@north-light/env-docker — start and attach to a crtrd container from Node

@north-light/env-docker starts, attaches to and stops a crtrd (the crouter daemon) Docker container through the docker CLI, and hands back the connection settings that @north-light/sdk takes. It has no dependencies, including on the SDK.

It is not a Docker client library or an orchestrator: it runs one container and tells you how to reach it. The image contains no model credential, so you configure a provider inside the container before an agent run can do anything.

Docs · SDK · crouter repository · Source

Install

npm install @north-light/env-docker @north-light/sdk

The Docker CLI must be on PATH, and able to pull ghcr.io/northlight-systems/crtrd (or the image you pass).

Start a container

import { start } from '@north-light/env-docker';
import Crouter from '@north-light/sdk';

const env = await start({
  name: 'my-crouter',
  volume: 'my-agent-home',
});

const client = new Crouter(env.connection());
console.log(await client.system.health());

await env.stop();

start() creates a container from ghcr.io/northlight-systems/crtrd:latest unless you pass image, generates a bearer token, grants the privileges the image's sandbox launcher needs (SYS_ADMIN and NET_ADMIN, unconfined seccomp and AppArmor), binds the mapped port to 127.0.0.1, and waits for /healthz. connection() returns { baseURL, headers }, the shape new Crouter(...) takes. stop() removes the container.

Options: env sets container environment variables, port selects a host port, volume mounts a named Docker volume at /volume, the image's declared volume. A named volume keeps canvas state, memory and installed credentials when the container is recreated.

Attach to an existing container

import { attach } from '@north-light/env-docker';

const env = await attach('my-crouter');
const connection = env.connection();
await env.stop(); // stops the container but does not remove it

attach(name) reads the container's mapped port and its CRTRD_TOKEN.

Related

• @north-light/sdk — the client that consumes connection().
• docker/README.md — running the crtrd image with docker run, its environment variables, and building it locally.
• Main repository — the crtr CLI, the crtrd daemon.

License

Proprietary. Copyright (c) 2026 Northlight Systems. All rights reserved. See LICENSE.