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BLACKBOX

Download a machine.

A BLACKBOX is a program plus its world — the runtime, its dependencies, its interface, its permissions, and its data contract — packaged into one reproducible, portable .blackbox file.

The recipient does not install Python, npm packages, CUDA drivers, or anything else. They run one command, and BLACKBOX rebuilds the machine around the application.

SOURCE PROJECT          datasift.blackbox           ANOTHER MACHINE
    │                        │                            │
    ├─ blackbox pack ────────┤  USB / email / download ───┤─ blackbox run
    │                        │        (one file)          │       │
    ▼                        ▼                            ▼       ▼
  your code            everything it needs          downloads    app runs
  + manifest           to reproduce itself          nothing      (verified)

Why this exists

The modern way to hand someone a computational tool is still "clone this repo, make a venv, install requirements, hope your platform matches." BLACKBOX replaces that with:

Download → Open → Run

  • A file that belongs to you. No app store, no account, no server. A .blackbox moves over USB, email, torrent, or scp just as well.
  • Reproducible by hash. Same source + lockfile ⇒ byte-identical package. Dependencies pinned by exact versions and SHA-256.
  • Deduplicated. Ten appliances that all use Python 3.12 share one runtime on disk, content-addressed.
  • Permissioned. Packages declare filesystem/network/process access up front; defaults deny everything; you approve before the first run.
  • Multi-runtime. Python and Node.js interpreters are provisioned automatically from hash-pinned official builds; native packages carry their own compiled binary (Rust, Go, C…).

Try it in one copy-paste

blackbox init hello && cd hello
blackbox pack
blackbox run hello.blackbox

blackbox init hello; cd hello
blackbox pack
blackbox run hello.blackbox

The first run downloads a verified CPython 3.12 into ~/.blackbox — never your system Python — and every later package reuses it.

Where to go next

I want to… Read
Install the CLI Getting Started
Ship my own tool as a .blackbox Creating a package
Run / audit a package I received Running a package
Pack a Node.js or compiled app Multi-language
Sign packages so recipients can trust them Signing & trust
Understand how it all fits together Architecture
Implement my own reader/writer Package format spec

The thesis

A researcher sends one file. Another researcher opens it. The experiment runs.