Lima VM Sandbox Testing

Lima VM Sandbox Testing

Run Claude Code in isolated VMs for reliable integration testing.

Quick Install (Other Projects)

Run this in any project to set up Lima VM sandbox testing:

# Install Lima (macOS)
brew install lima

# Clone the integration test framework
mkdir -p .claude && cd .claude
git clone --depth 1 --filter=blob:none --sparse \
  https://github.com/​hgeldenhuys/​claude-code-sdk.git claude-code-sdk
cd claude-code-sdk
git sparse-checkout set integration-tests
cd ../​..

# Or copy just the integration-tests folder
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/​hgeldenhuys/​claude-code-sdk/​main/​integration-tests/​setup-lima.sh -o .claude/​setup-lima.sh
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/​hgeldenhuys/​claude-code-sdk/​main/​integration-tests/​run-tests.sh -o .claude/​run-tests.sh
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/​hgeldenhuys/​claude-code-sdk/​main/​integration-tests/​lib/​test-utils.sh -o .claude/​lib/​test-utils.sh
chmod +x .claude/​*.sh

One-Line Install

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/​hgeldenhuys/​claude-code-sdk/​main/​scripts/​install-lima-tests.sh | bash

VM Setup (One-Time)

cd integration-tests  # or .claude if installed there

# Create VM (~5 min, downloads Ubuntu)
./​setup-lima.sh create

# Install Claude Code and dependencies in VM
./​setup-lima.sh install

# Authenticate Claude (interactive)
limactl shell claude-sdk-test
claude login
exit

# Snapshot authenticated state (for fast restore)
./​setup-lima.sh snapshot

Running Tests

# Run all tests
./​run-tests.sh

# Run specific test
./​run-tests.sh session-survival

# Restore to clean state first
./​run-tests.sh --restore session-survival

Writing Tests

Create test files in tests/ directory:

#!/​bin/​bash
# tests/​my-feature.sh
set -e

SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
source "$SCRIPT_DIR/​../​lib/​test-utils.sh"

test_my_feature() {
    test_start "Feature works correctly"

    # Run Claude headless in VM
    claude_headless "Your prompt here" "/​tmp/​workspace"

    # Assert results
    assert_exit_code 0 "Should succeed"
    assert_contains "$CLAUDE_OUTPUT" "expected" "Should contain expected"

    test_pass
}

main() {
    test_my_feature
    print_summary
}

main "$@"

Test Utilities Reference

Claude Execution

# Run Claude with prompt
claude_headless "prompt" "/​workspace"
# Results in: $CLAUDE_OUTPUT, $CLAUDE_EXIT_CODE

# Resume session by name
claude_resume "session-name" "prompt" "/​workspace"

# Run slash command
claude_slash "/​compact" "/​workspace"

Session Management

# Get session ID from name
sesh_get_id "brave-elephant"

# Get name from session ID
sesh_get_name "abc-123-def"

# Check if session exists
sesh_exists "session-name"

# List sessions as JSON
sesh_list "--json"

Assertions

assert_eq "$actual" "$expected" "Values should match"
assert_ne "$actual" "$unexpected" "Values should differ"
assert_not_empty "$value" "Should have value"
assert_contains "$string" "substring" "Should contain"
assert_exit_code 0 "Should succeed"

VM Commands

# Run command in VM
vm_exec "ls -la /​home"

# Run and capture output
vm_exec_capture "cat /​etc/​os-release"
# Results in: $VM_STDOUT, $VM_STDERR, $VM_EXIT_CODE

VM Management

./​setup-lima.sh status   # Check VM state
./​setup-lima.sh shell    # Open interactive shell
./​setup-lima.sh restore  # Reset to authenticated snapshot
./​setup-lima.sh destroy  # Delete VM completely

Use Cases

1. Session Survival: Test that session names persist across /​compact
2. Hook Validation: Verify hooks execute correctly in real Claude
3. SDK Integration: Test SDK features with actual Claude execution
4. Regression Testing: Catch breaking changes before release

Troubleshooting

VM won't start

limactl list
limactl stop claude-sdk-test
limactl start claude-sdk-test

Authentication expired

limactl shell claude-sdk-test -- claude login
./​setup-lima.sh snapshot  # Update snapshot

Test pollution

./​setup-lima.sh restore  # Reset to clean state

Architecture

integration-tests/
├── setup-lima.sh       # VM lifecycle management
├── run-tests.sh        # Test orchestrator
├── lib/
│   └── test-utils.sh   # Shared utilities
├── tests/
│   └── *.sh            # Test scripts
├── fixtures/           # Test data
└── results/            # JSON test results

The VM provides complete isolation - each test run can restore to a known-good authenticated state, ensuring reproducible results.