows Sandbox so an agent can "Give your AI agent a brand-new Windows PC. Then throw it away." Its latest release was v1.2.0 (Nov 7, 2026), and the README says its measured GUI samples take roughly 40 to 50 seconds end to end.

## What changed

- The tool boots a disposable Windows 11 guest in Windows Sandbox, deploys an app, drives it with native UI Automation (inspect, type, click, toggle, wait) and deletes the guest afterwards. The sbx CLI and the optional MCP adapter share one engine, per the README.
- sbx deps scans an app on the host for missing runtimes without running it, and sbx run reports likely missing ones after a failed launch. The README's own example caught a missing VC++ redistributable on a fresh, network-off guest in 29.8 seconds.
- Nothing is installed by default; --provision auto or an explicit list (.NET, desktop and ASP.NET Core runtimes, VC++, Windows App Runtime) installs runtimes downloaded and signature-checked on the host, and the report is marked PROVISIONED rather than a clean-machine pass.
- Evidence stays on the host after the guest is destroyed: PNG screenshots, bounded recordings, a self-contained HTML viewer and optional MP4, plus exit codes, crash events, and installer and uninstaller diffs.
- The README's comparison table lists a startup of about 15 seconds, no images to download, free use with Windows Pro or Enterprise, and one instance at a time. v1.2.0 ships a portable CLI with bundled Node.js, so no Node or npm install is needed.

## In the source's words

> "Give your AI agent a brand-new Windows PC. Then throw it away."
> (sandbox-mcp README, https://github.com/shanselman/sandbox-mcp)

> "If you need many machines, persistence, or Linux, use a VM or a cloud box."
> (sandbox-mcp README, on when not to use it, https://github.com/shanselman/sandbox-mcp)

## Early verdict

Worth a look if you ship Windows desktop apps and want an agent to check them on a clean PC; it needs Windows Pro or Enterprise and runs one sandbox at a time. (Basis: Based only on the project's README and releases page as read on Nov 8, 2026; we have not run it.)

## What we have not verified

- We did not install or run sandbox-mcp; the timings and test results are the project's own measurements from its README.
- We did not test the MCP adapter with any agent client, or check which Windows apps fail inside Windows Sandbox.
- The README itself says it is not a promise that every Windows app or hardware-dependent workload works in Sandbox.

## Timeline

- Source published: 2026-11-06 19:02 UTC
- First seen by our watcher: 2026-11-07 17:37 UTC (via GitHub new repos: topic ai-agents)
- Brief published: 2026-11-08 07:10 UTC

## Sources

- [sandbox-mcp repository and README (GitHub)](https://github.com/shanselman/sandbox-mcp) (primary source) (fetched 2026-11-08)
- [sandbox-mcp releases (GitHub)](https://github.com/shanselman/sandbox-mcp/releases) (fetched 2026-11-08)

## Related

- [MCP reference servers: verdict and setup guide](https://theagenticweekly.com/tools/mcp-servers)
- [All news briefs](https://theagenticweekly.com/news)
- [This week's releases](https://theagenticweekly.com/this-week)
- [New AI models this week](https://theagenticweekly.com/models/this-week)

## How to cite

Agentic Weekly, "sandbox-mcp gives AI agents a throwaway Windows 11 machine to test apps, via CLI or MCP", published 2026-11-08 07:10 UTC, https://theagenticweekly.com/news/sandbox-mcp-windows-sandbox