Glossary
On this page
Use these definitions to look up a term you see in boxes.dev. For a guided explanation of how projects, machines, and conversations fit together, see How boxes.dev works.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Account | Your boxes.dev sign-in identity. Each account belongs to a team. |
| Agent | A coding tool, Codex or Claude Code, that can read and edit files, run commands, and test your app on a cloud machine. It runs with the Codex or Claude account or API key you've connected. |
| Automation / Thread Automation | A saved task that starts coding-agent work when you choose Run now or when a schedule, Slack message, Linear assignment, or API request from another program triggers it. |
| Awake | A cloud machine is running and available for agent work, commands, file access, and connections. |
| Awake devbox limit | The maximum number of devboxes your plan allows to run at once. Sleeping devboxes don't count toward this limit. |
| Box-hour | A unit of machine usage: one hour awake on the default size with 4 virtual CPUs and 8 GiB of memory. Larger machines use box-hours faster according to their size multiplier. |
| Checkpoint | Also called a snapshot. The active CLI command dvb checkpoint <template-box> takes a Template box snapshot. From the Template box itself, use dvb-onbox snapshot. |
| Claude Code thread | A conversation with Claude Code on a cloud machine. |
| CLI | A command-line interface: a way to use a tool by typing commands in a terminal. The boxes.dev CLI is called dvb. |
| Codex thread | A conversation with Codex on a cloud machine. |
| Devbox | A separate cloud Linux computer for working on a task, with its own files, running programs, local databases, and agent conversations. New devboxes usually start from your project's saved environment; Continue in new chat can instead copy the exact machine a conversation is on. |
| Forwarded port | A connection from your computer to a service running on a devbox or Template box, such as a development server on port 3000. Localhost follows selection by default; you can also keep it on one box. |
| Independent project | A project with its own Template box. New devboxes normally start from that Template box's latest snapshot. Older documentation calls this an ordinary project. |
| Legacy Claude CLI thread | An older type of Claude conversation that ran only in a terminal. New Claude threads support both the desktop conversation view and a terminal view. |
| Local URL | A stable <name>.localhost:<port> address for an HTTP app on a devbox, created on your computer when you turn on Local URLs for that devbox. It stays with that devbox while you select other threads and after you restart the desktop app. Other people can't use it to reach the app. |
| Member file | A file each member supplies for their own project when a Team Template asks for one. A team admin sets the destination and instructions; see Required member files and values. |
| Managed project | A project that uses a Team Template and has no Template box of its own. New devboxes start from the template's current saved environment; existing devboxes keep their files. Older documentation calls this a member project. |
| Member project | An older name for a managed project. |
| Mobile app | The iOS and Android app for reading and replying to agents, receiving notifications, viewing files, using a terminal, and waking or sleeping machines. |
| Ordinary project | An older name for an independent project. |
| Port | A numbered connection point for a running service. For example, a development server might listen on port 3000. |
| Project | A codebase together with its boxes.dev settings, cloud machines, and agent conversations. |
| Project URL | A stable public HTTPS address for a project that can send traffic to a chosen devbox. It can also forward a copy of each incoming webhook — an event notification sent by another service — to several devboxes at once. |
| Public link | An HTTPS address for your app on one machine and port. Anyone with the link can open it without signing in to boxes.dev until you stop sharing it. |
| Queue | An action that sends a follow-up for the agent to handle after its current response finishes. |
| Runtime | Older wording for a box: either a Template box or a devbox. |
| Selected box | The devbox or Template box currently selected in the desktop app. Files, Git, Terminal, Browser, and wake/sleep controls use this box. Port forwarding follows selection by default; it can also stay on one box when pinned. |
| Selected machine / selected runtime | Older names for the selected box. |
| Setup thread | The agent conversation that prepares your project's Template box, explains the setup, and helps with remaining setup tasks. |
| Sleeping | A cloud machine is paused with its state kept for later. It isn't running commands or consuming active box-hours. |
| Snapshot | A saved state of a box used to create devboxes. In an independent project, new devboxes normally use the Template box's latest snapshot. Apps such as Docker containers keep running on them, while agents and terminals start fresh. Continue in new chat can instead take a fresh snapshot of the exact Template box or devbox a conversation is on. The CLI command dvb checkpoint takes a Template box snapshot; from the Template box itself, use dvb-onbox snapshot. |
| Steer | An action that sends guidance about work the agent is doing now. When it acts on that guidance depends on the agent and its current activity; see Start and continue a thread. |
| Team | The shared boxes.dev workspace for members, billing, integrations, and Team Templates. |
| Team Template | A reusable development environment prepared and saved by team admins. Teammates can use it to create independent projects, or new devboxes in managed projects. |
| Template box | An independent project's persistent base machine. Set up the environment here and save a snapshot when future devboxes should inherit it. |
| Thread | A conversation with Codex or Claude Code connected to a cloud machine. A draft is a conversation whose first message hasn't been sent. |
| Thread on a devbox | A conversation whose agent uses that devbox's files and tools. Several threads can share one devbox and work in its files. |
| Waking | A sleeping machine is resuming. Files, terminals, ports, and other live tools become available when it's ready. |
| Work product URL | A link to a result, such as a pull request, that a coding agent attaches to a Linear Agent Session. The agent can attach it from the assigned thread or select a session from another thread. |