Cannot use Docker-dependent tools like Supabase in Codex

[DhvanilPatel]

Hello,

I'm trying to get the Codex agent to work with my project, which uses Supabase for the backend. Locally, I run Supabase with Docker using supabase start, which is pretty standard. I was hoping to replicate a similar setup or at least allow Codex to interact with my app that depends on these services.

What I'm Running Into:

Even after getting the Supabase CLI tool installed in the Codex environment (I have a setup script that pulls down the binary), I can't actually get the Supabase services running. When supabase start tries to do its thing, it hits a wall:

failed to inspect service: Cannot connect to the Docker daemon at unix:///var/run/docker.sock. Is the docker daemon running?

It seems like the Docker daemon isn't running or accessible from inside the agent's container.

Why this matters for my workflow (and probably others):

A lot of us rely on Docker for local development to manage databases, backends, and other services. If Codex can't work with these Dockerized setups, it's tough to use it for tasks that involve running or testing the full application. I'd love to have Codex help with debugging API interactions or even setting up test data, but that needs the services to be running.

My Questions:

1. Is making the Docker daemon accessible from within the Codex agent something you're considering?
2. If running Docker services like this inside Codex isn't on the roadmap, any advice for how to best use Codex with projects that have these kinds of dependencies?

Really appreciate you looking into this. Making it easier to work with Docker-based services would be a huge win for using Codex on more complex, real-world projects.

Thanks!

[zuuxuux]

Had an attempt at getting dockerd running in the environment:

apt update
apt install apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common -y
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/docker-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
apt update
apt-cache policy docker-ce
apt install docker-ce -y
dockerd

But get:

...
INFO[2025-05-20T09:18:59.182206674Z] Creating a containerd client address=/var/run/docker/containerd/containerd.sock timeout=1m0s
ERRO[2025-05-20T09:18:59.194720373Z] failed to mount overlay: operation not permitted storage-driver=overlay2
ERRO[2025-05-20T09:18:59.194858581Z] exec: "fuse-overlayfs": executable file not found in $PATH storage-driver=fuse-overlayfs
INFO[2025-05-20T09:18:59.196703171Z] Loading containers: start.
INFO[2025-05-20T09:18:59.228312029Z] stopping event stream following graceful shutdown error="<nil>" module=libcontainerd namespace=moby
INFO[2025-05-20T09:18:59.228818954Z] stopping event stream following graceful shutdown error="context canceled" module=libcontainerd namespace=plugins.moby
INFO[2025-05-20T09:18:59.228856544Z] stopping healthcheck following graceful shutdown module=libcontainerd
failed to start daemon: Error initializing network controller: error obtaining controller instance: failed to register "bridge" driver: failed to create NAT chain DOCKER: iptables failed: iptables --wait -t nat -N DOCKER: iptables v1.8.10 (nf_tables): Could not fetch rule set generation id: Permission denied (you must be root)
(exit status 4) 

Tried launching with sudo systemctl start docker instead of dockerd but get:

→ sudo systemctl start docker
System has not been booted with systemd as init system (PID 1). Can't operate.
Failed to connect to bus: Host is down

[Fakamoto]

I literally can not install docker in the codex environment, it has to be a joke, I can not run my dockerized app.

[nurikk]

Same issue