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Connect to ephemeral environments. ssh connects to a previously created ephemeral environment. It establishes a ssh connection to the target environment, over Namespace’s networking, in a way that end-to-end encryption is retained, but the target host is not exposed directly to the Internet. To enable experimentation, ssh also has a “quick create” mode built-in, allowing you to quickly create a named environment (a sandbox), or get back to a previously created sandbox. This allows you to jump into a container-enabled terminal in a few seconds.

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Usage

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Example

1

Create an ephemeral instance

Create an ephemeral instance and note its ID:
Output
2

Connect to the instance

Connect to the instance using its ID:
Output
3

Select an instance interactively

Omit the instance ID to select from a list of your instances:
Output
4

Run a remote command

Run a command directly in the instance through nsc ssh:
Output

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Options

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—container_name <name>

Connects to the container named name in the environment, instead of the instance environment itself. On a GitHub Actions runner instance, use --container_name github-runner to connect to the runner container while it is handling a job.

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—disable-pty, -T

Disables allocation of a pseudo-terminal for the SSH session. This is useful when running a non-interactive command whose output you’re piping elsewhere, where a TTY would otherwise introduce unwanted formatting.

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—force-pty, -t

Forces allocation of a pseudo-terminal, even when running a non-interactive command. This is useful for commands that expect a terminal to be present, such as ones that produce colored output or otherwise behave differently without one.

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—oneshot

If specified, a temporary instance is created for the SSH session and destroyed as soon as you disconnect. This is convenient for quick, one-off experiments where you don’t want the instance to stick around afterward.

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—ssh_agent, -A

Forward your local SSH agent connection, to the remote environment.

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—unique_tag <name>

If specified, creates an instance with the specified unique tag, so you can identify or reference that specific environment later.
Last modified on August 20, 2026