# Limitations

> Source: `src/content/docs/agent-os/limitations.mdx`
> Canonical URL: https://rivet.dev/docs/agent-os/limitations
> Description: What the agentOS VM does not support, and how to work around it.

---
agentOS is a Linux-like environment with a POSIX-compliant virtual kernel. It handles most agent workloads (coding, scripting, file I/O, networking) with near-zero overhead.

## Sandbox mounting

When a workload needs a full Linux OS, agents can escalate to a full sandbox on demand without changing code. The [sandbox mounting](/docs/agent-os/sandbox) extension mounts the sandbox as a filesystem and lets you execute commands on it, like mounting a hard drive on your own machine. Files written in the VM are available in the sandbox and vice versa.

See [agentOS vs Sandbox](/docs/agent-os/versus-sandbox) for a detailed comparison.

## Limitations

### Software registry

agentOS uses its own [software registry](/agent-os/registry) of popular tools cross-compiled for the runtime. Native language runtimes like Go, Rust, and C++ are supported. Standard Linux package managers (`apt`, `yum`) are not available since agentOS is not a full Linux OS.

See [Software](/docs/agent-os/software) for how to install and configure available packages.

### POSIX-compliant, not full Linux

agentOS provides a POSIX-compliant virtual kernel with full filesystem operations, networking, and process management. It is not a full Linux kernel, so some Linux-specific features are not available:

- Kernel modules and eBPF
- Container runtimes (e.g. Docker)

### No hardware access

The VM has no access to GPUs, USB devices, or other hardware.

_Source doc path: /docs/agent-os/limitations_