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Connecting an Orb provider

Every Thread runs in an Orb, a Linux sandbox with the project’s repository, a terminal, and a desktop. Orbs run on an Orb provider. Connect your own provider account and your Threads’ Orbs run there, on your plan and bill.

Supported providers

Section titled “Supported providers”
Provider What you enter Setup time Sizes A pause keeps
E2B An E2B API key A few minutes 1 to 4 CPU, 2 to 8 GB Running processes
Cloudflare Containers A Cloudflare account ID and API token, on the Workers Paid plan A few minutes 0.5 to 4 CPU, 4 to 12 GB Files; processes restart
Freestyle A Freestyle API key About ten minutes 2 to 8 CPU, 4 to 16 GB Running processes
Docker Cloud Sandboxes A Docker ID and personal access token, on the Docker Agentic Platform plan A few minutes 2 to 16 CPU, 4 to 32 GB Files; processes restart

The dialog for each provider says what the key or token needs and where to create it.

Connect a provider

Section titled “Connect a provider”
  1. Open Personal Settings → Orb Providers.
  2. Choose Connect next to the provider.
  3. Fill in every field and choose Connect. dx checks the credentials with the provider first and says so if the provider refuses them.
  4. dx prepares your account. Depending on the provider it builds Orb templates or snapshots there, copies the Orb image, or starts and stops a test Orb. The dialog closes, and the provider’s row shows what dx is doing. Manage shows the current step in the dialog.

When preparation finishes, the row shows the account, and the provider’s sizes appear in the Orb picker when you start a Thread. If a step fails, the row shows Setup failed, or Update failed when an update to a ready connection fails, and Manage offers Retry.

A larger size your plan does not allow is left out, with the provider’s reason. A day after preparation, opening the page prepares the account again, so the size appears after you upgrade the plan. To check sooner, choose Check again.

What dx creates in your account

Section titled “What dx creates in your account”

Preparation leaves resources in your provider account, depending on the provider: E2B templates; a copy of the Orb image, a Worker, and a container application on Cloudflare; Freestyle snapshots. New dx releases prepare the account again when the Orb changes. On E2B, Threads that already started keep the templates they started with. On Cloudflare, dx updates the same Orb Worker.

Personal and workspace connections

Section titled “Personal and workspace connections”
  • Personal. Any signed-in person can connect a provider in Personal Settings → Orb Providers. The row shows Your account.
  • Workspace. Workspace admins connect providers in Workspace Settings → Orb Providers for everyone’s Threads. Members see Workspace account.
  • Deployment. A row that reads Provided by this deployment runs on the deployment’s own account and needs no connection.

For each provider, dx uses your personal connection first, then the workspace’s, then the deployment’s. On your private projects your personal connection always applies. On workspace projects it applies only when an admin turns on Members’ Own Accounts in Workspace Settings → Orb Providers. Until then, your personal row notes Personal projects only.

Choose an Orb for a Thread

Section titled “Choose an Orb for a Thread”

When you start a Thread, the Orb picker lists each provider with its sizes, shown as CPU and memory, and a tooltip saying what a pause keeps. A provider that is still preparing or failed shows that instead, and its sizes cannot be picked. Sizes your account cannot run are hidden. In a project, the project’s Orb size setting picks the starting size; without a project, your own default does.

A Thread keeps the provider, account, and size it started with. If the Orb cannot start because preparation is still running, failed, or the size is unavailable, dx says so before it creates the Thread.

Pauses

Section titled “Pauses”

By default an Orb pauses after five minutes without activity and resumes when the Thread needs it. On E2B and Freestyle a pause keeps memory, so running processes continue where they were. On Cloudflare Containers and Docker Cloud Sandboxes the files stay and processes start again.

Update or disconnect

Section titled “Update or disconnect”

Choose Manage on a connected provider.

  • Enter new credentials and choose Save to replace them. For the same provider account, new Threads keep using the current version until the new one is ready, so rotating a token stops nothing.
  • Choose Disconnect to remove the connection. Threads that run on it stop working from their next operation. dx does not delete what it created in your provider account; remove those resources in the provider’s console.

Source

Section titled “Source”