Boxes

Create

prized box new                                   # a fruit name, the size your balance runs comfortably
prized box new mango --size Small --ttl 4h --wait

Create from the CLI (flags under CLI: box new) or the dashboard's New box page. A Small box with no name, snapshot, or environment is usually running when the create returns; any other new box usually boots in under a minute, a box restored from a snapshot or forked takes minutes, and --wait blocks until it is running.

Sizes mix freely, each at its own rate (Billing); a size your balance could not run for four hours cannot be picked unless overage is on. prized box ls lists your boxes, prized box info mango shows one in full, and Machines says what each size is made of.

States

Pause and resume

prized box pause mango
prized box resume mango --wait

The disk survives a pause (files, tools, git state), and billing drops to the sleep rate at once. Running processes depend on the size:

prized ssh wakes a suspended box on connect. A box's desktop follows the same table.

Auto-pause

Set per box: Auto-pause on the box's dashboard page (30 minutes to 24 hours), prized box auto-pause mango 2h (up to 7 days), or prized box new --auto-pause 45m. The box pauses itself once nothing has used it for that long. Off by default, and a plan feature: boxes on the free credit never pause themselves, and setting a window on one answers 409 trial_no_auto_pause.

• Counts as use: typing or output in any terminal session, sustained CPU (builds, agents, test loops), sustained network traffic. A forgotten shell prompt does not.
• The 30 minute floor is how long the box waits before calling itself idle; the box page shows the idle time so far.
• It is exactly a pause, shown in the event list as reconciler:auto_pause.
• A workspace policy can cap the window (auto-pause floor); quiet hours pause the whole workspace nightly.

Pause deadline

prized box new ci-run --ttl 2h          # pauses two hours from now
prized box extend mango --ttl 12h       # set, or push back, the deadline
prized box extend mango --no-deadline

A deadline pauses the box at a set time, busy or idle: --ttl at create, prized box extend later, or Pause at on the box page's Settings tab, 5 minutes to 30 days ahead.

• One pause, not a schedule. It clears when it fires or the box wakes. A new --ttl replaces it, counting from now; --no-deadline removes it.
• It needs a running box to set; clearing is always allowed.
• It stacks with auto-pause: whichever comes first pauses the box. The event list shows it as reconciler:pause_deadline.

Resize

prized box resize mango Medium

The box stops, changes size, and starts again with files intact, metered at the new rate from that moment; it stays resizing until it is ready to connect. Any size your balance can keep running is allowed.

Regions

New boxes go to US West (Oregon) unless you pick US West (N. California): prized box new --region california, or "region": "us-west-1" on POST /api/v1/boxes. A box restored from a snapshot starts in the snapshot's region. Move an existing box with Region on the box page or prized box move mango california.

• The box stays up while the disk copies, then goes offline for a few minutes and returns in the new region with its name, files, tools, vars, and secrets. Its public IP changes; prized ssh follows it.
• Metering continues at the normal rate, and a size costs the same in both regions.
• Only a running box moves, one move at a time. A move that cannot finish leaves the box in its original region on its original disk.
• One move per box in 24 hours, and three per workspace, counting only moves that ran; moving needs a funded balance. For a new box, create it in the other region instead.

Snapshots

Snapshot a box's disk without stopping it, restore into a new box, fork a running box, save named templates, or set a schedule (Snapshots). Take one before risky changes.

Infinite storage (alpha)

Some boxes keep their files in a storage pool that grows on demand instead of a fixed disk. They show an Alpha - infinite storage label and their usage instead of a disk size, and work like a local disk, Docker included.

The alpha is opt-in, enabled per workspace by the Prized team: ask us. On such a box, disk snapshots, forks, templates, and region moves are paused.

If its storage service fails, the box reboots itself and is back in about a minute. Saved files are safe; writes from the last few seconds can be lost, as on a laptop that loses power.

Environments

An environment is what a new box inherits: repos, a setup script, env vars, secret files, and which credentials the box may receive. Pick one at create time or mark a default; a running box keeps its version until you upgrade it (Environments).

Several boxes

Every box has a hostname: a fruit name unless you pick one (lowercase letters, digits, and hyphens, up to 32 characters). prized ssh mango connects to any box.

The default box is the one prized setup connected first (or prized login, when your account had exactly one), used when a command names no box. Other boxes are reachable by name; connect one with --box for sync, mirrored ports, and every other command.

prized setup --box mango            # connect a second box: its own config and daemon
prized --box mango status           # aim any command at it
PRIZED_BOX=mango prized sync ls     # the same from the environment

• Adding a box. prized setup --box mango writes boxes/mango.toml, starts its daemon, and runs the normal setup; prized init --box mango only connects. With no default box yet, either makes the box the default.
• Aiming commands. --box NAME (or PRIZED_BOX) works on every command, by hostname, or by box id for setup and init. --config PATH overrides everything, as an escape hatch.
• Changing the default. prized init --force --box mango rewrites the default config (backed up first) and restarts the default daemon. A box with its own file is refused: first prized --box mango daemon uninstall and delete boxes/mango.toml.
• Same-named projects. Two boxes cannot sync a project under one name; the second prized sync add asks for --name.
• The same port on two boxes shows as conflicted in prized ports ls; toggle it off on one box, or list it under [ports].never in that box's config.

On Windows these sit under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Prized\boxes\.

Delete

prized box delete mango        # asks you to type the name; -y skips the prompt

A delete can be undone for 7 days from Recently deleted on the Deleted tab of the Boxes page, except for a box deleted within an hour of being created or under zero data retention (Data retention).