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Playgrounds

Playground Runtime Classification

Current truth table for public playground modes -- real labs, live-data views, guided demos, and how to verify the deployed hub

March 26, 2026 Updated March 26, 2026

Playground Runtime Classification

The public playground hub at /playground now uses three runtime classes that are meant to reflect reality, not marketing shorthand:

  • live -- provisions real LXC containers or QEMU VMs
  • live-data -- reads real infrastructure or telemetry without provisioning a lab
  • simulation -- guided interactive demos with no live lab backend

This document is the current truth table for that classification.

Current Runtime Map

Real labs (live)

These pages are backed by the lab engine and should be treated as real infrastructure experiences:

Public label Route Backing
apkg Tutorial /playground/apkg-tutorial argo-os-experience QEMU VM on Titan
Terminal Lab /playground/terminal linux-fundamentals LXC template on Io
Container Lab /playground/containers Multi-template LXC launcher
IaC Playground /playground/iac iac-playground control/target pair on Io
Ollama Lab /playground/ollama container-workshop Docker-ready container on Io
RAG Workshop /playground/rag iac-playground control/target pair on Io
Argo OS Experience /playground/argo-os argo-os-experience QEMU VM on Titan
Networking Lab /playground/networking networking-lab three-container topology on Io

Live-data pages (live-data)

These pages should not be described as simulations. They are read-only views over real data:

Public label Route Source
Live Activity Feed /playground/live-feed live infrastructure activity stream
Infrastructure Explorer /playground/infrastructure topology and infrastructure data
Monitoring Lab /playground/monitoring Prometheus-backed health and metrics

Guided demos (simulation)

These pages are interactive, but they do not provision containers or VMs:

Public label Route Notes
Cost Calculator /playground/cost-calculator pricing and replacement model
OpenClaw Security Lab /playground/openclaw-security guided prompt-injection exercises
Glass UI Playground /playground/glass-ui design sandbox
EdgeMail Sandbox /playground/edgemail product tour / architecture sandbox
API Explorer /playground/api-explorer route browser and metadata explorer

Hub Status Text

The hub now separates runtime type from current availability.

Examples:

  • Real lab but engine unreachable: Real lab offline
  • Live-data page when telemetry cannot be fetched: Telemetry may be stale
  • Guided demo: Guided interactive demo

This prevents real labs from being mislabeled as "simulation" just because the health check failed.

How To Verify The Live Site

Verification should be done against the public route, not just local source.

On 2026-03-26 the live page at https://argobox.com/playground was verified with these unique strings from the updated build:

  • Each card tells you exactly what is real
  • Stack up the full SaaS bill
  • Launch hub for all provisioned LXC lab templates
  • Guided interactive demo
  • Real lab offline
  • Telemetry may be stale

If those strings are present, the newer runtime-aware playground hub is live.

Source Of Truth

The public hub data lives in:

  • src/pages/playground/index.astro

The real backing templates come from:

  • services/lab-engine/app/templates/*.yaml

When the hub and the template inventory diverge, the template inventory wins.

playgroundsruntimedeploymentverificationlab-engine