> ## 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.

# Concepts

> Every Boat word defined once: sandbox, snapshot, named snapshot, stop, resume, fork, delete, environment. The sandbox states, and the matching words at E2B, Daytona and Modal.

Boat gives you sandboxes. A sandbox is a full Linux virtual machine with its own disk. You stop it to stop paying, and you resume it later with the same disk.

## Lifecycle

```mermaid theme={null}
stateDiagram-v2
  [*] --> Starting: boat new / boat fork
  Starting --> Running: ready
  Running --> Stopping: boat stop / auto-stop
  Stopping --> Stopped: disk saved
  Stopping --> Running: boat resume (same machine)
  Stopped --> Starting: boat resume
  Stopped --> Starting: boat fork (new sandbox)
  Running --> Error: machine lost
  Error --> Starting: boat resume
  Error --> Running: boat recover
  Running --> Deleted: boat delete
  Stopped --> Deleted: boat delete
  Error --> Deleted: boat delete
  Deleted --> [*]

  Starting: Starting (API provisioning, provisioned, cloning)
  Running: Running (API ready, idle, running)
  Stopping: Stopping (API archiving)
  Stopped: Stopped (API archived)
  Error: Error (API error)
  Deleted: Deleted (gone from lists)
```

| State | API state names | CLI and dashboard show | Billed | Disk |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Starting | `provisioning`, `provisioned`, `cloning` | `provisioning`, `starting`, `cloning` | From `provisioned` | Restoring |
| Running | `ready`, `idle`, `running` | same | Yes | On the machine, saved each minute |
| Stopping | `archiving` | `stopping` | No | Last save in progress |
| Stopped | `archived` | `stopped` | No | Saved for 14 days, then deleted |
| Error | `error` | `error` | No | Held for 3 days |
| Deleted | none | none | No | Erased |

The API calls a stopped sandbox `archived`. It is the same state. Nothing is moved or deleted.

`idle` and `running` differ only for the [integrated agent](/integrated-agents): `running` means a prompt runs now. Commands work in both.

What works at `ready`, and what comes a few seconds later, is in [Readiness and resume speed](/readiness).

## Words

| Word | Meaning |
| - | - |
| **Sandbox** | One Linux virtual machine that you create, with its own disk, IP address and id (`bx_...`). |
| **Machine** | The hardware under a sandbox. A resume or a fork puts the sandbox on a new machine. |
| **Size** | The CPU, memory and disk of a sandbox: `small`, `default` (the medium size), `large`, `xlarge`. Read [Machines](/machines). |
| **Snapshot** | A saved copy of the disk. Boat takes one every minute and one at each stop. Only the newest one is used. Read [Snapshots](/snapshots). |
| **Named snapshot** | A snapshot that you save under a name. It never expires. Start new sandboxes from it with `boat new --from <name>`. Read [Named snapshots](/snapshots/templates). |
| **Template** | Not a separate object. "Use a named snapshot as a template" means: start many sandboxes from one named snapshot. |
| **Stop** | Save the disk, then remove the machine. Memory and running programs are not kept. There is no pause. A stopped sandbox costs nothing, and Boat keeps its disk for 14 days. Read [Stop a sandbox](/snapshots/stop). |
| **Auto-stop** | A timer that stops the sandbox. The default is 1 hour after the create or the last resume. Read [Auto-stop](/long-running-tasks/auto-stop). |
| **Always on** | A sandbox with auto-stop turned off. It runs until you stop it. |
| **Resume** | Start a stopped sandbox again, from its newest snapshot. Same id, new machine, new IP address. |
| **Fork** | Make a new sandbox that copies the newest snapshot of another sandbox. The source does not change. |
| **Restore** | Get older files back. Resume and fork cannot use an older snapshot. Read [Restore an older snapshot](/snapshots/resume-and-fork#restore-an-older-snapshot-roll-back). |
| **Recover** | Restart the machine of a sandbox that does not answer. The disk is not touched. Read [Troubleshooting](/troubleshooting#a-sandbox-does-not-answer). |
| **Delete** | Erase a sandbox and its snapshots for good. You cannot get it back. Read [Delete a sandbox](/data-retention/delete). |
| **Ready** | The sandbox runs commands now. Read [Readiness](/readiness). |
| **Hydrated** | All file content has arrived after a resume or fork. Files are readable before that. |
| **Environment** | Settings that a sandbox starts with: variables, secret files, repositories and logins. Read [Environments](/environments). |
| **Setup script** | Commands that run when a sandbox starts. Read [Setup scripts](/setup). |
| **Public URL** | An HTTPS address for one port of a sandbox. Read [Public URLs](/hosting). |
| **Share code** | A secret code (`bsh_...`) that lets another account start a sandbox from your named snapshot. |
| **Organization** | A team account. Members share sandboxes, a balance and seats. Read [Organizations](/organizations). |
| **Active wallet** | The account that pays for a new sandbox: you, or an organization. Read [Active wallet](/organizations/active-wallet). |
| **Seat** | One paid member place in an organization. Each seat adds the plan price, the included time and the limits. |

## Words at other providers

Other providers use some of the same words for other things. This table gives the closest Boat word.

| Boat | E2B | Daytona | Modal |
| - | - | - | - |
| Sandbox | Sandbox | Sandbox | Sandbox |
| Stop (disk kept, memory not kept) | Pause in filesystem mode. A default pause keeps memory, a Boat stop does not | Stop | No match. Save a filesystem snapshot, then terminate |
| Resume | Resume (connect) | Start | Create a sandbox from the saved image |
| Delete | Kill | Delete | Terminate |
| Named snapshot | Template | Snapshot | Filesystem snapshot (an image) |
| Fork | No direct match. Create from a template or snapshot | No direct match | Create from a filesystem snapshot |
| Auto-stop | Timeout | Auto-stop interval | Timeout |
| Stopped state | Paused | Stopped. Boat has no separate archive step: a stopped sandbox is already in storage | No match |

Two differences cause most surprises:

* A Boat **snapshot** is automatic and per sandbox. A Daytona snapshot is closer to a Boat **named snapshot**.
* A Boat **stop** does not keep memory. Programs that you started by hand do not come back. Enabled systemd services and Docker containers start again. Read [What a snapshot saves](/snapshots/whats-saved).


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