E2B sandboxes

Table of contents

Docker has partnered with E2B, a provider of secure cloud sandboxes for AI agents. Through this partnership, every E2B sandbox includes direct access to Docker's MCP Catalog, a collection of 200+ tools from publishers including GitHub, Notion, and Stripe.

When you create a sandbox, you specify which MCP tools it should access. E2B launches these tools and provides access through the Docker MCP Gateway.

Example: Using GitHub and Notion MCP server

This example demonstrates how to connect multiple MCP servers in an E2B sandbox. You'll analyze data in Notion and create GitHub issues using Claude.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following:

  • E2B account with API access

  • Anthropic API key for Claude

    Note

    This example uses Claude Code which comes pre-installed in E2B sandboxes. However, you can adapt the example to work with other AI assistants of your choice. See E2B's MCP documentation for alternative connection methods.

  • Node.js 18+ installed on your machine

  • Notion account with:

  • GitHub account with:

    • A repository for testing
    • Personal access token with repo scope

Set up your environment

Create a new directory and initialize a Node.js project:

$ mkdir mcp-e2b-quickstart
$ cd mcp-e2b-quickstart
$ npm init -y

Configure your project for ES modules by updating package.json:

{
  "name": "mcp-e2b-quickstart",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "type": "module",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "node index.js"
  }
}

Install required dependencies:

$ npm install e2b dotenv

Create a .env file with your credentials:

$ cat > .env << 'EOF'
E2B_API_KEY=your_e2b_api_key_here
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_anthropic_api_key_here
NOTION_INTEGRATION_TOKEN=ntn_your_notion_integration_token_here
GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_your_github_pat_here
EOF

Protect your credentials:

$ echo ".env" >> .gitignore
$ echo "node_modules/" >> .gitignore

Create an E2B sandbox with MCP servers

Create a file named index.ts:

import "dotenv/config";
import { Sandbox } from "e2b";

async function quickstart(): Promise<void> {
  console.log("Creating E2B sandbox with Notion and GitHub MCP servers...\n");

  const sbx: Sandbox = await Sandbox.betaCreate({
    envs: {
      ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY as string,
    },
    mcp: {
      notion: {
        internalIntegrationToken: process.env
          .NOTION_INTEGRATION_TOKEN as string,
      },
      githubOfficial: {
        githubPersonalAccessToken: process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN as string,
      },
    },
  });

  const mcpUrl: string = sbx.betaGetMcpUrl();
  const mcpToken: string = await sbx.betaGetMcpToken();

  console.log("Sandbox created successfully!");
  console.log(`MCP Gateway URL: ${mcpUrl}\n`);

  // Wait for MCP initialization
  await new Promise<void>((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 1000));

  // Connect Claude to MCP gateway
  console.log("Connecting Claude to MCP gateway...");
  await sbx.commands.run(
    `claude mcp add --transport http e2b-mcp-gateway ${mcpUrl} --header "Authorization: Bearer ${mcpToken}"`,
    {
      timeoutMs: 0,
      onStdout: console.log,
      onStderr: console.log,
    },
  );

  console.log("\nConnection successful! Cleaning up...");
  await sbx.kill();
}

quickstart().catch(console.error);

Run the script:

$ npx tsx index.ts

Create a file named index.py:

import os
import asyncio
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from e2b import Sandbox

load_dotenv()

async def quickstart():
    print("Creating E2B sandbox with Notion and GitHub MCP servers...\n")

    sbx = await Sandbox.beta_create(
        envs={
            "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": os.getenv("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"),
        },
        mcp={
            "notion": {
                "internalIntegrationToken": os.getenv("NOTION_INTEGRATION_TOKEN"),
            },
            "githubOfficial": {
                "githubPersonalAccessToken": os.getenv("GITHUB_TOKEN"),
            },
        },
    )

    mcp_url = sbx.beta_get_mcp_url()
    mcp_token = await sbx.beta_get_mcp_token()

    print("Sandbox created successfully!")
    print(f"MCP Gateway URL: {mcp_url}\n")

    # Wait for MCP initialization
    await asyncio.sleep(1)

    # Connect Claude to MCP gateway
    print("Connecting Claude to MCP gateway...")

    def on_stdout(output):
        print(output, end='')

    def on_stderr(output):
        print(output, end='')

    await sbx.commands.run(
        f'claude mcp add --transport http e2b-mcp-gateway {mcp_url} --header "Authorization: Bearer {mcp_token}"',
        timeout_ms=0,
        on_stdout=on_stdout,
        on_stderr=on_stderr
    )

    print("\nConnection successful! Cleaning up...")
    await sbx.kill()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    try:
        asyncio.run(quickstart())
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}")

Run the script:

$ python index.py

You should see:

Creating E2B sandbox with Notion and GitHub MCP servers...

Sandbox created successfully!
MCP Gateway URL: https://50005-xxxxx.e2b.app/mcp

Connecting Claude to MCP gateway...
Added HTTP MCP server e2b-mcp-gateway with URL: https://50005-xxxxx.e2b.app/mcp

Connection successful! Cleaning up...

Test with example workflow

Now, test the setup by running a simple workflow that searches Notion and creates a GitHub issue.

Important

Replace owner/repo in the prompt with your actual GitHub username and repository name (for example, yourname/test-repo).

Update index.ts with the following example:

import "dotenv/config";
import { Sandbox } from "e2b";

async function exampleWorkflow(): Promise<void> {
  console.log("Creating sandbox...\n");

  const sbx: Sandbox = await Sandbox.betaCreate({
    envs: {
      ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY as string,
    },
    mcp: {
      notion: {
        internalIntegrationToken: process.env
          .NOTION_INTEGRATION_TOKEN as string,
      },
      githubOfficial: {
        githubPersonalAccessToken: process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN as string,
      },
    },
  });

  const mcpUrl: string = sbx.betaGetMcpUrl();
  const mcpToken: string = await sbx.betaGetMcpToken();

  console.log("Sandbox created successfully\n");

  // Wait for MCP servers to initialize
  await new Promise<void>((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 3000));

  console.log("Connecting Claude to MCP gateway...\n");
  await sbx.commands.run(
    `claude mcp add --transport http e2b-mcp-gateway ${mcpUrl} --header "Authorization: Bearer ${mcpToken}"`,
    {
      timeoutMs: 0,
      onStdout: console.log,
      onStderr: console.log,
    },
  );

  console.log("\nRunning example: Search Notion and create GitHub issue...\n");

  const prompt: string = `Using Notion and GitHub MCP tools:
1. Search my Notion workspace for databases
2. Create a test issue in owner/repo titled "MCP Toolkit Test" with description "Testing E2B + Docker MCP integration"
3. Confirm both operations completed successfully`;

  await sbx.commands.run(
    `echo '${prompt.replace(/'/g, "'\\''")}' | claude -p --dangerously-skip-permissions`,
    {
      timeoutMs: 0,
      onStdout: console.log,
      onStderr: console.log,
    },
  );

  await sbx.kill();
}

exampleWorkflow().catch(console.error);

Run the script:

$ npx tsx index.ts

Update index.py with this example:

Important

Replace owner/repo in the prompt with your actual GitHub username and repository name (for example, yourname/test-repo).

import os
import asyncio
import shlex
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from e2b import Sandbox

load_dotenv()

async def example_workflow():
    print("Creating sandbox...\n")

    sbx = await Sandbox.beta_create(
        envs={
            "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": os.getenv("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"),
        },
        mcp={
            "notion": {
                "internalIntegrationToken": os.getenv("NOTION_INTEGRATION_TOKEN"),
            },
            "githubOfficial": {
                "githubPersonalAccessToken": os.getenv("GITHUB_TOKEN"),
            },
        },
    )

    mcp_url = sbx.beta_get_mcp_url()
    mcp_token = await sbx.beta_get_mcp_token()

    print("Sandbox created successfully\n")

    # Wait for MCP servers to initialize
    await asyncio.sleep(3)

    print("Connecting Claude to MCP gateway...\n")

    def on_stdout(output):
        print(output, end='')

    def on_stderr(output):
        print(output, end='')

    await sbx.commands.run(
        f'claude mcp add --transport http e2b-mcp-gateway {mcp_url} --header "Authorization: Bearer {mcp_token}"',
        timeout_ms=0,
        on_stdout=on_stdout,
        on_stderr=on_stderr
    )

    print("\nRunning example: Search Notion and create GitHub issue...\n")

    prompt = """Using Notion and GitHub MCP tools:
1. Search my Notion workspace for databases
2. Create a test issue in owner/repo titled "MCP Toolkit Test" with description "Testing E2B + Docker MCP integration"
3. Confirm both operations completed successfully"""

    # Escape single quotes for shell
    escaped_prompt = prompt.replace("'", "'\\''")

    await sbx.commands.run(
        f"echo '{escaped_prompt}' | claude -p --dangerously-skip-permissions",
        timeout_ms=0,
        on_stdout=on_stdout,
        on_stderr=on_stderr
    )

    await sbx.kill()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    try:
        asyncio.run(example_workflow())
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}")

Run the script:

$ python workflow.py

You should see:

Creating sandbox...

Running example: Search Notion and create GitHub issue...

## Task Completed Successfully

I've completed both operations using the Notion and GitHub MCP tools:

### 1. Notion Workspace Search

Found 3 databases in your Notion workspace:
- **Customer Feedback** - Database with 12 entries tracking feature requests
- **Product Roadmap** - Planning database with 8 active projects
- **Meeting Notes** - Shared workspace with 45 pages

### 2. GitHub Issue Creation

Successfully created test issue:
- **Repository**: your-org/your-repo
- **Issue Number**: #47
- **Title**: "MCP Test"
- **Description**: "Testing E2B + Docker MCP integration"
- **Status**: Open
- **URL**: https://github.com/your-org/your-repo/issues/47

Both operations completed successfully. The MCP servers are properly configured and working.

The sandbox connected multiple MCP servers and orchestrated a workflow across Notion and GitHub. You can extend this pattern to combine any of the 200+ MCP servers in the Docker MCP Catalog.