NVIDIA / NVIDIA/OpenShell

feat: external compute driver extension point

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#1,907 3 comments 0 reactions 1 assignee View on GitHub

@elezar is already working on this.

Since Jun 16, 2026.

area:cli area:gateway
Dominant language
Rust
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Description

Description

Track the extensibility capability proposed by NVIDIA/OpenShell#1703: allowing the gateway to connect to an operator-owned, out-of-tree compute driver over a Unix domain socket via --compute-driver-socket / OPENSHELL_COMPUTE_DRIVER_SOCKET.

At a high level, this lets OpenShell keep the gateway and sandbox lifecycle contract stable while allowing compute backends to live outside the core repository and speak the existing compute_driver.proto interface.

Context

  • Implementation PR: NVIDIA/OpenShell#1703
  • Parent extensibility roadmap: NVIDIA/OpenShell#1904

What This Unlocks

  • Lets operators integrate platform-specific compute backends without requiring every backend to be built into OpenShell.
  • Allows managed or opinionated infrastructure environments to provide their own sandbox lifecycle driver while using the upstream gateway image.
  • Keeps the in-tree driver set focused on common backends while enabling external driver experimentation and adoption.
  • Creates a path for partner, internal, or deployment-specific compute drivers to evolve independently from the core gateway release cycle.

Definition of Done

  • The external compute driver activation path is accepted, merged, or closed with a clear disposition.
  • Follow-on issues are created for any accepted v1 hardening, documentation, registry, or testing work.
  • Child work is linked under the relevant roadmap/project item so project tracking stays accurate.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Assessment

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