Spin up your first Tenki Sandbox session in under a minute. Install the CLI or SDK, authenticate with an API key, and run commands inside an isolated Linux VM.

Tenki Sandbox gives you disposable full Linux VMs you can drive from the CLI or the Go, TypeScript, and Python SDKs. This guide takes you from install to a running sandbox in a few minutes. Pick your tool in the first code block and the selection follows you down the page.

1. Install

Supported platforms

The tenki CLI supports Linux x86-64 (linux/amd64) and Apple silicon macOS (darwin/arm64); Intel macOS is not supported.

npm install @tenkicloud/sandbox

2. Authenticate

Sign the CLI in interactively. For SDKs and automation, Sandbox onboarding creates an initial API key. Export it as TENKI_API_KEY. See Manage API keys to create additional keys, choose an expiration date, rotate keys, or revoke them.

export TENKI_API_KEY=tk_your_api_key

3. Create a sandbox and run a command

Create a session, run a command inside it, and read the output back. The session is a fresh Linux VM, isolated from your machine.

// sandbox.ts
import { stdoutText, TenkiSandbox } from "@tenkicloud/sandbox";

const sandbox = new TenkiSandbox(); // reads TENKI_API_KEY from env

await using session = await sandbox.createAndWait({ name: "demo" });

const result = await session.exec("bash", { args: ["-lc", "uname -a && whoami"] });
console.log(`exit=${result.exitCode}\n${stdoutText(result)}`);
// `await using` closes the session when it leaves scope.

Run it:

npx tsx sandbox.ts

You should see the guest's kernel info and username printed back. That output came from inside the VM.

What's next

Do more with a session: Sessions covers command execution, file I/O, port exposure, and SSH.
Concepts: how sessions, volumes, and snapshots fit together.
Recipes: run an AI agent, checkpoint an environment, cache dependencies.
Persistent Volumes and Snapshots for durable state.
CLI Reference and SDK Reference for every command and option.

Need help? Email hello@tenki.cloud and we'll help you get set up.

Quickstart