skybox open

Open editor or shell for a running container without restarting it.

Usage

skybox open [project] [options]

Arguments

Argument	Description
[project]	Name of the project (optional, auto-detected from cwd or prompted)

Options

Option	Description
-e, --editor	Open in editor only
-s, --shell	Attach to shell only
--no-prompt	Non-interactive mode
--dry-run	Preview what would happen without executing

Description

The open command provides quick access to a running container's editor or shell without going through the full skybox up workflow. It's designed for when you already have a container running and just want to:

• Open another editor window
• Attach a new shell session
• Quickly jump into a project that's already up

Key Differences from skybox up

Command	Behavior
skybox up	Creates session, resumes sync, starts container if needed, then opens editor/shell
skybox open	Only works with running containers, just opens editor/shell

Use skybox open when:

• Container is already running
• You want quick access without session/sync checks
• You need multiple editor windows or shell sessions

Use skybox up when:

• Starting a work session
• Container might not be running
• You need the full startup flow (session, sync, container start)

Action Menu

Without flags, skybox open presents the same action menu as skybox up:

? What would you like to do?
  1) Open in editor
  2) Attach to shell
  3) Both
  4) Neither (just exit)

Container Must Be Running

Unlike skybox up, the open command requires the container to already be running:

$ skybox open my-project
Error: Container for 'my-project' is not running.
  i Run 'skybox up' to start the container first.

Examples

# Open action menu for a running project
skybox open my-project

# Open editor only (no prompts)
skybox open my-project --editor

# Attach to shell only
skybox open my-project --shell

# Open both editor and shell
skybox open my-project --editor --shell

# Auto-detect project from current directory
cd ~/.skybox/Projects/my-project
skybox open

# Non-interactive mode (does nothing if no flags)
skybox open my-project --no-prompt --editor

Workflow Example

# Start your work session
skybox up my-project --editor

# Later, need another shell window
skybox open my-project --shell

# Or open in a different editor
skybox open my-project --editor

Multiple Sessions

Open multiple shells for the same running container:

# Terminal 1: Main development
skybox up my-project --attach

# Terminal 2: Run tests
skybox open my-project --shell

# Terminal 3: Watch logs
skybox open my-project --shell

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Error (not configured, project not found, container not running)

See Also

• skybox up - Start container with full workflow
• skybox shell - Direct shell access with auto-start option
• skybox status - Check if container is running