cloud-vm · diff
git:20260613.95ab83b to git:20261109.2f1d005
6 added, 6 removed. Audit B to B.
---
name: cloud-vm
- description: Provision a persistent cloud Linux VM in seconds with SSH and a dedicated IPv4 — a real Ubuntu machine (4 vCPU / 8 GB / 80 GB) you can keep, resume, and snapshot. $20 buys ~555 hours, billed per second, ~10x cheaper than typical sandbox providers. Use when the user wants a remote dev box, a cloud VM, or any always-available Linux machine.
+ description: Provision a persistent cloud Linux VM in seconds with SSH — a real Ubuntu machine (default 4 vCPU / 8 GB / 51 GB disk) you can keep, resume, and snapshot. $0.036/h billed per second; the $20/mo plan includes about 555 default-size hours for that month. Use when the user wants a remote dev box, a cloud VM, or any always-available Linux machine.
---
# Cloud VM (Box)
- Use this when the user asks for a **VM, a cloud machine, a remote box, or a Linux dev server** — something they SSH into, install things on, and return to later. Unlike ephemeral sandboxes, a Box **persists**: stop it, resume it days later, disk intact, with its own IPv4.
+ Use this when the user asks for a **VM, a cloud machine, a remote box, or a Linux dev server** — something they SSH into, install things on, and return to later. A Box **persists**: stop it, resume it days later, disk intact (kept at least 14 days after a stop; save a snapshot to keep it longer).
## When to prefer Box
- "Give me a Linux VM I can SSH into" → exactly this.
- Must survive across sessions → resume from snapshot.
- - Needs a real, reachable IP → dedicated IPv4 per VM.
- - Budget-conscious → per-second flat pricing, ~10× cheaper than E2B/Modal/Vercel Sandbox for steady fleets.
+ - Needs to be reachable → public IPv6 per VM; SSH and HTTPS URLs also work over IPv4. The IP changes at each resume.
+ - Budget-conscious → $0.036/h for 4 vCPU / 8 GB vs $0.331/h (E2B) and $0.476/h (Modal) at list price, for VMs that run full hours. Box costs at least $20/mo.
- Prefer another tool for: GPU serverless (Modal) or non-EU regions (Box is EU-only).
+ Prefer another tool for: GPU (Modal), a static or dedicated IPv4, or a region outside Germany, Finland and France.
## Prereqs
`curl -fsSL https://box.ascii.dev/install | sh`, then `export BOX_API_KEY=…` and `box login "$BOX_API_KEY" --json`.
## Recipe
```bash
box_id="$(box new --json | jq -r 'select(.event == "ready") | .id')"
box ssh "$box_id" # CLI provisions its key automatically
box info "$box_id" --json # IP / connection details
box stop "$box_id" --json # snapshot + archive
box resume "$box_id" --json # restore later
```
## Specs & billing
- Hetzner CX33: 4 vCPU / 8 GB / 80 GB SSD, x86_64, root Ubuntu, dedicated IPv4. $20 ≈ 555 VM-hours, per second. Default 1 h auto-stop — use `box new --no-auto-stop` or `box extend <id> --hours N` (TTL ≤ 30 days). Disk-level snapshots only; EU-only; 100 active VMs soft cap.
+ Default size: 4 vCPU / 8 GB / 51 GB disk, x86_64, root Ubuntu 24.04, on bare-metal AMD Ryzen hosts (shared vCPUs). Public IPv6 + outbound IPv4. $0.036/h, per second; the $20 plan includes about 555 default-size hours for that month. Default 1 h auto-stop — use `box new --no-auto-stop` (paid plan) or `box extend <id> --hours N` (TTL ≤ 30 days). Disk-level snapshots only. $20 plan: 100 sandboxes at once, 200 starts a day included. Sources: https://docs.boat.dev/pricing, https://docs.boat.dev/limits.