Creating Sandbox Environments

Creating an Ephemeral Sandbox

Via GOVERN Dashboard

1. Navigate to Admin > Sandbox > New Environment
2. Select Ephemeral type
3. Choose duration (1h, 4h, 8h, 24h)
4. Choose base configuration:
   • Blank (empty GOVERN instance)
   • Standard (default policies pre-loaded)
   • Federal (federal policy templates)
5. Click Create — environment ready in ~90 seconds

Via CLI

# Create ephemeral sandbox (4-hour default)
govern sandbox create \
  --type ephemeral \
  --duration 4h \
  --config standard

# Create with specific policies pre-loaded
govern sandbox create \
  --type ephemeral \
  --duration 8h \
  --config standard \
  --policies pii-prevention,bias-detection,safety-guardrails

# Output:
# Sandbox ID: sbx_01JBXYZ123
# URL: https://sbx_01JBXYZ123.sandbox.govern.archetypal.ai
# Expires: 2026-04-12T22:23:10Z
# API Key: sbx_key_xxxxxxxxxxxx

Creating a Persistent Sandbox

govern sandbox create \
  --type persistent \
  --name "Q2-2026-Red-Team" \
  --duration 30d \
  --config standard

# Persistent sandboxes persist through session logout
# They must be explicitly deleted

Managing Environments

List Environments

govern sandbox list

# Output:
# ID                  Name                Type        Status    Expires
# sbx_01JBXYZ123      -                   ephemeral   active    in 3h 42m
# sbx_01JABC789       Q2-2026-Red-Team    persistent  active    in 28d

Connect to Sandbox

# Set sandbox as active environment
export GOVERN_SANDBOX_ID=sbx_01JBXYZ123
export GOVERN_API_KEY=sbx_key_xxxxxxxxxxxx
export GOVERN_API_URL=https://sbx_01JBXYZ123.sandbox.govern.archetypal.ai

# Verify connection
govern health --sandbox $GOVERN_SANDBOX_ID

Reset Sandbox

# Reset to initial state (wipes all sandbox data)
govern sandbox reset sbx_01JBXYZ123 --confirm

# Reset and reload specific configuration
govern sandbox reset sbx_01JBXYZ123 \
  --config standard \
  --policies pii-prevention \
  --confirm

Destroy Sandbox

govern sandbox destroy sbx_01JBXYZ123 --confirm

Loading AI Systems into Sandbox

Connect a mock or real AI system to your sandbox for testing:

# Connect a mock AI system (uses GOVERN's built-in mock)
govern sandbox add-system sbx_01JBXYZ123 \
  --name "test-chatbot" \
  --type mock \
  --mock-behavior standard

# Connect a real AI system (isolated endpoint)
govern sandbox add-system sbx_01JBXYZ123 \
  --name "gpt4-staging" \
  --type api \
  --endpoint https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions \
  --api-key $OPENAI_STAGING_KEY

Sandbox API

The sandbox has the same API as production GOVERN, scoped to the sandbox:

# All requests use the sandbox URL and API key
curl https://sbx_01JBXYZ123.sandbox.govern.archetypal.ai/v1/assessments \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sbx_key_xxxxxxxxxxxx"

All data created in the sandbox is isolated. It never appears in production.

Duration Limits

Environment Type	Maximum Duration	Extension Allowed
Ephemeral	24 hours	No
Persistent	90 days	Yes, by admin
Training (named)	1 year	Yes, by admin