Sandboxes

Sandboxes are isolated development environments managed by Daytona. This guide covers the lifecycle of Sandboxes and how to create, manage, and remove them using the Daytona SDK.

Daytona Sandboxes use 1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, and 3GiB disk by default. Organizations get a maximum sandbox resource limit of 4 vCPUs, 8GB RAM, and 10GB disk. For more power, contact support@daytona.io.

Sandbox lifecycle

Throughout its lifecycle, a Daytona Sandbox can have several different states. The diagram below shows the states and possible transitions between them.

Multiple runtime support

Daytona Sandboxes support Python, TypeScript, and JavaScript programming language runtimes for direct code execution inside the sandbox.

The language parameter controls which programming language runtime is used for the sandbox:

• python
• typescript
• javascript

If omitted, the Daytona SDK will default to python. To override this, explicitly set the language value when creating the sandbox.

Create Sandboxes

Daytona provides options to programmatically create sandboxes with default or custom configurations. You can specify programming language runtime, snapshots, resources, environment variables, and volumes for each sandbox. Running sandboxes utilize CPU, memory, and disk storage. Every resource is charged per second of usage.

from daytona import Daytona, CreateSandboxFromSnapshotParams

daytona = Daytona()

# Create a sandbox
sandbox = daytona.create()

# Create a sandbox with python
params = CreateSandboxFromSnapshotParams(language="python")
sandbox = daytona.create(params)

# Create a sandbox with a custom name
params = CreateSandboxFromSnapshotParams(name="my_awesome_sandbox")
sandbox = daytona.create(params)

# Create a sandbox with custom labels
params = CreateSandboxFromSnapshotParams(labels={"LABEL": "label"})
sandbox = daytona.create(params)

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

const daytona = new Daytona();

// Create a sandbox
const sandbox = await daytona.create();

// Create a sandbox with typescript
const sandbox = await daytona.create({ language: 'typescript' });

// Create a sandbox with a custom name
const sandbox = await daytona.create({ name: 'my_awesome_sandbox' });

// Create a sandbox with custom labels
const sandbox = await daytona.create({ labels: { LABEL: 'label' } });

To get the preview URL for a specific port, check out Preview & Authentication.

For more information, see the Python SDK and TypeScript SDK references:

create (Python SDK)

create (TypeScript SDK)

Resources

Daytona Sandbox uses 1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, and 3GiB disk by default.

Daytona keeps a pool of warm sandboxes using default snapshots. When available, sandboxes launch within milliseconds instead of cold-booting.

To set custom sandbox resources (CPU, memory, and disk space), use the Resources class:

from daytona import Daytona, Resources, CreateSandboxFromImageParams, Image

daytona = Daytona()

# Create a sandbox with custom resources
resources = Resources(
    cpu=2,    # 2 CPU cores
    memory=4, # 4GB RAM
    disk=8,   # 8GB disk space
)

params = CreateSandboxFromImageParams(
    image=Image.debian_slim("3.12"),
    resources=resources
)

sandbox = daytona.create(params)

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

async function main() {
  const daytona = new Daytona();

  // Create a sandbox with custom resources
  const sandbox = await daytona.create({
    image: Image.debianSlim("3.13"),
    resources: {
      cpu: 2,     // 2 CPU cores
      memory: 4,  // 4GB RAM
      disk: 8,    // 8GB disk space
    },
  });
}

main();

For more information, see the Python SDK and TypeScript SDK references:

Resources (Python SDK)

Resources (TypeScript SDK)

Ephemeral Sandboxes

Ephemeral Sandboxes are automatically deleted once they are stopped. They are useful for short-lived tasks or for testing purposes.

To create an ephemeral Sandbox, set the ephemeral parameter to True when creating a sandbox:

from daytona import Daytona, CreateSandboxFromSnapshotParams

daytona = Daytona()

# Create an ephemeral Sandbox
params = CreateSandboxFromSnapshotParams(
  ephemeral=True,
  auto_stop_interval=5 # The ephemeral sandbox will be deleted after 5 minutes of inactivity
)
sandbox = daytona.create(params)

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

const daytona = new Daytona();

// Create an ephemeral sandbox
const sandbox = await daytona.create({
  ephemeral: true,
  autoStopInterval: 5 // The ephemeral sandbox will be deleted after 5 minutes of inactivity
});

Network settings (Firewall)

Daytona Sandboxes provide configurable network firewall controls to enhance security and manage connectivity. By default, network access follows standard security policies, but you can customize network settings when creating a sandbox.

Start Sandboxes

Daytona provides options to start sandboxes using the Daytona Dashboard ↗ or programmatically using the Python SDK and TypeScript SDK.

1. Navigate to Daytona Sandboxes ↗
2. Click the start icon (▶) next to the sandbox you want to start.

Starting sandbox with ID: <sandbox-id>

sandbox = daytona.create(CreateSandboxParams(language="python"))
# Start Sandbox
sandbox.start()

const sandbox = await daytona.create({ language: 'typescript' });
// Start Sandbox
await sandbox.start();

For more information, see the Python SDK and TypeScript SDK references:

start (Python SDK)

start (TypeScript SDK)

List Sandboxes

Daytona provides options to view information about sandboxes (ID, root directory, and status) and manage their lifecycle.

# Get sandbox ID
sandbox_id = sandbox.id

# Get the root directory of the sandbox user
root_dir = sandbox.get_user_root_dir()

# Get the sandbox id, auto-stop interval and state
print(sandbox.id)
print(sandbox.auto_stop_interval)
print(sandbox.state)

// Get sandbox ID
const sandboxId = sandbox.id;

// Get the root directory of the sandbox user
const rootDir = await sandbox.getUserRootDir();

// Get the sandbox id, auto-stop interval and state
console.log(sandbox.id)
console.log(sandbox.autoStopInterval)
console.log(sandbox.state)

For more information, see the Python SDK and TypeScript SDK references:

list (Python SDK)

list (TypeScript SDK)

Stop Sandboxes

Daytona provides methods to stop sandboxes using Python and TypeScript.

1. Navigate to Daytona Sandboxes ↗
2. Click the stop icon (⏹) next to the sandbox you want to stop.

Stopping sandbox with ID: <sandbox-id>

Stopped sandboxes maintain filesystem persistence while their memory state is cleared. They incur only disk usage costs and can be started again when needed.

The stopped state should be used when a sandbox is expected to be started again soon. Otherwise, it is recommended to stop and then archive the sandbox to eliminate disk usage costs.

sandbox = daytona.create(CreateSandboxParams(language="python"))

# Stop sandbox
sandbox.stop()

print(sandbox.id) # 7cd11133-96c1-4cc8-9baa-c757b8f8c916

# The sandbox ID can later be used to find the sandbox and start it
sandbox = daytona.find_one("7cd11133-96c1-4cc8-9baa-c757b8f8c916")

# Start sandbox
sandbox.start()

const sandbox = await daytona.create({ language: 'typescript' });

// Stop sandbox
await sandbox.stop();

console.log(sandbox.id) // 7cd11133-96c1-4cc8-9baa-c757b8f8c916

// The sandbox ID can later be used to find the sandbox and start it
const sandbox = await daytona.findOne("7cd11133-96c1-4cc8-9baa-c757b8f8c916");

// Start sandbox
await sandbox.start();

For more information, see the Python SDK and TypeScript SDK references:

stop (Python SDK), stop (TypeScript SDK)

find_one (Python SDK), findOne (TypeScript SDK)

Archive Sandboxes

Daytona provides methods to archive sandboxes using Python and TypeScript.

When sandboxes are archived, the entire filesystem state is moved to very cost-effective object storage, making it possible to keep sandboxes available for an extended period. Starting an archived sandbox takes more time than starting a stopped sandbox, depending on its size.

A sandbox must be stopped before it can be archived, and can be started again in the same way as a stopped sandbox.

# Archive Sandbox
sandbox.archive()

// Archive Sandbox
await sandbox.archive();

For more information, see the Python SDK and TypeScript SDK references:

archive (Python SDK)

archive (TypeScript SDK)

Recover Sandboxes

Daytona provides methods to recover sandboxes using Python and TypeScript.

# Recover sandbox
sandbox.recover()

// Recover sandbox
await sandbox.recover();

For more information, see the Python SDK and TypeScript SDK references:

recover (Python SDK)

recover (TypeScript SDK)

Recover from error state

When a sandbox enters an error state, it can sometimes be recovered using the recover method, depending on the underlying error reason. The recoverable flag indicates whether the error state can be resolved through an automated recovery procedure.

# Check if the Sandbox is recoverable
if sandbox.recoverable:
    sandbox.recover()
    print("Sandbox recovered successfully")

// Check if the Sandbox is recoverable
if (sandbox.recoverable) {
    await sandbox.recover();
    console.log('Sandbox recovered successfully');
}

For more information, see the Python SDK and TypeScript SDK references:

recover (Python SDK)

recover (TypeScript SDK)

Delete Sandboxes

Daytona provides methods to delete sandboxes.

1. Navigate to Daytona Sandboxes ↗
2. Click the Delete button next to the sandbox you want to delete.

Stopping sandbox with ID: <sandbox-id>

# Delete sandbox
sandbox.delete()

// Delete sandbox
await sandbox.delete();

For more information, see the Python SDK and TypeScript SDK references:

delete (Python SDK)

delete (TypeScript SDK)

Automated lifecycle management

Daytona Sandboxes can be automatically stopped, archived, and deleted based on user-defined intervals.

Auto-stop interval

The auto-stop interval parameter sets the amount of time after which a running sandbox will be automatically stopped.

Sandbox activity, such as SDK API calls or network requests through preview URLs, resets the auto-stop timer.

The parameter can either be set to:

• a time interval in minutes
• 0: disables the auto-stop functionality, allowing the sandbox to run indefinitely

If the parameter is not set, the default interval of 15 minutes will be used.

sandbox = daytona.create(CreateSandboxFromSnapshotParams(
    snapshot="my-snapshot-name",
    # Disables the auto-stop feature - default is 15 minutes
    auto_stop_interval=0,
))

const sandbox = await daytona.create({
    snapshot: "my-snapshot-name",
     // Disables the auto-stop feature - default is 15 minutes
    autoStopInterval: 0,
});

For more information, see the Python SDK and TypeScript SDK references:

set_auto_stop_interval (Python SDK)

setAutostopInterval (TypeScript SDK)

Auto-archive interval

The auto-archive interval parameter sets the amount of time after which a continuously stopped sandbox will be automatically archived.

The parameter can either be set to:

• a time interval in minutes
• 0: means the maximum interval of 30 days will be used

If the parameter is not set, the default interval of 7 days days will be used.

sandbox = daytona.create(CreateSandboxFromSnapshotParams(
    snapshot="my-snapshot-name",
    # Auto-archive after a sandbox has been stopped for 1 hour
    auto_archive_interval=60,
))

const sandbox = await daytona.create({
    snapshot: "my-snapshot-name",
    // Auto-archive after a sandbox has been stopped for 1 hour
    autoArchiveInterval: 60,
});

For more information, see the Python SDK and TypeScript SDK references:

set_auto_archive_interval (Python SDK)

setAutoArchiveInterval (TypeScript SDK)

Auto-delete interval

The auto-delete interval parameter sets the amount of time after which a continuously stopped sandbox will be automatically deleted. By default, sandboxes will never be automatically deleted.

The parameter can either be set to:

• a time interval in minutes
• -1: disables the auto-delete functionality
• 0: means the sandbox will be deleted immediately after stopping

If the parameter is not set, the sandbox will not be deleted automatically.

sandbox = daytona.create(CreateSandboxFromSnapshotParams(
    snapshot="my-snapshot-name",
    # Auto-delete after a sandbox has been stopped for 1 hour
    auto_delete_interval=60,
))

# Delete the sandbox immediately after it has been stopped
sandbox.set_auto_delete_interval(0)

# Disable auto-deletion
sandbox.set_auto_delete_interval(-1)

const sandbox = await daytona.create({
    snapshot: "my-snapshot-name",
    // Auto-delete after a sandbox has been stopped for 1 hour
    autoDeleteInterval: 60,
});

// Delete the sandbox immediately after it has been stopped
await sandbox.setAutoDeleteInterval(0)

// Disable auto-deletion
await sandbox.setAutoDeleteInterval(-1)

For more information, see the Python SDK and TypeScript SDK references:

set_auto_delete_interval (Python SDK)

setAutoDeleteInterval (TypeScript SDK)

Running indefinitely

By default, Daytona Sandboxes auto-stop after 15 minutes of inactivity. To keep a sandbox running without interruption, set the auto-stop interval to 0 when creating a new sandbox:

sandbox = daytona.create(CreateSandboxFromSnapshotParams(
    snapshot="my_awesome_snapshot",
    # Disables the auto-stop feature - default is 15 minutes
    auto_stop_interval=0,
))

const sandbox = await daytona.create({
    snapshot: "my_awesome_snapshot",
    // Disables the auto-stop feature - default is 15 minutes
    autoStopInterval: 0,
});