Docker Cloud Sandboxes: AI agent microVMs in the cloud, and a Kit format proposed to the CNCF

2026-09-24 · Publisher : Docker · Domain : Cloud & DevOps

On 24 September 2026, at WeAreDevelopers, Docker launches Cloud Sandboxes: AI agent microVMs run on Docker-managed cloud, from 1 to 16 vCPUs, and the OCI-image Kit format will be brought to the CNCF.

### Background On 24 September 2026, at WeAreDevelopers North America, Docker announces **Docker Cloud Sandboxes**, available the same day. They are the same microVM environments as the local sandboxes launched earlier this year, but run on Docker-managed compute: AI agents keep working when the developer's computer shuts down, with the same command-line interface, trust model and Kits. ### Key facts - Boot in a few hundred milliseconds, with secrets, policies, MCP gateways and agent configuration already built in. - Compute from 1 to 16 vCPUs fully managed by Docker; parallel tasks scale without infrastructure to provision. - A workflow can start locally then move to the cloud, under the same policies, with a single command. - **Kits**: an open specification to package an agent, its tools and the rules for what it can touch; Kits become standard OCI images. Docker has committed to submitting the specification to the CNCF. - For Kits, Docker cites partners such as AWS, Box, Datadog, Dynatrace, JFrog, Palo Alto Networks and Snyk. ### Why it matters Coding agents now work for hours at a time, and the question moves from the safety of execution to its location: a laptop falls asleep, an isolated cloud environment does not. For an IT services firm, the interest is governance: a portable description of what an agent may do, reviewable by a reviewer, meets a control requirement of clients. It is a proprietary Docker offering, whose Kit specification is open but still has to be adopted by other runtimes. ### Takeaway Docker extends AI agent isolation to the cloud and seeks to make the Kit a neutral OCI standard, under the CNCF.

Tags : Conteneurs, Agents, IA, Sécurité, Cloud