By name: code-execution description: Execute code in a real cloud machine (code-interpreter style) — a full root Ubuntu VM with Python, Node, Go, Rust and every major runtime preinstalled, not a constrained isolate. Per-second billing makes a run cost cents. Use to run scripts, data jobs, or generated code that needs real packages, subprocesses, or Docker.
Code execution (Box)
Use this when you need to actually run code and get its output: a Python data job, a Node script, a build, or generated code that does pip install, spawns subprocesses, or writes files. A real machine (vs a JS isolate or limited code-interpreter) means those operations succeed.
Why Box
- Every runtime preinstalled — Python 3, Node/Bun/Deno, Go, Rust, Java, .NET, Ruby, PHP, C/C++.
- Real OS —
apt install, Docker, subprocesses, 80 GB disk. - Cheap per run — per-second billing; a short execution costs cents.
Prefer another tool for: thousands of <500 ms micro-executions (E2B/Modal microVMs) or GPU compute (Modal).
Prereqs
curl -fsSL https://box.ascii.dev/install | sh, then box login "$BOX_API_KEY" --json.
Recipe
box_id="$(box new --json | jq -r 'select(.event == "ready") | .id')"
box ssh "$box_id" -- "cat > /tmp/main.py" < ./main.py
box ssh "$box_id" -- "cd /tmp && timeout 120 python3 main.py"
box delete "$box_id" --json
Limits
EU-only; 100 active VMs soft cap; disk-level snapshots only.