Agent servers

An agent server is a cloud development machine for you and your coding agents. Each one runs in its own Kata VM with Ubuntu 24.04, Docker, Node 24 with pnpm and Bun, Python 3.12 with uv, Go, Rust, Git and the GitHub CLI, and the coding agents Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and Gemini CLI preinstalled. You reach it over SSH through a bastion with the keys on your account, or from the web terminal in the portal. It is billed by the running hour; a stopped server pays only for its disk.

Live, with more coming

Live today: A Kata VM per server, with Docker inside, sSH through the bastion with your registered keys (VS Code, Cursor, Zed), web terminal in the portal, stopping a server stops compute billing and coding agents and toolchains preinstalled. Coming soon: daily snapshots, restore and export, gitHub repositories cloned under ~/dev, attach to a project to reach its databases privately and secure placement on a HIPAA cell.

Quickstart

1. Register your SSH public key on your account (once). Without an argument the CLI picks the first of ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub, id_ecdsa.pub and id_rsa.pub:

   shell

   zb ssh-key add

   Or paste the key under Account → SSH keys in the portal.

2. Create a server. Sizes and their prices are below:

   shell

   zb ws create dev --size w1 --wait

   It prints the server’s SSH command. In the portal: Agent servers → New.

3. Connect:

   shell

   zb ws ssh dev                 # an interactive shell through the bastion

4. Stop it when you are done. The home volume is kept; compute billing stops.

   shell

   zb ws stop dev
   zb ws start dev --wait        # later, right where you left off

Connect over SSH

The bastion listens on port 2222 of ssh.<region>.databasezy.com, and the SSH user name is the server id (ws_...). It accepts only keys registered on your account and only for servers you own:

shell

ssh -p 2222 [email protected]

zb ws get dev prints this command for your server.

Connect from VS Code, Cursor or Zed

Editors connect through a Host entry in your SSH config. zb ws ssh-config writes it for you, as a block it manages and updates in place; every other line of the file is left alone:

shell

zb ws ssh-config dev            # print the Host block
zb ws ssh-config dev --write    # add or update it in ~/.ssh/config (%USERPROFILE%\.ssh\config on Windows)

~/.ssh/config

# >>> zb ws dev (managed by zb) >>>
Host zb-dev
  HostName ssh.us-east.databasezy.com
  Port 2222
  User ws_01jb2m4k7q9xv3t8r5n6p0c2wd
  ServerAliveInterval 30
  ServerAliveCountMax 4
# <<< zb ws dev <<<

Then open the server in your editor. zb ws code writes the block and launches the editor in one step:

VS Code

shell

zb ws code dev                     # same as: code --remote ssh-remote+zb-dev /home/dev

Or install Remote - SSH, run Remote-SSH: Connect to Host… and pick zb-dev.

Cursor

shell

zb ws code dev --editor cursor     # same as: cursor --remote ssh-remote+zb-dev /home/dev

Or run Remote-SSH: Connect to Host… from the command palette and pick zb-dev.

Zed

shell

zb ws code dev --editor zed        # same as: zed ssh://[email protected]:2222/home/dev

Or choose Open Remote Project and enter the ssh:// address.

Your home directory is /home/dev. Use --path to open another folder, and --print to see the command without running it. The editor’s remote server is installed inside the agent server on first connect.

Port forwarding

Reach a dev server running inside the agent server from your laptop:

shell

zb ws port-forward dev 3000          # localhost:3000 -> the server's port 3000
zb ws port-forward dev 8080:3000     # localhost:8080 -> the server's port 3000

Web terminal

Open the server in the portal and choose Terminal for a shell in the browser, with the same user and files as SSH.

Sessions and security

• Every SSH, web-terminal and port-forward session is recorded as a security event in your audit log.
• zb ws sessions dev lists open sessions; zb ws revoke-sessions dev closes them all at once (a lost laptop, a leaked key). Remove a key with zb ssh-key rm <key>; new sessions with it are refused.
• Each server runs in its own VM and namespace. It can reach the internet but never other customers’ networks.
• Bring your own agent subscriptions: sign in to Claude Code, Codex or the others inside the server. Their keys stay in the server.

Lifecycle and billing

State	Compute	Disk
Running	Billed per hour at the size price	Included disk free; extra disk billed
Stopped (by you or after the idle timeout)	Not billed	Whole volume billed
Deleted	Not billed	Gone: the volume is deleted

Servers stop after an idle period (--idle-stop-minutes on create or zb ws update; 0 turns it off). zb ws usage dev shows this month’s compute, disk and cost of one server.

Sizes and prices

Agent server sizes: vCPU, memory and price

Size	vCPU	Memory	Disk included	$ / hour	≈ $ / month (730 h)
w1	2 (0.5 reserved)	4 GiB	40 GB	$0.0164	$12
w2	4 (1 reserved)	8 GiB	75 GB	$0.0301	$22
w3	6 (1.5 reserved)	12 GiB	100 GB	$0.0438	$32

vCPU shows the burst limit, with the share that is always reserved in brackets. Memory is fully reserved.

Platform usage prices and the allowance each plan includes per month

Meter	Price	Free	Solo	Team	Enterprise
Agent server compute	By size, per running hour	Not available	Pay as you go	Pay as you go	Pay as you go
Agent server disk	$0.125 per GB-month	Not available	Pay as you go	Pay as you go	Pay as you go

Platform limits on each plan

Limit	Free	Solo	Team	Enterprise
Agent servers	None	1	1 per member	Unlimited

Team and Enterprise admins can change how many servers each member may own with zb ws allowance.

Reference

Every zb ws command and flag: CLI reference. SSH keys: zb ssh-key.