If It Only Runs on Your Laptop, It's a Zero: A Bootcamp Lab on Clean-Box Agents

Description and use

Students must submit code that runs successfully on a clean remote machine, without access to local secrets. The lab requires fixed tests and a mandatory receipt confirming isolated execution.

Problem

Students often submit code that only passes tests on their personal laptops, leaking secrets or relying on local state, making grading unreliable.

Outcome

The lab enforces environment isolation, ensuring student submissions are reproducible on a clean server and preventing secret leakage.

Workflow

• Clone the lab stub
• Run local tests to confirm failure
• Modify src/retryFetch.js to satisfy contract
• Keep tests frozen
• Submit repo with four files
• Remote clean-box runs tests and generates receipt.json
• Instructor verifies receipt and grading

Evidence

A zip is an automatic fail. I want a repo with four files, no more:

Source

The agent cannot “improve” the tests. The agent cannot slurp secrets.

Source