Run a sandbox for days without losing your agent's state

A sandbox does not lose its state when a session ends: pause it, and it keeps its memory, running processes and files for as long as you keep it, billed for storage only; the next command resumes it, usually in under a second. Running, it gets 24 hours by default, up to 7 days at a time; the clock stops while it is paused, and you can extend it while it runs.

11. Create it for the long run

Open Sandboxes to sign up and choose Create API key, then install the CLI and export the key in a new terminal:

curl -fsSL https://prized.dev/install.sh | sh

export PRIZED_API_KEY=dcp_…

ID=$(prized sandbox create --template prized-agent-v1 --max-runtime 7d --auto-pause 15m --label agent=support-bot)

--auto-pause 15m pauses it after 15 minutes with no command or file copy, so an idle agent costs no compute, and the label shows in prized sandbox ls. --max-runtime 7d needs a workspace that has paid in (a plan or a top-up): on the free credit a sandbox runs 60 minutes in all, so leave it out there (Free tier).

22. Use it across sessions

prized sandbox exec $ID -- 'nohup python3 -m http.server 8000 > server.log 2>&1 &'
prized sandbox exec $ID -- 'echo "step 1 done" >> notes.txt'

When the agent goes quiet the sandbox pauses on its own, or now with prized sandbox pause $ID. Days later, the next command resumes it first, with the server still running and the notes where they were:

prized sandbox exec $ID -- 'cat notes.txt && curl -s localhost:8000 > /dev/null && echo server up'

33. Keep it past 7 days

Each resume starts a fresh 7 days of run time, so a sandbox that pauses at least once a week never runs out. Busy for more than 7 days straight? Extend it while it runs; it stops at 7 days from now, so extend again later (Run time):

prized sandbox extend $ID --by 2d

What to know

• Paused state lives on one machine. If that machine fails, the sandbox goes to error and what it held is lost: push work to git or copy it out as you go (Pause and resume).
• Deleting erases it, by hand, by --auto-delete, or at the end of its run time.
• On the free credit, a paused sandbox is kept 30 days after its last use; once the workspace has paid in, until you delete it (Paused retention).
• Needs root, Docker or months on one machine? Use a box: a Linux machine with sudo and no maximum run time (Persistent cloud computer).

What it costs

Each session also runs up to 15 idle minutes before --auto-pause pauses it. This shape holds 18 GB paused, inside the included 20 GB; past them, paused storage is $0.05 per GB-month (Billing: Sandboxes).