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EFFLOOW LAB LAB-RUN

E2B Sandbox Poc

Evidence notes document the bounded local or source-based checks behind an Effloow article. They are not product endorsements, legal advice, or benchmark claims.

Date: 2026-05-06
Track: sandbox-poc
Slug: e2b-sandbox-secure-code-execution-ai-agents-guide-2026
Environment: macOS Darwin 24.6.0, Python 3.12

Commands Run

1. Installation

pip install e2b-code-interpreter

Output (relevant):

Downloading e2b_code_interpreter-2.6.2-py3-none-any.whl (13 kB)
Downloading e2b-2.20.3-py3-none-any.whl (297 kB)
Installing collected packages: dockerfile-parse, bracex, wcmatch, e2b, e2b-code-interpreter
Successfully installed bracex-2.6 dockerfile-parse-2.0.1 e2b-2.20.3 e2b-code-interpreter-2.6.2 wcmatch-10.1

✅ Install successful.

2. Version Verification

import importlib.metadata
print('e2b-code-interpreter version:', importlib.metadata.version('e2b-code-interpreter'))
print('e2b version:', importlib.metadata.version('e2b'))

Output:

e2b-code-interpreter version: 2.6.2
e2b version: 2.20.3

3. SDK Surface Inspection

import e2b_code_interpreter as e2b
print([x for x in dir(e2b) if not x.startswith('_')])

Key exports confirmed:

  • Sandbox — primary class for creating and managing sandboxes
  • AsyncSandbox — async variant for production async apps
  • Execution — result container with .text, .error, .charts
  • Result — per-cell result object (mirrors Jupyter output)
  • ExecutionError — structured error from sandbox execution
  • McpServer, GitHubMcpServer — MCP server integration classes
  • OutputMessage, Stdout, Stderr — streaming output types
  • RunCodeLanguage — language selector enum
  • ConnectionConfig — authentication config

4. Sandbox Class API

import inspect
sig = inspect.signature(e2b.Sandbox.run_code)

run_code signature:

(self, code: str, language: Optional[str] = None,
 context: Optional[Context] = None,
 on_stdout: Optional[Callable[[OutputMessage], Any]] = None,
 on_stderr: Optional[Callable[[OutputMessage], Any]] = None,
 on_result: Optional[Callable[[Result], Any]] = None,
 on_error: Optional[Callable[[ExecutionError], Any]] = None,
 envs: Optional[Dict[str, str]] = None,
 timeout: Optional[float] = None,
 request_timeout: Optional[float] = None) -> Execution

Sandbox public methods (non-underscore):

  • create — class method, creates a new sandbox
  • connect — reconnects to an existing sandbox by ID
  • run_code — executes code in a Jupyter cell
  • create_code_context — creates an isolated execution context
  • list_code_contexts — lists active contexts
  • remove_code_context — removes a context
  • restart_code_context — resets a context
  • create_snapshot — saves current state as snapshot
  • list_snapshots, delete_snapshot — manage snapshots
  • pause, beta_pause — pause the sandbox
  • kill — terminate the sandbox
  • is_running, get_info, get_metrics — status checks
  • get_mcp_url, get_mcp_token — MCP server access
  • set_timeout — update sandbox timeout
  • upload_url, download_url — file I/O helpers
  • list — list all running sandboxes

5. Authentication Behavior

import os
os.environ.pop('E2B_API_KEY', None)
e2b.Sandbox.create()

Error output:

AuthenticationException: API key is required, please visit the Team tab at 
https://e2b.dev/dashboard to get your API key. You can either set the 
environment variable `E2B_API_KEY` or you can pass it directly to the 
method like api_key="e2b_..."

Limitation: Live sandbox execution requires a valid E2B_API_KEY. The free Hobby tier provides a $100 usage credit with no credit card required (sufficient for approximately 595,000 seconds of 1 vCPU sandbox time at $0.000168/sec).

What Worked

  • ✅ Package installs cleanly on Python 3.12, no dependency conflicts
  • ✅ SDK surface is complete: Sandbox, AsyncSandbox, Execution, McpServer
  • ✅ run_code API confirmed — supports streaming callbacks (on_stdout, on_stderr, on_result)
  • ✅ MCP server integration classes verified (McpServer, GitHubMcpServer)
  • ✅ Snapshot and context management APIs confirmed
  • ✅ Authentication error message is clear and actionable

What Couldn't Be Run

  • ❌ Live Sandbox.create() — requires API key, not available in this session
  • ❌ Code execution demo — depends on live sandbox
  • ❌ Streaming output capture — depends on live sandbox

Limitations Noted

  • Live sandbox execution requires E2B API key (free tier available at e2b.dev)
  • SDK version 2.6.2 — check changelog for breaking changes from 1.x cookbooks
  • MicroVM cold start ~150ms (Blaxel leads at 25ms, Daytona at 27-90ms)
  • No free self-hosted open-source option for production-scale use

Sources Verified

  • PyPI: pypi.org/project/e2b-code-interpreter/ — 2.6.2 current
  • PyPI: pypi.org/project/e2b/ — 2.20.3 current
  • GitHub: github.com/e2b-dev/E2B — ~8.9K stars, Apache 2.0
  • GitHub: github.com/e2b-dev/code-interpreter — Python & JS/TS SDK
  • GitHub: github.com/e2b-dev/e2b-cookbook — Anthropic + OpenAI examples