Cloud sandboxes
メモCloud sandbox support in the
sbxCLI is experimental. Features and behavior may change.
Cloud sandboxes run AI agents on Docker-managed infrastructure instead of your local machine. Use them when you need an isolated environment that doesn't depend on the compute resources or virtualization support of your host.
Cloud sandboxes use the same sbx CLI as local sandboxes. Add the global
--cloud flag to send a supported command to the Cloud Sandboxes API:
$ sbx --cloud ls
Cloud and local sandboxes have separate state and different capabilities. A cloud sandbox can't mount a host workspace or use host hardware, and its secrets, network policy, ports, and lifecycle are managed in the cloud. See Local and cloud differences before adapting a local workflow.
Prerequisites
To use cloud sandboxes, you need:
- The
sbxCLI, version 0.45.0 or later - An active Docker Agentic Platform subscription
Follow Signup and billing to activate cloud access and review compute charges. Then return here to sign in from the CLI and configure your agent.
Sign in from the CLI
Sign in with the same Docker account you used to subscribe:
$ sbx login
Check cloud connectivity and account access:
$ sbx --cloud diagnose
If the check reports that your account doesn't have access, follow Check account access.
Get started
Credentials configured for local sandboxes aren't available to cloud sandboxes. Configure a cloud credential for your agent before launching it. For Claude Code, store an Anthropic API key:
$ sbx --cloud secret set anthropic
See Authenticate cloud agents for other agents and credential options.
Cloud sandboxes expire after one hour by default. On expiration, the service stops sandboxes that can be resumed and deletes the rest. Check the timeout action before relying on a sandbox to retain your work. See Configure expiration.
Create a sandbox without attaching, allowing access to GitHub for this example:
$ sbx --cloud create --name cloud-project --allow-network github.com:443 claude
Cloud sandboxes don't accept a local workspace path. Clone the public Welcome to Docker repository inside the sandbox:
$ sbx --cloud exec cloud-project git clone \
https://github.com/docker/welcome-to-docker.git /home/agent/workspace/project
Attach to the agent:
$ sbx --cloud attach cloud-project
Ask Claude to inspect /home/agent/workspace/project and write a description
of the application to /home/agent/workspace/review.md. When the file is ready,
press Ctrl+\ to detach and leave the agent running.
Copy the result to your machine:
$ sbx --cloud cp cloud-project:/home/agent/workspace/review.md ./review.md
Read the result, then remove the sandbox when you're finished:
$ sbx --cloud rm cloud-project
Removal deletes files stored only in the sandbox. For your own projects, see Transfer files and Authenticate cloud agents before cloning private repositories.
Learn more
- Signup and billing covers activation and compute charges
- Local and cloud differences compares the two execution environments
- Use cloud sandboxes covers creation, files, ports, and lifecycle
- Authenticate cloud agents covers cloud-specific secrets, API keys, and OAuth
- Manage cloud network policy covers account-level and sandbox-level network access
- Move a sandbox explains filesystem transfers between local and cloud environments
sbxCLI reference lists commands and options