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List a box's own commands, and let them take a per-box name on the host #238

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List a box's own commands, and let them take a per-box name on the host #238

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0eb2b2b
feat: add a box command to the host terminal, with a host/box chooser
kacperpaczos Aug 25, 2026
0f8390e
feat: list a box's own commands, and name them per box on the host
kacperpaczos Aug 25, 2026
ccaf3ec
docs: shorten the home directory hint
kacperpaczos Aug 26, 2026
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35 changes: 35 additions & 0 deletions docs/tips.md
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Expand Up @@ -76,3 +76,38 @@ sudo flatpak override --reset io.github.dvlv.boxbuddyrs
```

------

## Running the same application under separate profiles

Some applications keep their settings and logins in your home directory, which
means every box sees the same ones - the box changes the system underneath the
application, not who it is logged in as. If you want the same application under
several identities (say a work account and two personal ones), give each box its
own home directory.

Fill in **Home Directory** when creating the box, for example
`~/boxes/work`. The box then has a home of its own, so anything the application
writes there - its configuration, its credentials, its history - belongs to that
box alone.

Three things stay the way you would want them:

- **Your files on the host are still reachable.** Only the home directory is
swapped; the rest of the filesystem is mounted as usual, so a project at
`/home/you/Documents/project` is available inside the box under that same
path. Note that it is no longer under `~`, so use the full path.
- **Exports still land on the host.** Distrobox knows your real home, so
applications you add to the menu and commands you add to the terminal appear
in the host's menu and on the host's `PATH`, not inside the box's private
home.
- **Each box updates independently.** The application is installed per box, so
one profile can stay on an older version while another moves on. The flip
side is that updating means updating each box.

Give the boxes names you will recognise (`work`, `personal`): exported
applications carry the box name in the menu, so the entries stay apart. For
commands, the host name you choose when adding one to the terminal is what you
will type, so `claude-work` and `claude-personal` can live side by side.

If BoxBuddy is installed as a Flatpak, choosing a custom home directory needs
`home` filesystem access - see the section above.
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