How to beginner · 3 min read

How to run code in E2B sandbox

Q: How to run code in E2B sandbox

Use the e2b-code-interpreter Python package to run code securely in the E2B sandbox. Instantiate Sandbox with your API key, then call run_code() with your code string to execute it safely in an isolated environment.

Quick answer

Use the e2b-code-interpreter Python package to run code securely in the E2B sandbox. Instantiate Sandbox with your API key, then call run_code() with your code string to execute it safely in an isolated environment.

PREREQUISITES

Python 3.8+
E2B API key
pip install e2b-code-interpreter

Setup

Install the e2b-code-interpreter package and set your E2B API key as an environment variable.

Run pip install e2b-code-interpreter to install the SDK.
Set your API key in the environment: export E2B_API_KEY='your_api_key' (Linux/macOS) or set E2B_API_KEY=your_api_key (Windows).

bash

pip install e2b-code-interpreter

output

Collecting e2b-code-interpreter
  Downloading e2b_code_interpreter-1.0.0-py3-none-any.whl (15 kB)
Installing collected packages: e2b-code-interpreter
Successfully installed e2b-code-interpreter-1.0.0

Step by step

Use the Sandbox class to run Python code securely. The example below runs a simple print statement and outputs the result.

python

import os
from e2b_code_interpreter import Sandbox

# Initialize sandbox with API key from environment
sandbox = Sandbox(api_key=os.environ["E2B_API_KEY"])

# Run code in sandbox
code = "print('Hello from E2B sandbox')"
execution = sandbox.run_code(code)

# Print output
print("Sandbox output:", execution.text)

# Close sandbox session
sandbox.close()

output

Sandbox output: Hello from E2B sandbox

Common variations

You can upload files to the sandbox environment and run code that uses them. Use sandbox.files.write(filename, data) to add files. You can also run shell commands or install packages inside the sandbox by running code that calls subprocess.

python

import os
from e2b_code_interpreter import Sandbox

sandbox = Sandbox(api_key=os.environ["E2B_API_KEY"])

# Upload a CSV file
csv_data = "name,age\nAlice,30\nBob,25"
sandbox.files.write("data.csv", csv_data.encode())

# Run code that reads the file
code = '''
import pandas as pd

df = pd.read_csv('data.csv')
print(df)
'''

# Install pandas inside sandbox
sandbox.run_code("import subprocess; subprocess.run(['pip','install','pandas'])")

result = sandbox.run_code(code)
print("DataFrame output:\n", result.text)

sandbox.close()

output

DataFrame output:
    name  age
0  Alice   30
1    Bob   25

Troubleshooting

If you get authentication errors, verify your E2B_API_KEY environment variable is set correctly.
If code execution hangs or fails, ensure your code is valid Python and does not require unsupported system calls.
Use sandbox.close() to clean up resources after running code to avoid session leaks.

✅

Key Takeaways

Use the e2b-code-interpreter package and Sandbox class to run code securely.
Always set your API key in the E2B_API_KEY environment variable before running code.
Upload files with sandbox.files.write() to use data inside the sandbox.
Close the sandbox session with sandbox.close() to free resources.

Verified 2026-04

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