Cloudrouter

Installation

If cloudrouter is not installed, help the user install it:

npm install -g @manaflow-ai/cloudrouter

This installs both cloudrouter and cr (shorthand) as CLI commands.

Then authenticate:

cloudrouter login

If the user hasn't logged in yet, prompt them to run cloudrouter login first before using any other commands.

Quick Start

cloudrouter login                        # Authenticate (opens browser)
cloudrouter start .                      # Create sandbox from current directory
cloudrouter start --gpu T4 .             # Create sandbox with GPU
cloudrouter start --docker .             # Create sandbox with Docker
cloudrouter code <id>                    # Open VS Code
cloudrouter pty <id>                     # Open terminal session
cloudrouter ls                           # List all sandboxes

Preferred: Always use cloudrouter start . or cloudrouter start <local-path> to sync your local directory to a cloud sandbox. This is the recommended workflow over cloning from a git repo.

Commands

Authentication

cloudrouter login               # Login (opens browser)
cloudrouter logout              # Logout and clear credentials
cloudrouter whoami              # Show current user and team

Creating Sandboxes

# Standard sandbox (syncs local directory)
cloudrouter start .                        # Create from current directory (recommended)
cloudrouter start ./my-project             # Create from a specific local directory
cloudrouter start -o .                     # Create and open VS Code immediately
cloudrouter start -n my-sandbox .          # Create with a custom name

# With Docker support
cloudrouter start --docker .               # Sandbox with Docker enabled

# With GPU
cloudrouter start --gpu T4 .               # T4 GPU (16GB VRAM)
cloudrouter start --gpu L4 .               # L4 GPU (24GB VRAM)
cloudrouter start --gpu A10G .             # A10G GPU (24GB VRAM)
cloudrouter start --gpu A100 .             # A100 GPU (40GB VRAM)
cloudrouter start --gpu H100 .             # H100 GPU (80GB VRAM)
cloudrouter start --gpu H100:2 .           # Multi-GPU: 2x H100

# With custom resources
cloudrouter start --cpu 8 .                # Custom CPU cores
cloudrouter start --memory 16384 .         # Custom memory (MiB)
cloudrouter start --image ubuntu:22.04 .   # Custom container image

# From git repo
cloudrouter start --git user/repo          # Clone a git repo into sandbox
cloudrouter start --git user/repo -b main  # Clone specific branch

# Provider selection
cloudrouter start -p e2b .                 # Use E2B provider (default)
cloudrouter start -p modal .               # Use Modal provider

GPU Options

All GPUs are available self-serve — no approval required.

Multi-GPU: append :N to the GPU type, e.g. --gpu H100:2 for 2x H100.

All start Flags

-n, --name <name>       Name for the sandbox
-o, --open              Open VS Code after creation
    --docker            Enable Docker support (E2B only)
    --gpu <type>        GPU type (T4, L4, A10G, L40S, A100, H100, H200, B200)
    --cpu <cores>       CPU cores (e.g., 4, 8)
    --memory <MiB>      Memory in MiB (e.g., 8192, 65536)
    --image <image>     Container image (e.g., ubuntu:22.04)
    --git <repo>        Git repository URL or user/repo shorthand
-b, --branch <branch>   Git branch to clone
-p, --provider <name>   Sandbox provider: e2b (default), modal
-T, --template <id>     Template ID (overrides --docker) — DO NOT use template names from `cloudrouter templates`; use --docker or --gpu flags instead

Warning: Do NOT pass template names (e.g. cmux-devbox-base) to the -T flag. These are display names, not valid E2B template IDs. Use --docker for Docker support and --gpu <type> for GPU support instead.

Managing Sandboxes

cloudrouter ls                  # List all sandboxes
cloudrouter status <id>         # Show sandbox details and URLs
cloudrouter stop <id>           # Stop sandbox (can restart later)
cloudrouter extend <id>         # Extend sandbox timeout (default: +1 hour)
cloudrouter extend <id> --seconds 7200  # Extend by 2 hours
cloudrouter delete <id>         # Delete sandbox permanently
cloudrouter templates           # List available templates

Access Sandbox

cloudrouter code <id>           # Open VS Code in browser
cloudrouter vnc <id>            # Open VNC desktop in browser
cloudrouter pty <id>            # Interactive terminal session

Work with Sandbox

cloudrouter pty <id>                  # Interactive terminal session (use this to run commands)
cloudrouter exec <id> <command>       # Execute a one-off command

Important: Prefer cloudrouter pty for interactive work. Use cloudrouter exec only for quick one-off commands.

File Transfer

Upload and download files or directories between local machine and sandbox.

Command signatures:

• cloudrouter upload <id> [local-path] — accepts 1-2 positional args: sandbox ID and optional local path
• cloudrouter download <id> [local-path] — accepts 1-2 positional args: sandbox ID and optional local path
• Use -r <remote-path> flag to specify a non-default remote directory (default: /home/user/workspace)
• Do NOT pass remote paths as positional arguments — this will error. Always use the -r flag.

# Upload (local -> sandbox)
cloudrouter upload <id>                            # Upload current dir to /home/user/workspace
cloudrouter upload <id> ./my-project               # Upload directory to workspace
cloudrouter upload <id> ./config.json              # Upload single file to workspace
cloudrouter upload <id> . -r /home/user/app        # Upload to specific remote path
cloudrouter upload <id> . --watch                  # Watch and re-upload on changes
cloudrouter upload <id> . --delete                 # Delete remote files not present locally
cloudrouter upload <id> . -e "*.log"               # Exclude patterns

# Download (sandbox -> local)
cloudrouter download <id>                          # Download workspace to current dir
cloudrouter download <id> ./output                 # Download workspace to ./output
cloudrouter download <id> ./output -r /home/user/app  # Download specific remote dir to ./output

Warning: The -r flag expects a directory path, not a file path. To download a single file, download its parent directory and then access the file locally.

Common mistake: cloudrouter download <id> /remote/path /local/path — this passes 3 positional args and will fail. Use cloudrouter download <id> /local/path -r /remote/path instead.

Browser Automation (cloudrouter browser)

Control Chrome browser via CDP in the sandbox's VNC desktop.

Startup delay: Chrome CDP may not be ready immediately after sandbox creation. If a browser command fails right after cloudrouter start, wait a few seconds and retry. This is rare but expected — Chrome needs a moment to boot inside the sandbox.

Navigation

cloudrouter browser open <id> <url>    # Navigate to URL
cloudrouter browser back <id>          # Navigate back
cloudrouter browser forward <id>       # Navigate forward
cloudrouter browser reload <id>        # Reload page
cloudrouter browser url <id>           # Get current URL
cloudrouter browser title <id>         # Get page title

Inspect Page

cloudrouter browser snapshot <id>             # Get accessibility tree with element refs (@e1, @e2...)
cloudrouter browser snapshot -i <id>          # Interactive elements only (preferred)
cloudrouter browser snapshot -i -c <id>       # Interactive + compact
cloudrouter browser screenshot <id>           # Take screenshot (base64 to stdout)
cloudrouter browser screenshot <id> out.png   # Save screenshot to file
cloudrouter browser eval <id> "document.title"  # Run JavaScript in browser

Interact with Elements

cloudrouter browser click <id> <selector>      # Click element (@e1 or CSS selector)
cloudrouter browser dblclick <id> <selector>   # Double-click element
cloudrouter browser type <id> "text"           # Type into focused element
cloudrouter browser fill <id> <sel> "value"    # Clear input and fill with value
cloudrouter browser press <id> <key>           # Press key (Enter, Tab, Escape, etc.)
cloudrouter browser hover <id> <selector>      # Hover over element
cloudrouter browser scroll <id> [direction]    # Scroll page (up/down/left/right)
cloudrouter browser wait <id> <selector>       # Wait for element to appear

Element Selectors

Two ways to select elements:

• Element refs from snapshot: @e1, @e2, @e3...
• CSS selectors: #id, .class, button[type="submit"]

Sandbox IDs

Sandbox IDs look like cr_abc12345. Use the full ID when running commands. Get IDs from cloudrouter ls or cloudrouter start output.

Common Workflows

Create and develop in a sandbox (preferred: local-to-cloud)

cloudrouter start ./my-project        # Creates sandbox, uploads files
cloudrouter code cr_abc123            # Open VS Code
cloudrouter pty cr_abc123             # Open terminal to run commands (e.g. npm install && npm run dev)

GPU workflow: ML training

cloudrouter start --gpu A100 ./ml-project    # Sandbox with A100 GPU
cloudrouter pty cr_abc123                    # Open terminal
# Inside: pip install -r requirements.txt && python train.py
cloudrouter download cr_abc123 ./checkpoints # Download trained model

Docker workflow

cloudrouter start --docker ./my-app          # Sandbox with Docker
cloudrouter pty cr_abc123                    # Open terminal
# Inside: docker compose up -d

File transfer workflow

cloudrouter upload cr_abc123 ./my-project     # Push local files to sandbox
# ... do work in sandbox ...
cloudrouter download cr_abc123 ./output       # Pull files from sandbox to local

Browser automation: Login to a website

cloudrouter browser open cr_abc123 "https://example.com/login"
cloudrouter browser snapshot cr_abc123
# Output: @e1 [input] Email, @e2 [input] Password, @e3 [button] Sign In

cloudrouter browser fill cr_abc123 @e1 "[email protected]"
cloudrouter browser fill cr_abc123 @e2 "password123"
cloudrouter browser click cr_abc123 @e3
cloudrouter browser screenshot cr_abc123 result.png

Browser automation: Scrape data

cloudrouter browser open cr_abc123 "https://example.com/data"
cloudrouter browser snapshot cr_abc123   # Get structured accessibility tree
cloudrouter browser screenshot cr_abc123 # Visual capture

Sandbox Lifecycle & Cleanup

Concurrency limit: Users have a default limit of 10 concurrently running sandboxes. Subscribed users may have higher limits (50, 100, or 500 depending on tier). If the user is approaching their limit, alert them and suggest cleaning up unused sandboxes. If they need a higher limit, they should contact [email protected] (the CLI will also display this message when the limit is hit).

Cleanup rules — be careful and deliberate:

1. Only touch sandboxes you created in this session. Never stop or delete sandboxes you didn't create or don't recognize. If you see unknown sandboxes in cloudrouter ls, leave them alone — they may belong to the user or another workflow.

2. Extend before cleanup. Before stopping or deleting a sandbox you created, consider whether the user might want to inspect it. If you built something the user should see (a running app, a trained model, browser automation results, etc.), extend the sandbox with cloudrouter extend <id> so the user has time to check it out. Share the relevant URL (VS Code, VNC, etc.) so they can access it.

   • Use --seconds <N> to set a custom duration (default is 3600 = 1 hour). Do NOT use --timeout — that flag does not exist.
   • Example: cloudrouter extend cr_abc123 --seconds 1800 extends by 30 minutes.

3. Stop, don't delete, by default. Prefer cloudrouter stop <id> over cloudrouter delete <id> unless the sandbox is clearly disposable (e.g., a quick test that produced no artifacts). Stopped sandboxes can be restarted; deleted ones are gone forever. If cloudrouter stop fails, fall back to cloudrouter delete <id> to ensure cleanup.

4. Clean up when you're done. When your task is complete and the user no longer needs the sandbox, stop it. Don't leave sandboxes running indefinitely — they count toward the concurrency limit.

5. Monitor concurrency. Before creating a new sandbox, run cloudrouter ls to check how many are running. If approaching the limit, warn the user and ask if any can be stopped before creating another. Never silently hit the limit.

6. If the limit is reached: Tell the user they've hit their sandbox concurrency limit. Suggest stopping sandboxes they no longer need. If they need more capacity, direct them to contact [email protected] to request a higher limit.

Cleanup workflow:

cloudrouter ls                  # Check running sandboxes and count
cloudrouter extend cr_abc123                # Extend by 1 hour (default)
cloudrouter extend cr_abc123 --seconds 3600 # Extend by custom duration
# ... share URLs, let user verify ...
cloudrouter stop cr_abc123      # Stop when done (can restart later)
cloudrouter delete cr_abc123    # Delete only if clearly disposable

Surfacing URLs and Screenshots

Proactively share authenticated sandbox URLs and screenshots with the user when it helps build trust or verify progress. The user cannot see what's happening inside the sandbox — showing them evidence of your work is important.

When to surface URLs:

• After creating a sandbox or setting up an environment, share the VS Code URL (cloudrouter code <id>) so the user can inspect the workspace
• After deploying or starting a service, share the VNC URL (cloudrouter vnc <id>) so the user can see it running
• When Jupyter is running, share the Jupyter URL so the user can verify notebooks
• Whenever the user might want to verify, inspect, or interact with the sandbox themselves

When to take and share screenshots:

• After completing a visual task (e.g., UI changes, web app deployment) — take a screenshot with cloudrouter browser screenshot <id> out.png and show it
• When something looks wrong or unexpected — screenshot it for the user to confirm
• After browser automation steps that produce visible results (form submissions, page navigations, login flows)
• When the user asks you to check or verify something visually

General rule: If you think the user would benefit from seeing proof of what you did, surface the URL or screenshot. Err on the side of showing more rather than less — it builds trust and keeps the user in the loop.

Security: Dev Server URLs

CRITICAL: NEVER share or output raw E2B port-forwarded URLs.

When a dev server runs in the sandbox (e.g., Vite on port 5173, Next.js on port 3000), E2B creates publicly accessible URLs like https://5173-xxx.e2b.app. These URLs have NO authentication — anyone with the link can access the running application.

Rules:

• NEVER output URLs like https://5173-xxx.e2b.app, https://3000-xxx.e2b.app, or any https://<port>-xxx.e2b.app URL
• NEVER construct or guess E2B port URLs from sandbox metadata
• ALWAYS tell the user to view dev servers through VNC: cloudrouter vnc <id>
• VNC is protected by token authentication (?tkn=) and is the only safe way to view dev server output
• DO share authenticated URLs: VS Code (cloudrouter code <id>), VNC (cloudrouter vnc <id>), and Jupyter URLs — these have proper token auth and are safe to surface

When a dev server is started:

Dev server running on port 5173
  View it in your sandbox's VNC desktop: cloudrouter vnc <id>
  (The browser inside VNC can access http://localhost:5173)

NEVER do this:

Frontend: https://5173-xxx.e2b.app   <- WRONG: publicly accessible, no auth

Global Flags

-t, --team <team>   Team slug (overrides default)
-v, --verbose       Verbose output
    --json          Machine-readable JSON output

Changelog

0.9.18

• All GPUs are now self-serve — no approval required. T4, L4, A10G, L40S, A100, A100-80GB, H100, H200, and B200 are all available without contacting Manaflow.
• Fixed documentation: browser automation command is cloudrouter browser, not cloudrouter computer. All references updated.
• Updated production backend credentials (Convex site, project ID, publishable key, base URL).
• Both cloudrouter and cr CLI aliases are supported and report the same version.