---
title: pols.so
description: Developer sandboxes as full Ubuntu 24.04 virtual machines, hosted on our own servers in Germany, for people and for AI agents.
sidebar:
  label: Introduction
---

pols.so gives you sandboxes that are whole computers, not containers: each one is an Ubuntu 24.04 virtual machine with root access, systemd, Docker and a desktop with Google Chrome. You create one in about ten seconds, run commands in it, copy files in and out, open its ports and desktop in your browser, SSH into it, and stop it when you are done. Running time is billed per second; a stopped sandbox keeps its disk and costs nothing.

The machines run on dedicated servers we operate in German data centres. Your code, your data and the sandboxes' disks stay there.

## What you can do with a sandbox

- **Run anything a Linux server runs.** You are `user` with passwordless `sudo`, so you can install packages, start system services, run Docker containers and build images.
- **Give an AI agent its own machine.** Claude Code and Codex are preinstalled. Agents reach pols through the [MCP server](/agents/mcp/), the [agent skill](/agents/skill/) or the CLI, and can use the sandbox's desktop and browser through [computer use](/agents/computer-use/).
- **Branch your environment.** [Fork](/sandboxes/forks/) a sandbox to try something risky on a copy of its disk, or save it as a [template](/sandboxes/templates/) and start new sandboxes from it.
- **Show your work.** [Publish a port](/access/ports/) over HTTPS, share the [desktop](/access/desktop/) in a browser tab, or connect over [SSH](/access/ssh/).

## Ways to use pols

| Interface | Use it when |
| --- | --- |
| [`pols` CLI](/getting-started/quickstart/) | you work in a terminal or a script |
| [MCP server](/agents/mcp/) (`pols mcp`) | an MCP client such as Claude Code, Cursor or Codex should manage sandboxes |
| [Agent skill](/agents/skill/) | an agent should drive the CLI directly, without reading `--help` first |
| [TypeScript client](/agents/typescript/) | you build on pols from Node.js |
| [REST API](/api/) | you use any other language, or curl |

All of them use the same API at `https://api.pols.so` and the same [API keys](/account/api-keys/).

## Where to start

**[Quickstart](/getting-started/quickstart/)**

Install the CLI, log in and run your first command in a sandbox.

**[The machine](/concepts/machine/)**

What every sandbox comes with, and the sizes you can choose.

**[Limits and quotas](/getting-started/limits/)**

Quotas, rate limits and size limits, in one place.

**[CLI reference](/reference/cli/)**

Every command and flag, generated from the CLI itself.