diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f69cd00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+name: CI
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+    - main
+  pull_request:
+    branches:
+    - main
+jobs:
+  test:
+    name: Julia ${{ matrix.version }} - ${{ matrix.build_spec }}
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        version:
+          - '1.6'
+        os:
+          - ubuntu-latest
+        arch:
+          - x64
+    env:
+      JULIA_DEBUG: SandboxJulia
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+      - uses: julia-actions/setup-julia@v1
+        with:
+          version: ${{ matrix.version }}
+          arch: ${{ matrix.arch }}
+      - uses: actions/cache@v1
+        env:
+          cache-name: cache-artifacts
+        with:
+          path: ~/.julia/artifacts
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-test-${{ env.cache-name }}-${{ hashFiles('**/Project.toml') }}
+          restore-keys: |
+            ${{ runner.os }}-test-${{ env.cache-name }}-
+            ${{ runner.os }}-test-
+            ${{ runner.os }}-
+      - uses: julia-actions/julia-buildpkg@latest
+      - run: |
+          git config --global user.name Tester
+          git config --global user.email te@st.er
+      - uses: julia-actions/julia-runtest@latest
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ba39cc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Manifest.toml
diff --git a/Artifacts.toml b/Artifacts.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa1a80e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Artifacts.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+[alpine]
+git-tree-sha1 = "562768a40e93d27b79fbedf9cfa7883409d494ea"
+lazy = true
+
+    [[alpine.download]]
+    sha256 = "5a588162779446d8e5235bf6fc97588d1e197f44cf64e3a1f88ae828270456a7"
+    url = "https://github.com/alpinelinux/docker-alpine/raw/2f3c3015951938c521e752899a92ecd618e0c05b/x86_64/alpine-minirootfs-3.12.4-x86_64.tar.gz"
+
+[debian]
+git-tree-sha1 = "629416ae3d28494fea097fedc57d0fdd748731e3"
+lazy = true
+
+    [[debian.download]]
+    sha256 = "3c3c78a1b15490bfdc29cfd10a72f5f16195ccf64ffc4cdfb445cad387ea5b50"
+    url = "https://github.com/JuliaCI/PkgEval.jl/releases/download/v0.1/debian-buster-20210420.tar.xz"
diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d9da484
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+name = "SandboxJulia"
+uuid = "00b7dd00-052f-4550-80aa-b019f336a5ea"
+version = "0.1.0"
+
+[deps]
+LazyArtifacts = "4af54fe1-eca0-43a8-85a7-787d91b784e3"
+Sandbox = "9307e30f-c43e-9ca7-d17c-c2dc59df670d"
+
+[extras]
+Test = "8dfed614-e22c-5e08-85e1-65c5234f0b40"
+
+[targets]
+test = ["Test"]
diff --git a/src/SandboxJulia.jl b/src/SandboxJulia.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b43b697
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/SandboxJulia.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,180 @@
+module SandboxJulia
+
+using LazyArtifacts, Sandbox
+export run_sandboxed_julia
+
+isdebug(group) = Base.CoreLogging.current_logger_for_env(Base.CoreLogging.Debug, group, SandboxJulia) !== nothing
+
+lazy_artifact(x) = @artifact_str(x)
+
+const rootfs_lock = ReentrantLock()
+const rootfs_cache = Dict()
+function prepare_rootfs(distro="debian"; uid=1000, user="sandboxjulia", gid=1000, group="sandboxjulia", home="/home/$user")
+    lock(rootfs_lock) do
+        get!(rootfs_cache, (distro, uid, user, gid, group, home)) do
+            base = lazy_artifact(distro)
+
+            # a bare rootfs isn't usable out-of-the-box
+            derived = mktempdir()
+            cp(base, derived; force=true)
+
+            # add a user and group
+            chmod(joinpath(derived, "etc/passwd"), 0o644)
+            open(joinpath(derived, "etc/passwd"), "a") do io
+                println(io, "$user:x:$uid:$gid::$home:/bin/bash")
+            end
+            chmod(joinpath(derived, "etc/group"), 0o644)
+            open(joinpath(derived, "etc/group"), "a") do io
+                println(io, "$group:x:$gid:")
+            end
+            chmod(joinpath(derived, "etc/shadow"), 0o640)
+            open(joinpath(derived, "etc/shadow"), "a") do io
+                println(io, "$user:*:::::::")
+            end
+
+            # replace resolv.conf
+            rm(joinpath(derived, "etc/resolv.conf"); force=true)
+            write(joinpath(derived, "etc/resolv.conf"), read("/etc/resolv.conf"))
+
+            return (path=derived, uid, user, gid, group, home)
+        end
+    end
+end
+
+"""
+    run_sandboxed_julia(install::String, args=``; env=Dict(), mounts=Dict(),
+                        wait=true, stdin=stdin, stdout=stdout, stderr=stderr,
+                        install_dir="/opt/julia", kwargs...)
+
+Run Julia inside of a sandbox, passing the given arguments `args` to it. The argument `wait`
+determines if the process will be waited on. Streams can be connected using the `stdin`,
+`stdout` and `sterr` arguments. Returns a `Process` object.
+
+Further customization is possible using the `env` arg, to set environment variables, and the
+`mounts` argument to mount additional directories. With `install_dir`, the directory where
+Julia is installed can be chosen.
+"""
+function run_sandboxed_julia(args=``; wait=true,
+                             registries_dir=joinpath(first(DEPOT_PATH), "registries"),
+                             storage_dir=mktempdir(),
+                             install::String=dirname(dirname(Sys.which("julia"))),
+                             mounts::Dict{String,String}=Dict{String,String}(),
+                             privileged=false,
+                             kwargs...)
+    config, cmd = runner_sandboxed_julia(install, args; storage_dir, registries_dir, kwargs...)
+
+    # XXX: even when preferred_executor() returns UnprivilegedUserNamespacesExecutor,
+    #      sometimes a stray sudo happens at run time? no idea how.
+    exe_typ = privileged ? PrivilegedUserNamespacesExecutor : UnprivilegedUserNamespacesExecutor
+    exe = exe_typ()
+    proc = Base.run(exe, config, cmd; wait)
+
+    # TODO: introduce a --stats flag that has the sandbox trace and report on CPU, network, ... usage
+
+    if wait
+        cleanup(exe)
+    else
+        @async begin
+            try
+                Base.wait(proc)
+                cleanup(exe)
+            catch err
+                @error "Unexpected error while cleaning up process" exception=(err, catch_backtrace())
+            end
+        end
+    end
+
+    return proc
+end
+
+# global Xvfb process for use by all containers
+const xvfb_lock = ReentrantLock()
+const xvfb_proc = Ref{Union{Base.Process,Nothing}}(nothing)
+
+ 
+function installed_julia_dir(jp)
+    jp_contents = readdir(jp)
+    # Allow the unpacked directory to either be insider another directory (as produced by
+    # the buildbots) or directly inside the mapped directory (as produced by the BB script)
+    if length(jp_contents) == 1
+        jp = joinpath(jp, first(jp_contents))
+    end
+    jp
+end
+
+function runner_sandboxed_julia(install::String, args=``; registries_dir,
+                                storage_dir,
+                                dot_julia_path = mktempdir(),
+                                install_dir="/opt/julia",
+                                stdin=stdin, stdout=stdout, stderr=stderr,
+                                env::Dict{String,String}=Dict{String,String}(),
+                                mounts::Dict{String,String}=Dict{String,String}(),
+                                xvfb::Bool=true, cpus::Vector{Int}=Int[])
+    julia_path = installed_julia_dir(install)
+    rootfs = prepare_rootfs()
+    read_only_maps = Dict(
+        "/"                                 => rootfs.path,
+        install_dir                         => julia_path,
+        "/usr/local/share/julia/registries" => registries_dir,
+    )
+
+    artifacts_path = joinpath(storage_dir, "artifacts")
+    mkpath(artifacts_path)
+    read_write_maps = merge(mounts, Dict(
+        joinpath(rootfs.home, ".julia/artifacts")   => artifacts_path,
+        joinpath(rootfs.home, ".julia")   => dot_julia_path
+    ))
+
+    env = merge(env, Dict(
+        # use the provided registry
+        # NOTE: putting a registry in a non-primary depot entry makes Pkg use it as-is,
+        #       without needingb to set Pkg.UPDATED_REGISTRY_THIS_SESSION.
+        "JULIA_DEPOT_PATH" => "::/usr/local/share/julia",
+
+        # some essential env vars (since we don't run from a shell)
+        "PATH" => "/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin",
+        "HOME" => rootfs.home,
+    ))
+    if haskey(ENV, "TERM")
+        env["TERM"] = ENV["TERM"]
+    end
+
+    if xvfb
+        lock(xvfb_lock) do
+            if xvfb_proc[] === nothing || !process_running(xvfb_proc[])
+                proc = Base.run(`Xvfb :1 -screen 0 1024x768x16`; wait=false)
+                sleep(1)
+                process_running(proc) || error("Could not start Xvfb")
+
+                xvfb_proc[] === nothing && atexit() do
+                    kill(xvfb_proc[])
+                    wait(xvfb_proc[])
+                end
+                xvfb_proc[] = proc
+            end
+        end
+
+        env["DISPLAY"] = ":1"
+        read_write_maps["/tmp/.X11-unix"] = "/tmp/.X11-unix"
+    end
+
+    cmd = `$install_dir/bin/julia`
+
+    # restrict resource usage
+    if !isempty(cpus)
+        cmd = `/usr/bin/taskset --cpu-list $(join(cpus, ',')) $cmd`
+        env["JULIA_CPU_THREADS"] = string(length(cpus)) # JuliaLang/julia#35787
+    end
+
+    # NOTE: we use persist=true so that modifications to the rootfs are backed by
+    #       actual storage on the host, and not just the (1G hard-coded) tmpfs,
+    #       because some packages like to generate a lot of data during testing.
+
+    config = SandboxConfig(read_only_maps, read_write_maps, env;
+                           rootfs.uid, rootfs.gid, pwd=rootfs.home, persist=true,
+                           stdin, stdout, stderr, verbose=isdebug(:sandbox))
+
+    return config, `$cmd $args`
+end
+
+end # module
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..688e2b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+using Test, SandboxJulia
+
+script = """
+       using Pkg;
+       Pkg.add("Example")
+       using Example
+       """
+
+run_sandboxed_julia(`-e $script`; privileged=true)