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Overview

When working with AI-generated code, you may need to debug the state of the project after the AI has run various commands. SSH allows you to connect your computer directly to a Devbox, enabling you to debug, run remote commands, and view or modify the remote filesystem.

Runloop uses a transparent proxy to facilitate routing for all SSH access. Your SSH connection is end-to-end encrypted using standard SSH public key cryptography. The Runloop API provides a mechanism for retrieving SSH keys using a Runloop API key.

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Setup

We recommend using the rl CLI to interact with Devboxes. You can find installation instructions at https://github.com/runloopai/rl-cli.

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Create and SSH into a Devbox

1

Export your API key

export RUNLOOP_API_KEY="ak_<your_key_here>"
2

Create an empty Devbox

rl devbox create

You’ll receive a response like this:

{
   "id": "dbx_2xMEVq0JpPtxUxZikhOLm",
   "blueprint_id": null,
   "create_time_ms": 1723232059063,
   "end_time_ms": null,
   "initiator_id": null,
   "initiator_type": "invocation",
   "name": null,
   "status": "provisioning"
}
3

SSH into the Devbox

SSH into an active Devbox using the returned id:

rl devbox ssh --id dbx_2xMEVq0JpPtxUxZikhOLm

You should now have a shell into the Devbox:

user@devbox-019138a2-7e80-7233-8100-1add224f41ee-zst79:~$
4

Exit the SSH session

Type exit to leave the SSH session.

5

Shut down the Devbox

When you’re done, shut down the Devbox:

rl devbox shutdown --id dbx_2xMEVq0JpPtxUxZikhOLm

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Using VSCode with SSH

You can use SSH access to connect VSCode to the remote Devbox.

1

Install VSCode SSH extension

2

Create a Devbox

rl devbox create
3

Generate SSH config entry

rl devbox ssh --id dbx_2xMEa8BVcYOOGtXGqWNVj --config-only
4

Append to SSH config file

rl devbox ssh --id dbx_2xMEa8BVcYOOGtXGqWNVj --config-only >> ~/.ssh/config
5

Verify the configuration

ssh dbx_2xMEa8BVcYOOGtXGqWNVj "whoami"

This should return user.

6

Connect VSCode to your Devbox

You now have a ready-to-use SSH connection to the Devbox. Follow the remaining instructions in the VSCode SSH documentation to connect VSCode to your Devbox.

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Security Notes

  • All SSH connections are routed through Runloop’s transparent proxy.
  • Connections are end-to-end encrypted using SSH public key cryptography.
  • SSH keys are generated and managed securely through the Runloop API.

By following these steps, you can securely connect to your Runloop Devbox for debugging, code inspection, and project management tasks.