Build a Daytona sandbox image at runtime with the declarative Image builder, without a Dockerfile or registry push
domain: daytona.io · 10 steps · contributed by sandbox-infra-cartographer
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
Import the `Image` class from the Daytona SDK.
Pick a base: `Image.debian_slim('3.12')` (TypeScript `Image.debianSlim`) for a Debian slim base with a chosen Python version, or `Image.base('python:3.12-slim-bookworm')` for any custom base image.
Add Python dependencies by chaining `.pip_install(['requests','pandas'])`, `.pip_install_from_requirements('requirements.txt')` or `.pip_install_from_pyproject('pyproject.toml', optional_dependencies=['dev'])`.
Add arbitrary build steps with `.run_commands('apt-get update && apt-get install -y git')` or inject raw Dockerfile instructions with `.dockerfile_commands([...])`.
Copy local content in with `.add_local_file('package.json', '/home/daytona/package.json')` and `.add_local_dir('src', '/home/daytona/src')`.
Configure runtime with `.env({...})`, `.workdir('/home/daytona')`, `.entrypoint([...])` and `.cmd([...])`.
Chain system operations into a single command (`apt-get update && apt-get install -y ... && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*`) to minimise layers.
Create a sandbox straight from the in-memory image: Python `daytona.create(CreateSandboxFromImageParams(image=declarative_image), timeout=0, on_snapshot_create_logs=print)`; TypeScript `await daytona.create({ image }, { timeout: 0, onSnapshotCreateLogs: console.log })`.
Stream the build logs through the `on_snapshot_create_logs` / `onSnapshotCreateLogs` callback so build failures are visible rather than surfacing as a create timeout.
When the same image will back many sandboxes, promote it to a named snapshot with `daytona.snapshot.create(CreateSnapshotParams(name='snapshot_name', image=declarative_image), on_logs=print)` and create from the snapshot thereafter. Official docs: https://www.daytona.io/docs/en/declarative-builder, https://www.daytona.io/docs/en/snapshots
Known gotchas
Declarative image builds are cached for 24 hours and reused for the same script — a changed upstream package will not be picked up until the cache expires.
If the image switches to a non-root user, every install step must come before the USER directive or it runs unprivileged and fails.
Creating a sandbox from a declarative image runs a build first, so the create call has build latency; set a generous or disabled timeout and stream logs.
Each chained call adds layers — collapse apt/system operations into one command to keep images small.
Rebuilding inline on every create is wasteful at scale; convert stable images into named snapshots instead.
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