Python SDK Reference

The Daytona Python SDK provides a robust interface for programmatically interacting with Daytona Sandboxes.

Installation

Install the Daytona Python SDK using pip:

pip install daytona

Or using poetry:

poetry add daytona

Getting Started

Create a Sandbox

Create a Daytona Sandbox to run your code securely in an isolated environment. The following snippet is an example "Hello World" program that runs securely inside a Daytona Sandbox.

from daytona import Daytona

def main():
    # Initialize the SDK (uses environment variables by default)
    daytona = Daytona()

    # Create a new sandbox
    sandbox = daytona.create()

    # Execute a command
    response = sandbox.process.exec("echo 'Hello, World!'")
    print(response.result)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Configuration

The Daytona SDK can be configured using environment variables or by passing options to the constructor:

from daytona import Daytona, DaytonaConfig

# Using environment variables (DAYTONA_API_KEY, DAYTONA_API_URL, DAYTONA_TARGET)
daytona = Daytona()

# Using explicit configuration
config = DaytonaConfig(
    api_key="YOUR_API_KEY",
    api_url="https://app.daytona.io/api",
    target="us"
)
daytona = Daytona(config)

For more information on configuring the Daytona SDK, see API keys.

Real-time state updates

Starting with SDK version 0.198.0, the SDK streams sandbox state changes over a WebSocket (Socket.IO) connection by default. Sandbox lifecycle operations that wait on a state change (start, stop, pause, resize, snapshot, delete with wait) complete as soon as the server pushes the new state, instead of waiting for the next polling interval.

Each Daytona or AsyncDaytona client opens a single WebSocket connection shared by all of its sandboxes. A sparse polling safety net runs alongside the event stream, so a missed event never hangs a waiting operation.

The WebSocket handshake carries source and sdkVersion query parameters, equivalent to the X-Daytona-Source and X-Daytona-SDK-Version REST headers. The SDK collects no client-side telemetry.

Polling fallback

If the WebSocket connection cannot be established, for example when a proxy, firewall, or network policy blocks it, the SDK falls back to polling automatically. Connection setup runs in the background and never raises an error, so no handling is required.

The WebSocket endpoint derives from the configured API URL, including custom base paths, so reverse proxy deployments such as https://host/prefix/api work without additional configuration.

Opt out of event streaming

In polling-only mode the SDK never opens a WebSocket connection. Sandbox state is observed exclusively by polling the REST API, with the same cadence as SDK versions before event streaming.

To opt out, set the DAYTONA_USE_DEPRECATED_POLLING environment variable:

export DAYTONA_USE_DEPRECATED_POLLING=true

Or pass use_deprecated_polling when initializing the client. The explicit configuration option always takes precedence over the environment variable; the environment variable applies only when the option is unset.

from daytona import Daytona, DaytonaConfig

daytona = Daytona(DaytonaConfig(use_deprecated_polling=True))

See the DaytonaConfig reference for details.

Async Python SDK

Daytona provides an additional DAYTONA_HAPPY_EYEBALLS_DELAY environment variable for HTTP transport tuning in the async Python SDK. Use it to reduce intermittent async connection failures, such as aiohttp.ClientConnectorError, that can occur on dual-stack (IPv4/IPv6) networks.

• unset or empty: use aiohttp default behavior
• none (case-insensitive): disable the IPv4/IPv6 race
• non-negative float (for example 0.25): set an explicit delay in seconds

# Disable Happy Eyeballs
export DAYTONA_HAPPY_EYEBALLS_DELAY=none

# Or set an explicit delay in seconds
export DAYTONA_HAPPY_EYEBALLS_DELAY=0.25