mattwynne/yx-sandbox

yx Sandbox

Use a sandbox whenever you need to run yx commands that would pollute the project's real yak list — exploratory testing, UX reviews, demos, experiments, etc.

Setup

Create a temp directory and capture its literal path:

mktemp -d
# Output: /tmp/tmp.xYz123AbC  ← capture this literal path

Usage

Prefix every yx command with the env vars using the literal path from above:

cd /tmp/tmp.xYz123AbC && YX_SKIP_GIT_CHECKS=1 yx <command>

• cd /tmp/tmp.xYz123AbC enters the temp sandbox directory
• YX_SKIP_GIT_CHECKS=1 avoids git setup requirements in temp dirs
• yx will use .yaks in the current directory when git checks are skipped
• Never run bare yx without YX_SKIP_GIT_CHECKS=1 during sandbox work

Note: Shell variables don't persist between Bash tool calls. Always use the literal path, not a variable like $SANDBOX.

Cleanup

rm -rf /tmp/tmp.xYz123AbC

Common Mistakes

| Mistake | Fix | |---------|-----| | Running yx without the prefix | Every command needs both env vars | | Using $SANDBOX variable | Literal path only — vars don't persist between calls | | Forgetting to clean up | rm -rf <path> when done |