# A sandbox your agent can sign up for itself (no browser, no card)

> Your coding agent can make your Prized account with no browser and no card, one call with your email address and one with the 6-digit code Prized emails you, then start a cloud sandbox. The steps it follows, and what you approve.

URL: https://prized.dev/docs/sandboxes-agent-self-sign-up
Updated: 2026-11-05

Ask your coding agent for a sandbox and it can make your Prized account itself. You give it your email address, then the 6-digit code Prized emails you. No sign-up page to open, and no card to add at sign-up.

```text title="Prompt"
Sign me up for Prized with my email address by following https://prized.dev/auth.md, then start a sandbox and run python3 --version in it.
```

## What the agent does [#what-the-agent-does]

1. **Registers with your email address.** One call to `POST https://api.prized.dev/api/v1/agent/identity`; Prized emails you a 6-digit code.
2. **Asks you for the code.** It sends the code back; your account now exists, in a workspace of its own, and the agent holds its API key.
3. **Starts a sandbox.** `POST https://api.prized.dev/api/v1/sandboxes?wait=running`, then runs commands, copies files, forks and pauses it ([Agent quickstart](https://prized.dev/docs/sandboxes-agent-quickstart)).

The agent follows [https://prized.dev/auth.md](https://prized.dev/auth.md), which has each call, its answers, and shell commands that keep the key out of its output. That file follows the open [auth.md](https://github.com/workos/auth.md) format for agent registration, so an agent that knows the format finds the endpoints on its own.

## What you approve [#what-you-approve]

* **The code.** Nothing is made until you give your agent the code from your inbox. It lasts 15 minutes; share it only if you just asked an agent you trust to sign you up.
* **The key, at your first sign-in.** The first time you sign in to Prized, you see the agent's key before anything else and keep or revoke it ([Agent sign-in](https://prized.dev/docs/agent-sign-in#your-first-sign-in)).
* **What the key can do.** It creates and uses sandboxes and boxes and reads the workspace; it cannot read your secrets. Each sandbox it creates is on your [audit log](https://prized.dev/docs/teams#what-is-recorded). It expires after 90 days.
* **Money.** The agent never pays or picks a plan. When money would lift a limit, its refusal links your Billing page, and you decide.

## What it costs [#what-it-costs]

New accounts get $30 of [free credit](https://prized.dev/docs/billing#free-credit), with no card. For an account an agent makes, it comes once per inbox, once a day per email domain, and within a daily total for all agent sign-ups, so it may not come; the claim's answer says whether it did (`free_credit`). On the free credit, sandboxes run within the [free tier](https://prized.dev/docs/sandboxes#free-tier). An account without it needs a top-up or a plan before its first sandbox.

## Already on Prized? [#already-on-prized]

Agent sign-up only makes new accounts: for an address that has one, it answers `sign_in_required` and makes no key. Make your agent a key at [https://prized.dev/dashboard/workspace/api-keys](https://prized.dev/dashboard/workspace/api-keys) with **Sandboxes: Write** instead.

## Common questions [#common-questions]

### Can an agent sign up without me? [#can-an-agent-sign-up-without-me]

No. It needs your email address and the code Prized sends there, and you choose to keep or revoke its key the first time you sign in.

### Which other sandbox services can an agent sign up for? [#which-other-sandbox-services-can-an-agent-sign-up-for]

Of the services on [Best cloud sandboxes for AI agents](https://prized.dev/docs/best-cloud-sandboxes-for-ai-agents), checked November 5, 2026: E2B, Daytona and Modal have a person sign up in a browser and copy a key to the agent. boat takes an agent's registration through auth.md, then asks the person to sign in in a browser and add a card before the first sandbox.

### Can it make a box instead? [#can-it-make-a-box-instead]

Yes. The same key starts a [box](https://prized.dev/docs/boxes), a Linux machine with no maximum run time; [Agent sign-in](https://prized.dev/docs/agent-sign-in) has the box steps.