CreateOS Sandbox
CreateOS Sandbox is in alpha. APIs may change, and it is not yet covered by an SLA. Benchmarks and certifications are in progress. Talk to us / share feedback.
CreateOS Sandbox runs full Linux virtual machines that boot in ~30ms (p90). Each sandbox is a Firecracker microVM with its own kernel, root filesystem, and network identity (the isolation of a VM with the startup speed of a container).
Sandboxes are built for workloads that need real, disposable compute:
- Running untrusted or AI-generated code: give an agent a full machine to execute in, without risking your own.
- Ephemeral development environments: spin up a clean box per branch, per task, or per user.
- CI and batch jobs: isolated, reproducible execution that tears down when finished.
- Interactive sessions: shells, notebooks, and preview servers reachable over SSH or HTTPS.
What you get
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| Fast boot | A sandbox is ready to run commands within seconds of creation. |
| Pause, resume, fork | Snapshot a running VM to durable storage, restore it later, or clone it into independent copies. |
| Run commands | Execute commands and stream output over the API, SDK, or CLI. No SSH key required. |
| File transfer | Upload and download individual files, or copy directories in and out. |
| Private networks | Connect sandboxes so they reach each other over p2p encrypted network, isolated from other tenants. |
| VPN access | Join your own machine to a sandbox private network over an encrypted WireGuard tunnel, register the device once, then connect. |
| S3 disks | Mount S3-compatible buckets into a running sandbox and detach them live. |
| Custom images | Build your own root filesystem from a Dockerfile and boot sandboxes from it. |
| Public ingress | Expose an HTTP service on a per-sandbox HTTPS URL. |
| Egress control | Restrict outbound traffic to an allowlist of hosts, IPs, or CIDRs. |
| SSH gateway | SSH into a sandbox using keys you attach, open a shell or an ssh -L port-forward through the gateway. |
| Port forwarding | Forward a local port to a service inside a running sandbox through the control plane, no SSH key required. |
| Live directory sync | Continuously two-way sync a local directory with one inside the sandbox; one-way and mirror modes too. |
Three ways to use it
Everything a sandbox can do is exposed through one REST API. Pick the surface that fits your workflow. They all talk to the same control plane at https://api.sb.createos.sh.
REST API
The HTTP API is the source of truth. Use it directly from any language, or when you need an endpoint the SDK and CLI don't wrap yet.
TypeScript SDK
@nodeops-createos/sandbox is a zero-dependency TypeScript client that runs on Node 20+, Bun, Deno, edge runtimes, and the browser. It gives you typed sandbox handles, streaming, retries, and typed errors.
Bash
CLI
The createos CLI manages sandboxes from your terminal: create, exec, shell in, sync files, tunnel ports, and tear down. The sandbox command group is aliased to sb.
Bash
Authentication
All three surfaces authenticate with a CreateOS API token sent as the X-Api-Key header. Generate a token from your CreateOS dashboard.
Bash
Next steps
- Quickstart: create and run your first sandbox.
- Concepts: the vocabulary: shapes, rootfs, snapshots, networks, disks, and more.
- REST API, SDK, CLI: full references.