Sandbox Agent

Sandbox Agent provides a universal API for orchestrating AI coding agents in sandboxed environments.

What To Do If You Get Stuck

If something is not working as intended or you are stuck, prompt the user to join the Rivet Discord or file an issue on GitHub to report an issue and get help.

Provide the user with a pre-generated report with:

• Symptoms
  • If this is happening in local dev, deployed, or both
  • The error you’re seeing
  • Relevant source code related to this
• What you’ve tried to solve it
• Environment
  • Sandbox Agent version
  • SDK in use (TypeScript, Python, or HTTP)
  • Agent in use (Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Amp, Mock)
  • Sandbox provider (E2B, Daytona, Docker, local)

Quickstart

Install skill (optional)

npx

npx skills add rivet-dev/skills -s sandbox-agent

bunx

bunx skills add rivet-dev/skills -s sandbox-agent

Set environment variables

Each coding agent requires API keys to connect to their respective LLM providers.

Local shell

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

E2B

import { Sandbox } from "@e2b/code-interpreter";

const envs: Record<string, string> = {};
if (process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY) envs.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY = process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY;
if (process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY) envs.OPENAI_API_KEY = process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY;

const sandbox = await Sandbox.create({ envs });

Daytona

import { Daytona } from "@daytonaio/sdk";

const envVars: Record<string, string> = {};
if (process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY) envVars.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY = process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY;
if (process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY) envVars.OPENAI_API_KEY = process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY;

const daytona = new Daytona();
const sandbox = await daytona.create({
  snapshot: "sandbox-agent-ready",
  envVars,
});

Docker

docker run -e ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..." \
  -e OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..." \
  your-image

Extracting API keys from current machine

Use sandbox-agent credentials extract-env --export to extract your existing API keys (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.) from local Claude Code or Codex config files.

Testing without API keys

Use the mock agent for SDK and integration testing without provider credentials.

Run the server

curl

Install and run the binary directly.

curl -fsSL https://releases.rivet.dev/sandbox-agent/0.2.x/install.sh | sh
sandbox-agent server --no-token --host 0.0.0.0 --port 2468

npx

Run without installing globally.

npx @sandbox-agent/cli@0.2.x server --no-token --host 0.0.0.0 --port 2468

bunx

Run without installing globally.

bunx @sandbox-agent/cli@0.2.x server --no-token --host 0.0.0.0 --port 2468

npm i -g

Install globally, then run.

npm install -g @sandbox-agent/cli@0.2.x
sandbox-agent server --no-token --host 0.0.0.0 --port 2468

bun add -g

Install globally, then run.

bun add -g @sandbox-agent/cli@0.2.x
# Allow Bun to run postinstall scripts for native binaries (required for SandboxAgent.start()).
bun pm -g trust @sandbox-agent/cli-linux-x64 @sandbox-agent/cli-linux-arm64 @sandbox-agent/cli-darwin-arm64 @sandbox-agent/cli-darwin-x64 @sandbox-agent/cli-win32-x64
sandbox-agent server --no-token --host 0.0.0.0 --port 2468

Node.js (local)

For local development, use SandboxAgent.start() to spawn and manage the server as a subprocess.

npm install sandbox-agent@0.2.x

import { SandboxAgent } from "sandbox-agent";

const sdk = await SandboxAgent.start();

Bun (local)

For local development, use SandboxAgent.start() to spawn and manage the server as a subprocess.

bun add sandbox-agent@0.2.x
# Allow Bun to run postinstall scripts for native binaries (required for SandboxAgent.start()).
bun pm trust @sandbox-agent/cli-linux-x64 @sandbox-agent/cli-linux-arm64 @sandbox-agent/cli-darwin-arm64 @sandbox-agent/cli-darwin-x64 @sandbox-agent/cli-win32-x64

import { SandboxAgent } from "sandbox-agent";

const sdk = await SandboxAgent.start();

Build from source

If you’re running from source instead of the installed CLI.

cargo run -p sandbox-agent -- server --no-token --host 0.0.0.0 --port 2468

Binding to 0.0.0.0 allows the server to accept connections from any network interface, which is required when running inside a sandbox where clients connect remotely.

Configuring token

Tokens are usually not required. Most sandbox providers (E2B, Daytona, etc.) already secure networking at the infrastructure layer.

If you expose the server publicly, use --token "$SANDBOX_TOKEN" to require authentication:

sandbox-agent server --token "$SANDBOX_TOKEN" --host 0.0.0.0 --port 2468

Then pass the token when connecting:

TypeScript

import { SandboxAgent } from "sandbox-agent";

const sdk = await SandboxAgent.connect({
  baseUrl: "http://your-server:2468",
  token: process.env.SANDBOX_TOKEN,
});

curl

curl "http://your-server:2468/v1/health" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SANDBOX_TOKEN"

CLI

sandbox-agent --token "$SANDBOX_TOKEN" api agents list \
  --endpoint http://your-server:2468

CORS

If you’re calling the server from a browser, see the CORS configuration guide.

Install agents (optional)

To preinstall agents:

sandbox-agent install-agent claude
sandbox-agent install-agent codex
sandbox-agent install-agent opencode
sandbox-agent install-agent amp

If agents are not installed up front, they are lazily installed when creating a session.

Create a session

import { SandboxAgent } from "sandbox-agent";

const sdk = await SandboxAgent.connect({
  baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:2468",
});

const session = await sdk.createSession({
  agent: "claude",
  sessionInit: {
    cwd: "/",
    mcpServers: [],
  },
});

console.log(session.id);

Send a message

const result = await session.prompt([
  { type: "text", text: "Summarize the repository and suggest next steps." },
]);

console.log(result.stopReason);

Read events

const off = session.onEvent((event) => {
  console.log(event.sender, event.payload);
});

const page = await sdk.getEvents({
  sessionId: session.id,
  limit: 50,
});

console.log(page.items.length);
off();

Test with Inspector

Open the Inspector UI at /ui/ on your server (for example, http://localhost:2468/ui/) to inspect sessions and events in a GUI.

Next steps

• Session Persistence — Configure in-memory, Rivet Actor state, IndexedDB, SQLite, and Postgres persistence.

• Deploy to a Sandbox — Deploy your agent to E2B, Daytona, Docker, Vercel, or Cloudflare.

• SDK Overview — Use the latest TypeScript SDK API.

Reference Map

Advanced

• ACP HTTP Client

AI

• llms.txt
• skill.md

Deploy

• Cloudflare
• ComputeSDK
• Daytona
• Docker
• E2B
• Local
• Vercel

General

• Agent Sessions
• Architecture
• Attachments
• Building a Chat UI
• CLI Reference
• CORS Configuration
• Credentials
• Custom Tools
• Daemon
• File System
• Gigacode
• Inspector
• Manage Sessions
• MCP
• Multiplayer
• Observability
• OpenCode Compatibility
• Persisting Sessions
• Pi Support Plan
• Quickstart
• SDK Overview
• Security
• Session Restoration
• Session Transcript Schema
• Skills
• Telemetry
• Troubleshooting

SDKs

• Python
• TypeScript