# Strands Agents Shell
Strands Agents Shell is a [[Rust]]-based, in-process Bourne-compatible shell that gives [[Strands Agents|AI agents]] safe command execution without compromising host security. It solves a common agent need, running shell commands quickly in tight loops (installing dependencies, running tests), while staying isolated.
## Key aspects
- Sub-millisecond startup (~200ms faster than spinning up Docker)
- Virtual filesystem with configurable file access
- Network protections: SSRF guards and URL allowlisting
- Resource limits (memory, time)
- Integrates with agents via native bindings (Python / Node.js) and [[Model Context Protocol (MCP)|MCP]]
## References
- https://github.com/strands-agents/shell
## Related
- [[Strands Agents]]
- [[Rust]]
- [[Agentic Engineering]]
- [[Model Context Protocol (MCP)]]
- [[Docker Sandboxes]]
- [[OpenSandbox]]
- [[microVM]]