> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.boat.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Create box > Provision a new cloud computer. Store the returned `box.id` with your product job/session record. Send an `Idempotency-Key` header to make this call safe to retry after a lost response without creating a second billable box. ## OpenAPI ````yaml openapi/box-v1.yaml POST /boxes openapi: 3.1.0 info: title: Boat Public API v1 version: 1.0.0 description: > Public JSON API for creating, operating, prompting, observing, and exposing Boat sandboxes from backend services, CI jobs, hosted workers, and Boat automation products. The v1 reference intentionally documents the developer integration surface only. Dashboard billing actions are not part of v1. servers: - url: https://ascii.dev/api/box/v1 security: - BoxBearerAuth: [] tags: - name: Box description: >- Unified Boat account, setup, lifecycle, prompting, event history, desktop access, and SSH operations. paths: /boxes: post: tags: - Box summary: Create box description: >- Provision a new cloud computer. Store the returned `box.id` with your product job/session record. Send an `Idempotency-Key` header to make this call safe to retry after a lost response without creating a second billable box. operationId: create parameters: - $ref: '#/components/parameters/IdempotencyKey' - $ref: '#/components/parameters/OrgId' - $ref: '#/components/parameters/OrgHeader' requestBody: required: false content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/CreateBoxRequest' responses: '202': description: Box accepted for provisioning. content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/CreateBoxResponse' examples: provisioning: value: ok: true type: box.created status: provisioning ttlSeconds: 3600 box: id: bx_23456789 name: Box 2026-05-31 12:00 state: provisioning url: null ip: null createdAt: '2026-05-31T12:00:00Z' updatedAt: '2026-05-31T12:00:00Z' archiveAfter: '2026-05-31T13:00:00Z' desktopAvailable: false desktopUrl: null snapshotAvailable: false snapshotCompletedAt: null '401': $ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized' '402': $ref: '#/components/responses/PaymentRequired' '409': $ref: '#/components/responses/Conflict' '429': $ref: '#/components/responses/RateLimited' components: parameters: IdempotencyKey: name: Idempotency-Key in: header required: false schema: type: string maxLength: 255 description: >- Optional exactly-once key for creating a box. Send your own opaque, account-unique value (a UUID) to make `POST /boxes` safe to retry when the response is lost (network timeout, 5xx): the first request creates the box and binds it to the key; every later request with the **same account, key, and request body** returns that same box instead of creating a second, billable one. Behavior: keys are retained for **24 hours**; a concurrent or early retry while the first box is still being minted returns `409` `idempotency_in_progress` (retry shortly, same key); reusing a key with a **different body** returns `409` `idempotency_key_reused`; timeouts and 5xx are safe to retry with the same key; a create that fails before the box exists releases the key within ~2 minutes so a retry can create the box. Omit the header to keep the default (non-idempotent) behavior. OrgId: name: org in: query required: false schema: type: string description: >- Billing wallet for this request. A team id you belong to reads that team's limits / bills a create to that team. Your own account id is personal. Boxes, snapshots, and environments stay creator-private. OrgHeader: name: X-Box-Org in: header required: false schema: type: string description: Same as the `org` query parameter. Query wins when both are set. schemas: CreateBoxRequest: type: object description: Options for provisioning a new cloud computer. properties: type: type: string enum: - small - default - large - xlarge default: default description: >- Machine size. `small` consumes machine time at half rate and `large` at twice the default rate (see the Billing guide). `xlarge` costs $0.20 per running hour, requires the effective $100 plan or higher, and requires an explicit bare-metal operator allocation. A fork inherits the source box's type unless the fork request passes its own, and resume and fork can move a box between sizes. ttlSeconds: oneOf: - type: integer minimum: 1 maximum: 2592000 - type: 'null' default: 3600 description: >- Number of seconds before automatic archival. `null` disables auto-stop. The backend also accepts the string `infinite` for legacy compatibility; new clients should send null. env: type: object additionalProperties: type: string description: >- Per-box environment variables injected into the box's tool environment, on top of the account environment's variables (per-box values win on conflicts). Keys must match `[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]{0,127}`; at most 100 variables and 64KB total. Reserved names (`ASCII_TOKEN`, `ASCII_API_URL`, `AGENT_ID`, `PRODUCT_MODE`, `ENVIRONMENT_ID`, `BOX_ID`, `SERVICE_PREVIEW_TOKEN`, `BOX_CLI_TOKEN`) are rejected with `invalid_env`. Forked boxes inherit the source box's env unless the fork request supplies its own `env`. environment: type: string default: base description: >- Name of the Boat environment to attach to this box. Environments are managed in the Boat dashboard and bundle the repositories, secrets, and credential toggles a box gets. Omit to use your default environment (`base` unless you changed it). Unknown names are rejected with `unknown_environment`. An environment marked "safe for third parties" passes nothing to the box, exactly like `noEnv`. examples: - base - customer-demos noEnv: type: boolean default: false description: >- Create a box with none of the secrets attached to your account (no environment variables, secret files, or credentials), confined to itself so it cannot act on your account or other boxes. For boxes you give to your own users. SSH, SCP, desktop, snapshots, and public URLs still work; pass `env` to give the box a secret of its own. A fork of a no-env box is always no-env. Equivalent to attaching an environment marked "safe for third parties". setupScript: type: string maxLength: 65536 description: >- Shell script that runs on the box after it is ready. Ready means "ready to accept the user", not "setup done": the script starts in the background once provisioning completes and never blocks the box becoming usable. It runs as the box user via `bash`, with the box's environment applied, and its output goes to a log file on the box. Observe the outcome as `setupStatus` (pending/running/done/failed) and `setupError` on the box. Rejected with a 400 `invalid_setup_script` error when it is not a string or exceeds 64KB. org: type: string description: >- Bill this box to a team you belong to (the team's shared wallet). Your own account id means personal billing. Listing, snapshots, and environments stay yours: the org is a wallet, not a shared workspace. Takes precedence over `teamId` and over the `X-Box-Org` / `?org=` request scope. teamId: type: string description: Legacy alias for `org`. Ignored when `org` is also set. from: type: string description: >- Create the box from a named snapshot (saved with `POST /named-snapshots`, or `box snapshot ` in the CLI). The box starts from that exact frozen state. Omitting `type` inherits the type the snapshot was saved from; env and no-env inherit from the snapshot's source box unless the request passes its own, with the same rules as forking. examples: - ttlSeconds: 3600 - ttlSeconds: null - type: large ttlSeconds: 3600 - ttlSeconds: 3600 env: DATABASE_URL: postgres://user:pass@host:5432/app FEATURE_FLAG: '1' - ttlSeconds: null noEnv: true CreateBoxResponse: allOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/SuccessBase' - type: object required: - status - ttlSeconds - box properties: type: type: string const: box.created status: type: string enum: - provisioning ttlSeconds: type: - integer - 'null' box: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Box' SuccessBase: type: object required: - ok - type properties: ok: type: boolean examples: - true type: type: string description: Stable success envelope discriminator added by v1. Box: type: object required: - id - name - state - desktopAvailable - snapshotAvailable properties: id: type: string pattern: ^bx_[23456789abcdefghjkmnpqrstuvwxyz]{8}$ examples: - bx_23456789 name: type: string examples: - Box 2026-05-31 12:00 state: type: string enum: - init - provisioning - provisioned - cloning - ready - idle - running - archiving - archived - error type: type: string enum: - small - default - large - xlarge description: >- Current machine size: what the box was created with, or the size it was last resumed or forked onto. Legacy bare-metal boxes read as `default`. vcpu: type: integer description: vCPUs guaranteed by this box's type. examples: - 4 memoryGB: type: integer description: RAM in GB guaranteed by this box's type. examples: - 8 billingMultiplier: type: number description: >- Rate at which this box consumes machine time. 0.5 for `small`, 1 for `default`, 2 for `large`, and 50/9 for `xlarge`. examples: - 1 url: type: - string - 'null' format: uri description: Machine URL when assigned. ip: type: - string - 'null' description: Machine IPv6 or IPv4 address when assigned. createdAt: type: - string - 'null' format: date-time updatedAt: type: - string - 'null' format: date-time archiveAfter: type: - string - 'null' format: date-time description: Automatic archival time, or null when auto-stop is disabled. desktopAvailable: type: boolean desktopUrl: type: - string - 'null' format: uri description: Secret-bearing desktop stream URL when available. Redact from logs. snapshotAvailable: type: boolean snapshotCompletedAt: type: - string - 'null' format: date-time description: >- Timestamp of the most recent successfully completed snapshot, or null. subdomain: type: - string - 'null' description: >- The box's stable three-word subdomain slug (e.g. "frazil-pneuma-rallye"), or null before one is assigned. lastSnapshotAttemptAt: type: - string - 'null' format: date-time description: >- Timestamp of the most recent snapshot attempt of any status (queued, in_progress, completed, failed, cancelled), or null. Use with snapshotCompletedAt to detect snapshots that keep failing. lastSnapshotStatus: type: - string - 'null' enum: - queued - in_progress - completed - failed - cancelled - null description: >- Status of the most recent snapshot attempt, or null if none. A value other than completed while snapshotCompletedAt stays stale indicates failing snapshots. setupStatus: type: - string - 'null' enum: - pending - running - done - failed - null description: >- Outcome of the create-time `setupScript`: `pending` (stored, not yet started), `running` (executing on the box in the background), `done` (exit code 0) or `failed` (non-zero exit, or the box lost track of the process). Null when the box was created without a setup script. setupError: type: - string - 'null' description: >- Short failure detail (exit code plus a stderr tail) when `setupStatus` is `failed`; while `pending`, may carry the last start/upload error from a retry in progress. Otherwise null. environment: type: - string - 'null' description: >- Name of the Boat environment this box is running, or null if it is attached to none (a `noEnv` box, or one whose environment was deleted). A box freezes onto one environment version when it starts and keeps it for life, so this is what the box actually holds, not what the environment says today. examples: - base environmentVersion: type: - integer - 'null' description: >- Version number of `environment` that this box is pinned to. Compare it against the environment's latest version to see whether an upgrade is pending: a box below the latest is still running the older configuration until someone calls `POST /environments/{environmentId}/upgrade`. examples: - 3 ErrorEnvelope: type: object required: - ok - type - status - code - message - error - requestId properties: ok: type: boolean examples: - false type: type: string examples: - box.error status: type: integer examples: - 409 code: type: string examples: - provider_not_configured message: type: string examples: - Prompting is locked until Codex is configured on the Agents page. requestId: type: string examples: - req_01HX... error: type: object required: - code - message - status properties: code: type: string message: type: string status: type: integer details: type: object additionalProperties: true responses: Unauthorized: description: Missing or invalid bearer token. content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEnvelope' examples: unauthorized: value: ok: false type: box.error status: 401 code: unauthorized message: Unauthorized error: code: unauthorized message: Unauthorized status: 401 requestId: req_01HX... PaymentRequired: description: >- Account cannot currently create or operate Boxes. The error body may include a dashboard billing URL, but billing actions are not part of the v1 API. content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEnvelope' Conflict: description: Request conflicts with current account or box state. content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEnvelope' RateLimited: description: >- Machine start or concurrent-box limit reached. Create, fork and resume each count as one machine start against your plan's start limits (see the Billing guide; `rate_limited`, naming the window you hit). A box that would exceed your plan's concurrent-box cap is refused with `limit_reached`, or `member_limit_reached` when an organization owner has capped you below the plan. content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEnvelope' securitySchemes: BoxBearerAuth: type: http scheme: bearer bearerFormat: box_api_key description: >- Boat bearer token in the form `box_...`. Service API keys authenticate Boat operations. ````