> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.amika.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Architecture overview

> Core Amika concepts and system layout.

Amika is an open-source CLI and HTTP API for running coding agents in sandboxes.

## Core concepts

* **Docker-backed sandboxes**: Isolated, persistent containers for agent execution.
* **Mount modes**: `ro`, `rw`, and `rwcopy` define how agents can access data.
* **Credential discovery**: Amika discovers local coding-agent credentials and mounts snapshots into containers.
* **Preset images**: Bundled images (`coder`, `coder-dind`) with common tooling.
* **Services**: Named network-facing components with port mappings and URL schemes, declared in `.amika/config.toml`.
* **Materialization**: Ephemeral containers run scripts or commands and copy outputs to host paths.

## Command surface

| Command                                    | Purpose                                           |
| ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------- |
| `amika sandbox create/list/connect/delete` | Manage persistent sandboxes                       |
| `amika volume list/delete`                 | Manage tracked volumes created by `rwcopy` mounts |
| `amika auth extract`                       | Discover and print credentials                    |
| `amika service list`                       | List services declared in sandbox configs         |
| `amika materialize`                        | Run command/script and copy output files          |
| `amika-server`                             | Expose API over HTTP                              |

## Package layout

```text theme={null}
cmd/amika            # CLI entrypoints
cmd/amika-server     # HTTP server entrypoint
internal/sandbox     # Sandbox + Docker operations
internal/auth        # Credential discovery
internal/agentconfig # Agent config auto-mounting
internal/httpapi     # REST handlers
pkg/amika            # Shared service API
```

## Dependencies

| Tool    | Required by                                                      |
| ------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Git     | when making sandboxes from your repos in hosted or local mode    |
| Docker  | `materialize`, `sandbox`, `volume` (only required in local mode) |
| `rsync` | `materialize` output copy                                        |

## State storage

State files are stored in XDG paths by default.

See [Storage paths](/reference/storage) for exact locations.