sandbox-sdk

name	sandbox-sdk
description	Build sandboxed applications for secure code execution. Load when building AI code execution, code interpreters, CI/CD systems, interactive dev environments, or executing untrusted code. Covers Sandbox SDK lifecycle, commands, files, code interpreter, and preview URLs. Biases towards retrieval from Cloudflare docs over pre-trained knowledge.

Cloudflare Sandbox SDK

Build secure, isolated code execution environments on Cloudflare Workers.

Setup

npm install @cloudflare/sandbox
docker info  # Must succeed: Docker is required for local dev

Retrieval Sources

Your knowledge of the Sandbox SDK may be outdated. Prefer retrieval over pre-training for any Sandbox SDK task; fetch the relevant doc page or example before implementing.

Resource	URL
Docs	https://developers.cloudflare.com/sandbox/
API Reference	https://developers.cloudflare.com/sandbox/api/
Examples	https://github.com/cloudflare/sandbox-sdk/tree/main/examples
Get Started	https://developers.cloudflare.com/sandbox/get-started/

Required Configuration

wrangler.jsonc (exact, do not modify structure):

{
  "containers": [{
    "class_name": "Sandbox",
    "image": "./Dockerfile",
    "instance_type": "lite",
    "max_instances": 1
  }],
  "durable_objects": {
    "bindings": [{ "class_name": "Sandbox", "name": "Sandbox" }]
  },
  "migrations": [{ "new_sqlite_classes": ["Sandbox"], "tag": "v1" }]
}

Worker entry must re-export the Sandbox class:

import { getSandbox } from '@cloudflare/sandbox';
export { Sandbox } from '@cloudflare/sandbox';  // Required export

Quick Reference

Task	Method
Get sandbox	getSandbox(env.Sandbox, 'user-123')
Run command	await sandbox.exec('python script.py')
Run code (interpreter)	await sandbox.runCode(code, { language: 'python' })
Write file	await sandbox.writeFile('/workspace/app.py', content)
Read file	await sandbox.readFile('/workspace/app.py')
Create directory	await sandbox.mkdir('/workspace/src', { recursive: true })
List files	await sandbox.listFiles('/workspace')
Expose port	await sandbox.exposePort(8080)
Destroy	await sandbox.destroy()

exec() returns { stdout, stderr, exitCode, success }. Full options and return types: references/api-quick-ref.md.

Code Interpreter (Recommended for AI)

Use runCode() for executing LLM-generated code with rich outputs:

const ctx = await sandbox.createCodeContext({ language: 'python' });

await sandbox.runCode('import pandas as pd; data = [1,2,3]', { context: ctx });
const result = await sandbox.runCode('sum(data)', { context: ctx });
// result.results[0].text = "6"

Languages: python, javascript, typescript

State persists within a context. Create explicit contexts for production. runCode() errors land in result.error rather than throwing; check it instead of catching.

exec() vs runCode()

Need	Use	Why
Shell commands, scripts	exec()	Direct control, streaming
LLM-generated code	runCode()	Rich outputs, state persistence
Build/test pipelines	exec()	Exit codes, stderr capture
Data analysis	runCode()	Charts, tables, pandas

Extending the Dockerfile

Base image (docker.io/cloudflare/sandbox:0.7.0) includes Python 3.11, Node.js 20, and common tools.

Add dependencies by extending the Dockerfile:

FROM docker.io/cloudflare/sandbox:0.7.0

# Python packages
RUN pip install requests beautifulsoup4

# Node packages (global)
RUN npm install -g typescript

# System packages
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y ffmpeg && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

EXPOSE 8080  # Required for local dev port exposure

Keep images lean: size affects cold start time.

Preview URLs (Port Exposure)

Expose HTTP services running in sandboxes:

const { url } = await sandbox.exposePort(8080);
// Returns preview URL for the service

Production requirement: Preview URLs need a custom domain with wildcard DNS (*.yourdomain.com). The .workers.dev domain does not support preview URL subdomains.

See: https://developers.cloudflare.com/sandbox/guides/expose-services/

OpenAI Agents SDK Integration

The SDK provides helpers for OpenAI Agents at @cloudflare/sandbox/openai:

import { Shell, Editor } from '@cloudflare/sandbox/openai';

See examples/openai-agents for complete integration pattern.

Sandbox Lifecycle

• getSandbox() returns immediately; the container starts lazily on first operation
• Containers sleep after 10 minutes of inactivity (configurable via sleepAfter)
• destroy() immediately frees resources; call it for temporary sandboxes
• Same sandboxId always returns the same sandbox instance, so key IDs by user/session for multi-user apps

Anti-Patterns

• Don't use internal clients (CommandClient, FileClient); use sandbox.* methods
• Don't skip export { Sandbox } in the Worker entry; the Worker won't deploy without it

Detailed References

• references/api-quick-ref.md: full API with options and return types
• references/examples.md: example index with use cases