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Daytona is a hosted sandbox provider with straightforward API-key setup. Roomote starts task sandboxes from a registered worker snapshot, and supports environment and task-level filesystem snapshots for faster resume flows.

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When to use Daytona

Use Daytona when:
  • task work should run outside the Roomote host
  • you want hosted sandboxes with simple credential setup
  • you can provide a Daytona API key
  • environment setup caching or task sleep/resume via snapshots is useful

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Configuration

Add Daytona from Settings > Sandboxes with your API key, or provide the values as deployment env vars. Create the key on the API Keys page with write and delete permissions on both Sandboxes and Snapshots. No other scopes are needed. 
DAYTONA_API_KEY=...
Roomote registers the worker snapshot automatically from the configured worker image (DOCKER_WORKER_IMAGE or release derivation). You can also pin the snapshot as an env var: 
DAYTONA_SNAPSHOT_NAME=roomote-worker-<tag>
Optional values: 
DAYTONA_API_URL=...
DAYTONA_TARGET=...
Use DAYTONA_API_URL for custom Daytona endpoints. Use DAYTONA_TARGET when your account or deployment needs a specific target or region.

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Worker snapshot vs product snapshots

Daytona uses the word “snapshot” for two Roomote concepts:
  1. Worker base snapshot (DAYTONA_SNAPSHOT_NAME) — the baked Roomote worker image registered once per worker image tag. Fresh sandboxes boot from this base.
  2. Product snapshots — filesystem captures of a running task or environment setup, stored as named Daytona snapshots and used for env caching and sleep/resume (same product behavior as Modal and E2B).
The worker base snapshot should contain the Roomote worker runtime: system packages, browser tooling, language tools, command helpers, and the worker bootstrap used to connect back to Roomote. Settings and setup only collect the API key — not a snapshot name field. Roomote registers the worker snapshot from the worker image during setup when needed. For production, keep the worker image or base snapshot name pinned so task startup is predictable.

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Verify setup

  1. save DAYTONA_API_KEY (and let Roomote register the snapshot, or set DAYTONA_SNAPSHOT_NAME in the deployment env)
  2. select Daytona as the default sandbox provider
  3. start a small task from an environment
  4. confirm the task starts, streams logs, and can run project commands
  5. verify preview links if the task starts a web app

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Common issues

  • Daytona reports a missing snapshot. Confirm auto-provisioning finished, or that DAYTONA_SNAPSHOT_NAME exists and is available to the configured API key.
  • Tasks start with missing tools. Refresh the worker snapshot from the current Roomote worker image.
  • The provider starts in the wrong region or target. Set DAYTONA_TARGET to the intended target.