diff --git a/src/lib/connect-cli-command.ts b/src/lib/connect-cli-command.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..5dc24fac4f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/connect-cli-command.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+/* v8 ignore start -- thin oclif adapter covered through CLI integration tests. */
+
+import { Args, Command, Flags } from "@oclif/core";
+
+import { CLI_NAME } from "./branding";
+
+type SandboxConnectOptions = {
+  probeOnly?: boolean;
+};
+
+type RuntimeBridge = {
+  sandboxConnect: (sandboxName: string, options?: SandboxConnectOptions) => Promise<void>;
+};
+
+function getRuntimeBridge(): RuntimeBridge {
+  return require("../nemoclaw") as RuntimeBridge;
+}
+
+export default class ConnectCliCommand extends Command {
+  static id = "sandbox:connect";
+  static strict = true;
+  static summary = "Shell into a running sandbox";
+  static description = "Connect to a running sandbox.";
+  static usage = ["<name> connect [--probe-only]"];
+  static args = {
+    sandboxName: Args.string({ name: "sandbox", description: "Sandbox name", required: true }),
+  };
+  static flags = {
+    help: Flags.help({ char: "h" }),
+    "probe-only": Flags.boolean({ description: "Recover and check the sandbox without opening SSH" }),
+    "dangerously-skip-permissions": Flags.boolean({ hidden: true }),
+  };
+
+  public async run(): Promise<void> {
+    const { args, flags } = await this.parse(ConnectCliCommand);
+    if (flags["dangerously-skip-permissions"]) {
+      console.error("  --dangerously-skip-permissions was removed; use shields commands instead.");
+      console.error(`  Usage: ${CLI_NAME} <name> connect [--probe-only]`);
+      process.exit(1);
+    }
+    await getRuntimeBridge().sandboxConnect(args.sandboxName, {
+      probeOnly: Boolean(flags["probe-only"]),
+    });
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/lib/oclif-commands.ts b/src/lib/oclif-commands.ts
index 95561971f56..fb08cc9eb6a 100644
--- a/src/lib/oclif-commands.ts
+++ b/src/lib/oclif-commands.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import {
   CredentialsListCommand,
   CredentialsResetCommand,
 } from "./credentials-cli-command";
+import ConnectCliCommand from "./connect-cli-command";
 import DebugCliCommand from "./debug-cli-command";
 import DestroyCliCommand from "./destroy-cli-command";
 import GatewayTokenCliCommand from "./gateway-token-cli-command";
@@ -64,6 +65,7 @@ export default {
   "sandbox:channels:start": ChannelsStartCommand,
   "sandbox:channels:stop": ChannelsStopCommand,
   "sandbox:config:get": SandboxConfigGetCommand,
+  "sandbox:connect": ConnectCliCommand,
   "sandbox:destroy": DestroyCliCommand,
   "sandbox:logs": SandboxLogsCommand,
   "sandbox:policy-add": PolicyAddCommand,
diff --git a/src/nemoclaw.ts b/src/nemoclaw.ts
index e582d7222b4..4d4a3fa2955 100644
--- a/src/nemoclaw.ts
+++ b/src/nemoclaw.ts
@@ -650,6 +650,7 @@ exports.garbageCollectImages = garbageCollectImages;
 exports.recoverNamedGatewayRuntime = recoverNamedGatewayRuntime;
 exports.recoverRegistryEntries = recoverRegistryEntries;
 exports.runOpenshell = runOpenshell;
+exports.sandboxConnect = sandboxConnect;
 exports.sandboxDestroy = sandboxDestroy;
 exports.sandboxChannelsAdd = sandboxChannelsAdd;
 exports.sandboxChannelsList = sandboxChannelsList;
@@ -4899,7 +4900,8 @@ const mainPromise = (async () => {
 
     switch (action) {
       case "connect":
-        await sandboxConnect(cmd, parseSandboxConnectArgs(cmd, actionArgs));
+        parseSandboxConnectArgs(cmd, actionArgs);
+        await runOclif("sandbox:connect", [cmd, ...actionArgs]);
         break;
       case "status":
         if (hasHelpFlag(actionArgs)) {
diff --git a/test/cli.test.ts b/test/cli.test.ts
index aebe00fc895..c8fb6458ce4 100644
--- a/test/cli.test.ts
+++ b/test/cli.test.ts
@@ -1076,6 +1076,11 @@ describe("CLI dispatch", () => {
     const home = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "nemoclaw-cli-inspection-help-"));
     writeSandboxRegistry(home);
 
+    const connect = runWithEnv("alpha connect --help", { HOME: home });
+    expect(connect.code).toBe(0);
+    expect(connect.out).toContain("Usage: nemoclaw alpha connect");
+    expect(connect.out).not.toContain("sandbox:connect");
+
     const status = runWithEnv("alpha status --help", { HOME: home });
     expect(status.code).toBe(0);
     expect(status.out).toContain("<name> status");