Quickstart
Create a machine from the console, open a terminal, and run your first process.
SnapVM Overview
SnapVM provides isolated development workspaces powered by Sprites: persistent cloud containers that keep their filesystem, packages, and configuration across hibernation. Each workspace gives you a full Linux environment with browser access to a terminal, editor, and HTTP services without asking every developer to run local infrastructure.
Organizations, users, and access are managed in the SnapVM web console. Machines can hibernate when idle and wake when you reconnect, so teams keep useful state without keeping every workspace hot all day.
SnapVM currently focuses on the web console and HTTP API. It does not ship a standalone SnapVM CLI or MCP server, so this documentation does not describe those flows.
What SnapVM provides
Section titled “What SnapVM provides”SnapVM is the product layer that makes Sprites easier to use as a backend. It packages persistent workspaces and hibernation behind a web console, authentication and authorization, clear plans, and a browser-first connection model.
- Create machines from the console and manage their state, region, runtime, and gateway URLs.
- Manage organizations, users, and access in SnapVM so teams can control who can use each workspace.
- Use Sprites persistence and idle hibernation through simple, predictable plans based on machine count.
- Open terminals and HTTP services from the browser through the connect gateway.
What makes SnapVM different?
Section titled “What makes SnapVM different?”SnapVM machines inherit the properties of Sprites: instead of short-lived execution slots, they behave like stateful Linux environments you can wake when you need them.
| Feature | Serverless Functions | SnapVM |
|---|---|---|
| State | Ephemeral | Persistent ✓ |
| Filesystem | Read-only or temporary | Full ext4 ✓ — persists between runs |
| Startup | Cold starts (100ms–seconds) | Instant ✓ — wake from hibernation |
| Billing | Per-invocation | Machine-count plans ✓ — simple and predictable |
| Environment | Fixed container image | Full Linux ✓ — install any tools |
| Isolation | Container-level | Hardware-level ✓ — dedicated microVM |
Use cases
Section titled “Use cases”Because SnapVM is backed by Sprites, it is a fit for workflows where code needs to run safely while keeping useful state:
- Execute AI-generated code in an isolated environment
- Run user-submitted or otherwise untrusted code safely
- Provide development environments that survive across sessions
- Run HTTP services that can go idle and wake on demand
- Execute CI/CD tasks with repositories, dependencies, and tools available
Sprites core concepts
Section titled “Sprites core concepts”Persistence
Section titled “Persistence”A Sprite keeps its filesystem. Files written during execution, installed packages, and checked-out repositories remain available when the environment wakes later.
Automatic idle behavior
Section titled “Automatic idle behavior”An unused Sprite can become idle and hibernate. It wakes on the next connection or request, which lets you preserve state without keeping compute running all the time.
HTTP access
Section titled “HTTP access”HTTP services running inside a Sprite can be reached through URLs. In SnapVM, access to machines and services is handled through the platform connect gateway.
Next steps
Section titled “Next steps”Working with SnapVM
Learn how machines, sessions, services, and hibernation fit together.
Machines
Understand machine states, naming, runtime types, and gateway URLs.