Cloudflare Sandbox SDK#

Build secure, isolated code execution environments on Cloudflare Workers.

FIRST: Verify Installation#

bash

npm install @cloudflare/sandbox
docker info  # Must succeed - Docker 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Your knowledge of the Sandbox SDK may be outdated.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.

ResourceURLDocshttps://developers.cloudflare.com/sandbox/API Referencehttps://developers.cloudflare.com/sandbox/api/Exampleshttps://github.com/cloudflare/sandbox-sdk/tree/main/examplesGet Startedhttps://developers.cloudflare.com/sandbox/get-started/

When implementing features, fetch the relevant doc page or example first.

Required Configuration#

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

jsonc

{
  "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 Sandbox class:

typescript

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

Quick Reference#

TaskMethodGet sandboxgetSandbox(env.Sandbox, 'user-123')Run commandawait sandbox.exec('python script.py')Run code (interpreter)await sandbox.runCode(code, { language: 'python' })Write fileawait sandbox.writeFile('/workspace/app.py', content)Read fileawait sandbox.readFile('/workspace/app.py')Create directoryawait sandbox.mkdir('/workspace/src', { recursive: true })List filesawait sandbox.listFiles('/workspace')Expose portawait sandbox.exposePort(8080)Destroyawait sandbox.destroy()

Core Patterns#

Execute Commands#

typescript

const sandbox = getSandbox(env.Sandbox, 'user-123');
const result = await sandbox.exec('python --version');
// result: { stdout, stderr, exitCode, success }

Code Interpreter (Recommended for AI)#

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

typescript

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 context. Create explicit contexts for production.

File Operations#

typescript

await sandbox.mkdir('/workspace/project', { recursive: true });
await sandbox.writeFile('/workspace/project/main.py', code);
const file = await sandbox.readFile('/workspace/project/main.py');
const files = await sandbox.listFiles('/workspace/project');

When to Use What#

NeedUseWhyShell commands, scriptsexec()Direct control, streamingLLM-generated coderunCode()Rich outputs, state persistenceBuild/test pipelinesexec()Exit codes, stderr captureData analysisrunCode()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:

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 - affects cold start time.

Preview URLs (Port Exposure)#

Expose HTTP services running in sandboxes:

typescript

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:

typescript

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

See examples/openai-agents for complete integration pattern.

Sandbox Lifecycle#

• getSandbox() returns immediately - container starts lazily on first operation
• Containers sleep after 10 minutes of inactivity (configurable via sleepAfter)
• Use destroy() to immediately free resources
• Same sandboxId always returns same sandbox instance

Anti-Patterns#

• Don't use internal clients ( CommandClient, FileClient) - use sandbox.* methods
• Don't skip the Sandbox export - Worker won't deploy without export { Sandbox }
• Don't hardcode sandbox IDs for multi-user - use user/session identifiers
• Don't forget cleanup - call destroy() for temporary sandboxes

Detailed References#

• references/api-quick-ref.md - Full API with options and return types
• references/examples.md - Example index with use cases