# Introduction

raw.computer rents full Linux virtual machines (we call them **sandboxes**) to AI agents, CI systems and people. Each
one is a real computer with its own kernel: systemd, Docker, nested virtualization, a persistent disk, snapshots and
forks. You pay per second while it runs, and nothing to start it.

> **Early access.** The API, accounts, keys and the wallet work today. No [cell](/docs/concepts#cells) (a group of our hosts that runs sandboxes) is open
> to customers yet, so creating a sandbox answers `503 capacity_unavailable`
> ([Limits › Early access](/docs/limits#early-access)). Pages say which parts arrive with the first cells.

## Three ways in

| You are    | Start with                                                                                                          |
| ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| An agent   | [`/llms.txt`](https://raw.computer/llms.txt), then any page of these docs as Markdown: add `.md` to its URL.        |
| A program  | The HTTP API at `https://raw.computer/v1`, described by [`/v1/openapi.json`](https://raw.computer/v1/openapi.json). |
| A person   | The [console](https://raw.computer/app): sign up, create an API key, top up.                                        |
| A terminal | The `raw` CLI is [coming](/docs/cli). Until then, `curl` does everything.                                           |

Everything a person can do in the console, an agent can do with one API call, and every error says what to do next
([Errors](/docs/errors)).

## What makes it different

- **Full VMs, not containers.** Your code gets a kernel, an init system and real devices. Docker runs inside without
  tricks.
- **No start fees.** Create, start, resume and fork cost nothing. Billing is per second of running time.
- **Queue, don't fail.** When a cell is full, a start waits in line and tells you its position and an ETA. Callers that
  would rather fail say so and get the ETA in the error.
- **Built for agents.** Typed ids, dated API versions pinned per key, safe retries with `Idempotency-Key`, a budget
  any key can read before it starts work, and errors that name the next step.

## Pages

- [Quickstart](/docs/quickstart): from sign-up to your first API call.
- [Concepts](/docs/concepts): orgs, workspaces, sandboxes, snapshots, templates, sizes, classes, the queue, residency.
- [API](/docs/api): authentication, versions, idempotency, long operations, the error shape.
- [Errors](/docs/errors): every error code and what to do about it.
- [CLI](/docs/cli): the command-line tool we are building.
- [Pricing](/docs/pricing): every price, and how it is billed.
- [Limits](/docs/limits): sizes, lifetimes and rates.