sandbox-agent/docs/processes.mdx

---
title: "Processes"
description: "Run commands and manage long-lived processes inside the sandbox."
sidebarTitle: "Processes"
icon: "terminal"
---

The process API supports:

- **One-shot execution** — run a command to completion and capture stdout, stderr, and exit code
- **Managed processes** — spawn, list, stop, kill, and delete long-lived processes
- **Log streaming** — fetch buffered logs or follow live output via SSE
- **Terminals** — full PTY support with bidirectional WebSocket I/O
- **Configurable limits** — control concurrency, timeouts, and buffer sizes per runtime

## Run a command

Execute a command to completion and get its output.

<CodeGroup>
```ts TypeScript
import { SandboxAgent } from "sandbox-agent";

const sdk = await SandboxAgent.connect({
  baseUrl: "http://127.0.0.1:2468",
});

const result = await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "ls",
  args: ["-la", "/workspace"],
});

console.log(result.exitCode); // 0
console.log(result.stdout);
```

```bash cURL
curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"ls","args":["-la","/workspace"]}'
```
</CodeGroup>

You can set a timeout and cap output size:

<CodeGroup>
```ts TypeScript
const result = await sdk.runProcess({
  command: "make",
  args: ["build"],
  timeoutMs: 60000,
  maxOutputBytes: 1048576,
});

if (result.timedOut) {
  console.log("Build timed out");
}
if (result.stdoutTruncated) {
  console.log("Output was truncated");
}
```

```bash cURL
curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/run" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"make","args":["build"],"timeoutMs":60000,"maxOutputBytes":1048576}'
```
</CodeGroup>

## Managed processes

Create a long-lived process that you can interact with, monitor, and stop later.

### Create

<CodeGroup>
```ts TypeScript
const proc = await sdk.createProcess({
  command: "node",
  args: ["server.js"],
  cwd: "/workspace",
});

console.log(proc.id, proc.pid); // proc_1, 12345
```

```bash cURL
curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command":"node","args":["server.js"],"cwd":"/workspace"}'
```
</CodeGroup>

### List and get

<CodeGroup>
```ts TypeScript
const { processes } = await sdk.listProcesses();

for (const p of processes) {
  console.log(p.id, p.command, p.status);
}

const proc = await sdk.getProcess("proc_1");
```

```bash cURL
curl "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes"

curl "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/proc_1"
```
</CodeGroup>

### Stop, kill, and delete

<CodeGroup>
```ts TypeScript
// SIGTERM with optional wait
await sdk.stopProcess("proc_1", { waitMs: 5000 });

// SIGKILL
await sdk.killProcess("proc_1", { waitMs: 1000 });

// Remove exited process record
await sdk.deleteProcess("proc_1");
```

```bash cURL
curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/proc_1/stop?waitMs=5000"

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/proc_1/kill?waitMs=1000"

curl -X DELETE "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/proc_1"
```
</CodeGroup>

## Logs

### Fetch buffered logs

<CodeGroup>
```ts TypeScript
const logs = await sdk.getProcessLogs("proc_1", {
  tail: 50,
  stream: "combined",
});

for (const entry of logs.entries) {
  console.log(entry.stream, atob(entry.data));
}
```

```bash cURL
curl "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/proc_1/logs?tail=50&stream=combined"
```
</CodeGroup>

### Follow logs via SSE

Stream log entries in real time. The subscription replays buffered entries first, then streams new output as it arrives.

```ts TypeScript
const sub = await sdk.followProcessLogs("proc_1", (entry) => {
  console.log(entry.stream, atob(entry.data));
});

// Later, stop following
sub.close();
await sub.closed;
```

## Terminals

Create a process with `tty: true` to allocate a pseudo-terminal, then connect via WebSocket for full bidirectional I/O.

```ts TypeScript
const proc = await sdk.createProcess({
  command: "bash",
  tty: true,
});
```

### Write input

<CodeGroup>
```ts TypeScript
await sdk.sendProcessInput("proc_1", {
  data: "echo hello\n",
  encoding: "utf8",
});
```

```bash cURL
curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/proc_1/input" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"data":"echo hello\n","encoding":"utf8"}'
```
</CodeGroup>

### Connect to a terminal

Use `ProcessTerminalSession` unless you need direct frame access.

```ts TypeScript
const terminal = sdk.connectProcessTerminal("proc_1");

terminal.onReady(() => {
  terminal.resize({ cols: 120, rows: 40 });
  terminal.sendInput("ls\n");
});

terminal.onData((bytes) => {
  process.stdout.write(new TextDecoder().decode(bytes));
});

terminal.onExit((status) => {
  console.log("exit:", status.exitCode);
});

terminal.onError((error) => {
  console.error(error instanceof Error ? error.message : error.message);
});

terminal.onClose(() => {
  console.log("terminal closed");
});
```

Since the browser WebSocket API cannot send custom headers, the endpoint accepts an `access_token` query parameter for authentication. The SDK handles this automatically.

### Browser terminal emulators

The terminal session works with any browser terminal emulator like ghostty-web or xterm.js. For a complete example using ghostty-web, see the [Inspector's GhosttyTerminal component](https://github.com/rivet-dev/sandbox-agent/blob/be32cf04a250512e73a0ffdb5f7e759accfc1c47/frontend/packages/inspector/src/components/processes/GhosttyTerminal.tsx).

## Configuration

Adjust runtime limits like max concurrent processes, timeouts, and buffer sizes.

<CodeGroup>
```ts TypeScript
const config = await sdk.getProcessConfig();
console.log(config);

await sdk.setProcessConfig({
  ...config,
  maxConcurrentProcesses: 32,
  defaultRunTimeoutMs: 60000,
});
```

```bash cURL
curl "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/config"

curl -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:2468/v1/processes/config" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"maxConcurrentProcesses":32,"defaultRunTimeoutMs":60000,"maxRunTimeoutMs":300000,"maxOutputBytes":1048576,"maxLogBytesPerProcess":10485760,"maxInputBytesPerRequest":65536}'
```
</CodeGroup>