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Quick start

CLI

Install the aca CLI, provision a sandbox group, launch a sandbox, run a command, and tear it all down.

Before you begin
  • An Azure subscription with permission to create resource groups.
  • Azure CLI (az) installed. aca delegates auth to az login.
  • A shell: Bash on Linux/macOS, PowerShell on Windows. (WSL and Git Bash also work.)

Install the aca CLI​

curl -fsSL https://aka.ms/aca-cli-install | sh

Smoke-test the install:

aca --version
# aca 1.0.0-preview.1

Log in to Azure​

Run az login once per shell. Subsequent commands reuse the same Azure CLI session.

az login

Provision the resource group and sandbox group​

SUBSCRIPTION_ID=$(az account show --query id -o tsv)

az group create \
  --name my-rg \
  --location westus2

aca sandboxgroup create \
  -g my-rg \
  --name my-sandbox-group \
  --location westus2 \
  -s "$SUBSCRIPTION_ID" \
  --set-config
note

--set-config writes the group, subscription, and region into aca config so you don't have to pass them on every subsequent command.

Verify with aca doctor​

aca doctor

Create and run a sandbox​

Tag the sandbox with a label at create time, then use -l (label selector) to target it from exec and delete — no need to capture the ID.

aca sandbox create \
  --disk ubuntu \
  --label name=my-first-sandbox

aca sandbox exec -l name=my-first-sandbox -c "echo 'Hello from ACA Sandbox.'"

aca sandbox delete -l name=my-first-sandbox --yes

Teardown (optional)​

Delete the sandbox group and the resource group:

aca sandboxgroup delete -g my-rg --name my-sandbox-group --yes
az group delete --name my-rg --yes --no-wait

Next steps​

Install an agent skill

Let GitHub Copilot or Claude Code drive sandboxes through these same commands.

Learn more →

Create sandboxes

Sizes, env vars, labels, and YAML specs.

Learn more →

Open a shell

Drop into an interactive bash session for live debugging.

Learn more →
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