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By the end of this page you’ll have an API key, a cloud sandbox you can SSH into, a persistent workspace mounted inside it, and the same flow running from the SDK. Five minutes, mostly waiting on npm install.

1. Get an API key

Create an account at runtools.ai, then open Dashboard → Credentials → API Keys and create one for development. Drop it in your shell:
API keys are secrets — they act as you. Keep them server-side and out of source control.

2. Install the CLI

That’s it — runtools is on npm. (Prefer not to install globally? npx @runtools-ai/cli --help works too.)

3. Sign in

Confirm who you are:

4. Launch a sandbox

A sandbox is a real Firecracker microVM — your own Linux box in the cloud.
create returns as soon as the control plane accepts the VM; SSH comes up a moment later. Check on it, then run something inside:
Want a shell? Register a key and SSH straight in:

5. Give agents a memory

Sandboxes are ephemeral; workspaces are not. Mount one and an agent gets a persistent filesystem that survives across runs — its long-term memory.
Mount the returned data.id at /workspace when you create a sandbox:
Anything written to /workspace is still there next run.

6. Do it from the SDK

Same platform, typed:

7. Expose a dev server

Start something in the sandbox and ask for its public URL. The URL is capability-protected and shaped like https://{port}-{sandboxId}.sandboxes.runtools.ai:

8. Pause or clean up

Pause to stop paying for compute while keeping the environment for later; destroy when you’re done:

Where to next

Product Apps

Build a product where each end user connects their own integrations.

Hosted Connect

Create connect sessions, run agents, and execute tools with end-user scope.

Sandboxes

Lifecycle, SSH, dev URLs, mounts, and monitoring.

Agents

Define agents and put them to work.

Build a tool

Turn any API into a hosted tool with defineTool().

CLI reference

Every command, with flags.