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Idle sandboxes sleep automatically. Use archive when you want to keep a sandbox for later and release its active slot. Use delete when you are finished with its files and processes. Connect to a sandbox you want to manage:

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Leave a sandbox idle

You do not need to send keep-alive requests. An idle sandbox can sleep after about 60 seconds without activity, and a later command or file operation wakes it. Servers, background jobs, and active connections keep it awake while they are in use. To sleep a sandbox yourself:
A sandbox you sleep and a sandbox the idle policy sleeps are in the same state: the next command wakes it, so your code does not need to know it was asleep. sandbox.wake() wakes it immediately, which is useful before a burst of work. sleep() returns whether this call put the sandbox to sleep. A busy sandbox — one running foreground work, background processes, or an exposed port — stays awake; archive it instead to stop a busy sandbox. Sleeping sandboxes keep their memory on the host and count toward your organization’s active sandbox limit, and sleep is not a durable checkpoint: use a snapshot or archive to retain recoverable work.

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Archive and unarchive

Archive a sandbox to save its files, memory, and running processes for later:
An archived sandbox releases its active slot and retains its saved state. It does not run commands or serve traffic until you explicitly unarchive it:
Processes continue from the saved state. Reconnect external network connections, and allow exposed services a brief reconnect period. Archiving can take longer than sleeping, particularly when there is more state to save.

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Reboot an unresponsive sandbox

Reboot preserves files but ends processes and shell sessions. Restart any servers you need afterward. Unarchive an archived sandbox before rebooting it.

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Delete a sandbox

Download results or save a durable snapshot before deleting work you want to keep:
Deletion removes the sandbox’s working state. Its ID can no longer be used to access it, and a repeated delete is safe. Retained snapshots are separate resources; delete them separately when you no longer need them. See Core concepts for a comparison of states and Recovery for interrupted or unavailable sandboxes.