Sessions
Sessions provide persistent terminal environments within your devbox that survive browser tab closures and network disconnections.
What are Sessions?
A Session is a named, persistent terminal environment that preserves your terminal state. Sessions allow you to:
- Detach and reattach: Disconnect and reconnect later — from the dashboard or the CLI — to find your terminal exactly as you left it
- Run persistent processes: Keep long-running processes (servers, watchers, builds) running while disconnected
- Access anywhere: Connect to sessions from the web dashboard or your local terminal with the Devbox CLI
Sessions vs. Regular Terminals
| Feature | Session | Regular Terminal (SSH/Tab) |
|---|---|---|
| Persists after disconnect | Yes | No |
| State preserved on browser close | Yes | No |
| Named and manageable | Yes | No |
| Visible in dashboard sidebar | Yes | No |
| Accessible from CLI | Yes | N/A |
Creating Sessions
From the Dashboard
- Navigate to your devbox in the Namespace dashboard
- In the left sidebar, click New session under the Sessions section
- A new session is created with a randomly generated name and you're automatically connected
From a Spec File
Sessions can also be defined in a spec file so they are created automatically when the Devbox starts.
Managing Sessions
Viewing Sessions
All active sessions are displayed in the left sidebar of the devbox dashboard.
Connecting to a Session
From the Dashboard:
Click on any session in the sidebar to connect to it. Connecting to a session takes exclusive control — if another browser tab was connected to that session, it will be detached.
From the CLI:
Connect to a named session from your local terminal:
$devbox session connect my-devbox --session server
If you omit the Devbox name, an interactive picker is shown:
$devbox session connect --session server
The CLI connection takes exclusive control of the session, just like the dashboard. If the Devbox is paused, it is automatically resumed before connecting.
Deleting Sessions
Hover over a session in the sidebar and click the close button to delete it. This terminates any running processes in that session.
Use Cases
Development Servers
Run your dev server in a session. The server keeps running when you close your browser, and all logs are available when you reconnect.
Multiple Workstreams
Create separate sessions for different tasks: a dev server, test runner, and general shell. Switch between them instantly without losing context.
Long-Running Tasks
Start a build or test suite in a session, then disconnect and check the results later.
Next Steps
Remote Development → Connect to your devbox via SSH, VS Code, Cursor, Zed, or JetBrains.
Managing Devboxes → Lifecycle operations, machine sizes, workspace defaults, and monitoring.
Custom Images → Build custom base images with your tools and runtimes pre-installed.