Private beta: AI SRE is currently in private beta and available to invited accounts only. To join the whitelist test, contact the Flashduty sales team to request access; features and the UI may change during the beta.
Overview
The cloud sandbox is a temporary execution environment managed by Flashduty — an isolated, ready-to-use container. The AI SRE agent’s tool calls (running commands, reading and writing files, running Skills, connecting to MCP) all happen inside it, and you don’t have to install or maintain anything. It is AI SRE’s default fallback: when your account has no online self-hosted Runner (BYOC), sessions automatically run in the cloud sandbox; you can also pin a session to it manually.
Zero install, ready to use
No process to deploy and no credentials to enter. New accounts, ad-hoc investigations, and demos can start chatting right away on a clean sandbox the system allocates.
Auto-pause when idle
The sandbox pauses automatically when the session is idle to free resources, then resumes on your next message, continuing in the same working directory.
When to use the cloud sandbox
The cloud sandbox is best for investigations that don’t depend on your private network, and for getting started quickly:
- Quick start / demos: you haven’t deployed a Runner yet and want to try AI SRE’s troubleshooting first;
- Publicly reachable diagnostics: the investigation only needs Flashduty’s own data (incidents, alerts, changes) or trusted public services;
- One-off, lightweight tasks: you don’t want to set up a dedicated always-on machine for a single investigation.
Using it in a session
The environment selector at the bottom of the chat box decides where the session executes. Two of its options relate to the cloud sandbox:
| Option | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Auto | The default for new sessions. Prefers an online Runner if the account has one; otherwise falls back to the cloud sandbox. |
| Cloud sandbox · Default | Forces the cloud sandbox, ignoring all self-hosted Runners. |
The environment choice is locked once per session: the environment determined when the session sends its first message is recorded and reused for every later turn; it does not change if you switch the selector afterward. To use a different environment, start a new session. See BYOC · Selecting an environment in a session.
Cloud sandbox vs. self-hosted Runner
| Dimension | Cloud sandbox | Self-hosted Runner (BYOC) |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | No install, system-managed | Deploy a persistent process on your own machine |
| Private-network reach | ❌ Trusted public domains only | ✅ Can reach your VPC / intranet / dedicated line |
| Data residency | Inside the managed environment | Stays within your own network boundary |
| Lifecycle | Temporary, auto-pauses when idle | Persistent, under your control |
| Best for | Quick start, public diagnostics | Deep investigations that reach real production |
Related pages
BYOC
Deploy a persistent Runner on your own machine so investigations reach your private network.
Console
See the execution environment and status bound to a session.
MCP (External Tools)
MCP connections are established inside the selected environment at agent runtime.
Skill
Skills run inside the selected execution environment.