Manage files

This guide shows you how to read, write, organize, and synchronize files in the sandbox filesystem.

Path conventions

File operations support both absolute and relative paths:

/workspace - Default working directory for application files
/tmp - Temporary files (may be cleared)
/home - User home directory

// Absolute paths
await sandbox.writeFile("/workspace/app.js", code);

// Relative paths (session-aware)
const session = await sandbox.createSession();
await session.exec("cd /workspace/my-project");
await session.writeFile("app.js", code); // Writes to /workspace/my-project/app.js
await session.writeFile("src/index.js", code); // Writes to /workspace/my-project/src/index.js

// Absolute paths
await sandbox.writeFile('/workspace/app.js', code);

// Relative paths (session-aware)
const session = await sandbox.createSession();
await session.exec('cd /workspace/my-project');
await session.writeFile('app.js', code);  // Writes to /workspace/my-project/app.js
await session.writeFile('src/index.js', code);  // Writes to /workspace/my-project/src/index.js

Write files

import { getSandbox } from "@cloudflare/sandbox";

const sandbox = getSandbox(env.Sandbox, "my-sandbox");

// Write text file
await sandbox.writeFile(
	"/workspace/app.js",
	`console.log('Hello from sandbox!');`,
);

// Write JSON
const config = { name: "my-app", version: "1.0.0" };
await sandbox.writeFile(
	"/workspace/config.json",
	JSON.stringify(config, null, 2),
);

// Write binary file (base64)
const buffer = await fetch(imageUrl).then((r) => r.arrayBuffer());
const base64 = btoa(String.fromCharCode(...new Uint8Array(buffer)));
await sandbox.writeFile("/workspace/image.png", base64, { encoding: "base64" });

import { getSandbox } from '@cloudflare/sandbox';

const sandbox = getSandbox(env.Sandbox, 'my-sandbox');

// Write text file
await sandbox.writeFile('/workspace/app.js', `console.log('Hello from sandbox!');`);

// Write JSON
const config = { name: 'my-app', version: '1.0.0' };
await sandbox.writeFile('/workspace/config.json', JSON.stringify(config, null, 2));

// Write binary file (base64)
const buffer = await fetch(imageUrl).then(r => r.arrayBuffer());
const base64 = btoa(String.fromCharCode(...new Uint8Array(buffer)));
await sandbox.writeFile('/workspace/image.png', base64, { encoding: 'base64' });

Read files

// Read text file
const file = await sandbox.readFile("/workspace/app.js");
console.log(file.content);

// Read and parse JSON
const configFile = await sandbox.readFile("/workspace/config.json");
const config = JSON.parse(configFile.content);

// Read binary file (v0.10.1 with `rpc` transport)
const imageFile = await sandbox.readFile("/workspace/image.png", {
	encoding: "none",
});
return new Response(imageFile.content, {
	headers: { "Content-Type": imageFile.mimeType },
});

// Read text file
const file = await sandbox.readFile('/workspace/app.js');
console.log(file.content);

// Read and parse JSON
const configFile = await sandbox.readFile('/workspace/config.json');
const config = JSON.parse(configFile.content);

// Read binary file (v0.10.1 with `rpc` transport)
const imageFile = await sandbox.readFile('/workspace/image.png', { encoding: 'none' });
return new Response(imageFile.content, {
  headers: { 'Content-Type': imageFile.mimeType }
});

Organize files

// Create directories
await sandbox.mkdir("/workspace/src", { recursive: true });
await sandbox.mkdir("/workspace/tests", { recursive: true });

// Rename file
await sandbox.renameFile("/workspace/draft.txt", "/workspace/final.txt");

// Move file
await sandbox.moveFile("/tmp/download.txt", "/workspace/data.txt");

// Delete file
await sandbox.deleteFile("/workspace/temp.txt");

// Create directories
await sandbox.mkdir('/workspace/src', { recursive: true });
await sandbox.mkdir('/workspace/tests', { recursive: true });

// Rename file
await sandbox.renameFile('/workspace/draft.txt', '/workspace/final.txt');

// Move file
await sandbox.moveFile('/tmp/download.txt', '/workspace/data.txt');

// Delete file
await sandbox.deleteFile('/workspace/temp.txt');

Batch operations

Write multiple files in parallel:

const files = {
	"/workspace/src/app.js": 'console.log("app");',
	"/workspace/src/utils.js": 'console.log("utils");',
	"/workspace/README.md": "# My Project",
};

await Promise.all(
	Object.entries(files).map(([path, content]) =>
		sandbox.writeFile(path, content),
	),
);

const files = {
  '/workspace/src/app.js': 'console.log("app");',
  '/workspace/src/utils.js': 'console.log("utils");',
  '/workspace/README.md': '# My Project'
};

await Promise.all(
  Object.entries(files).map(([path, content]) =>
    sandbox.writeFile(path, content)
  )
);

Check if file exists

const result = await sandbox.exists("/workspace/config.json");
if (!result.exists) {
	// Create default config
	await sandbox.writeFile("/workspace/config.json", "{}");
}

// Check directory
const dirResult = await sandbox.exists("/workspace/data");
if (!dirResult.exists) {
	await sandbox.mkdir("/workspace/data");
}

// Also available on sessions
const sessionResult = await session.exists("/workspace/temp.txt");

const result = await sandbox.exists('/workspace/config.json');
if (!result.exists) {
  // Create default config
  await sandbox.writeFile('/workspace/config.json', '{}');
}

// Check directory
const dirResult = await sandbox.exists('/workspace/data');
if (!dirResult.exists) {
  await sandbox.mkdir('/workspace/data');
}

// Also available on sessions
const sessionResult = await session.exists('/workspace/temp.txt');

Best practices

Use /workspace - Default working directory for app files
Use absolute paths - Always use full paths like /workspace/file.txt
Batch operations - Use Promise.all() for multiple independent file writes
Create parent directories - Use recursive: true when creating nested paths
Handle errors - Check for FILE_NOT_FOUND errors gracefully

Troubleshooting

Directory doesn't exist

Create parent directories first:

// Create directory, then write file
await sandbox.mkdir("/workspace/data", { recursive: true });
await sandbox.writeFile("/workspace/data/file.txt", content);

// Create directory, then write file
await sandbox.mkdir('/workspace/data', { recursive: true });
await sandbox.writeFile('/workspace/data/file.txt', content);

Binary file encoding

Use encoding: "none" (with rpc transport) for binary files:

// Write binary
await sandbox.writeFile("/workspace/image.png", readableStream);

// Read binary
const file = await sandbox.readFile("/workspace/image.png", {
	encoding: "none",
});

// Write binary
await sandbox.writeFile('/workspace/image.png', readableStream);

// Read binary
const file = await sandbox.readFile('/workspace/image.png', {
  encoding: 'none'
});

For older SDK versions or http transport:

// Write binary
await sandbox.writeFile("/workspace/image.png", base64data, {
	encoding: "base64",
});

// Read binary
const file = await sandbox.readFile("/workspace/image.png", {
	encoding: "base64",
});

// Write binary
await sandbox.writeFile('/workspace/image.png', base64data, { encoding: "base64" });

// Read binary
const file = await sandbox.readFile('/workspace/image.png', {
  encoding: 'base64'
});

Base64 validation errors

When writing with encoding: 'base64', content must contain only valid base64 characters:

try {
	// Invalid: contains invalid base64 characters
	await sandbox.writeFile("/workspace/data.bin", "invalid!@#$", {
		encoding: "base64",
	});
} catch (error) {
	if (error.code === "VALIDATION_FAILED") {
		// Content contains invalid base64 characters
		console.error("Invalid base64 content");
	}
}

try {
  // Invalid: contains invalid base64 characters
  await sandbox.writeFile('/workspace/data.bin', 'invalid!@#$', {
    encoding: 'base64'
  });
} catch (error) {
  if (error.code === 'VALIDATION_FAILED') {
    // Content contains invalid base64 characters
    console.error('Invalid base64 content');
  }
}

Files API reference - Complete method documentation
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