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A registry file is a recipes: map plus an optional default:. Registries resolve bundled → ~/.dabs/recipes.yaml (global) → ./dabs.yaml (project), later winning by name. 
default: myproj                    # what build/recipe run with no name (optional)
recipes:
  myproj:
    description: one-line summary shown by `dabs recipes`
    image: { dockerfile: Dockerfile, context: . }   # or a bare image name
    workdir: /work                 # cwd inside the box (default /work)
    command: [sh]                  # argv to run; appended-to by `dabs recipe myproj <cmd…>`
    keep: true                     # keep the box after the command exits (default: delete)
    env: { KEY: value }            # environment inside the box
    target: my-server              # route to a registered server; omit for local
    sources:
      - mount: .                   # live bind; origin must exist
        path: /work
        ro: true                   # optional: read-only in the box
      - mkmount: ~/.dabs/shared/x  # live bind; origin created (0700) if absent
        path: /root/.x
      - copy: .                    # snapshot at box start; host untouched
        path: /work
      - worktree: .                # fresh git branch off HEAD, mounted live
        path: /work
        at: $NODE_HELD/worktree    # where the checkout lands (default: held)

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Field notes

  • image — a bare name reuses ~/.dabs/images/<name> (built from a bundled image recipe on first use). An inline {dockerfile, context} builds with dabs build; the image is named after the recipe, so two recipes sharing one Dockerfile still build two tags.
  • command — must not bake in agent instructions; recipes provision, callers prompt.
  • sources — exactly one origin kind per entry (mount / mkmount / copy / worktree). Space variables $NODE_VOLUME|HELD|TMP and $PARENT_VOLUME|HELD|TMP substitute in source paths only. ($NODE_EPHEMERAL/$PARENT_EPHEMERAL are permanent aliases for the held variants.) Mounts land parent-before-child regardless of declaration order.
  • target — "" (local) or a server from dabs servers. The reserved INTERNAL-docker-privileged-for-nested-sandboxing target exists for boxes that must boot nested sandboxes.
  • boxless recipes — a recipe with no image: provisions its places (a worktree, a copied dir) and stops; wt and scratch are the bundled examples.