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Template versioning allows you to maintain multiple versions of the same template using tags. This enables workflows like semantic versioning, environment-based deployments, and gradual rollouts.

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Tag format

Tags follow the name:tag format, where name is your template’s identifier and tag is the version label. 
my-template:v1.0.0              // Within your team
my-template:production          // Within your team
acme/my-template:v1.0.0         // Full namespaced reference

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The default tag

When you build or reference a template without specifying a tag, E2B uses the default tag automatically. This means:
  • my-template is equivalent to my-template:default
  • Existing templates without tags continue to work seamlessly
// These are equivalent
const sandbox1 = await Sandbox.create('my-template')
const sandbox2 = await Sandbox.create('my-template:default')

# These are equivalent
sandbox1 = Sandbox.create('my-template')
sandbox2 = Sandbox.create('my-template:default')

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Referencing a specific build

Instead of using a named tag, you can start a sandbox from a specific build by passing its build_id directly. This is useful when you need to pin a sandbox to an exact build artifact — for example, during debugging or when reproducing an issue from a known build. The format follows the same colon syntax as tags: <template>:<build_id> or <namespace>/<template>:<build_id>. You can find the build_id from the return value of Template.build() or by listing tags with Template.getTags() / Template.get_tags(). 
import { Sandbox } from 'e2b'

// Start a sandbox from a specific build ID
const sandbox = await Sandbox.create('my-template:f47ac10b-58cc-4372-a567-0e02b2c3d479')

// With namespace
const sandbox2 = await Sandbox.create('acme/my-template:f47ac10b-58cc-4372-a567-0e02b2c3d479')

from e2b import Sandbox

# Start a sandbox from a specific build ID
sandbox = Sandbox.create('my-template:f47ac10b-58cc-4372-a567-0e02b2c3d479')

# With namespace
sandbox2 = Sandbox.create('acme/my-template:f47ac10b-58cc-4372-a567-0e02b2c3d479')

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Building with tags

You can build templates with one or more tags to create versioned builds.

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Single tag

import { Template } from 'e2b'

// Build with a specific version tag
await Template.build(template, 'my-template:v1.0.0')

from e2b import Template

# Build with a specific version tag
Template.build(template, 'my-template:v1.0.0')

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Multiple tags

Build with multiple tags to assign several version labels to the same build artifact. 
import { Template } from 'e2b'

// Build with multiple tags pointing to the same artifact
await Template.build(template, 'my-template', { tags: ['v1.2.0', 'latest'] })

from e2b import Template

# Build with multiple tags pointing to the same artifact
Template.build(template, 'my-template', tags=['v1.2.0', 'latest'])

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Managing tags

You can manage tags on existing template builds without rebuilding.

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Assign tags

Assign new tag(s) to an existing build. This is useful for promoting a tested version to production or marking a version as stable. 
import { Template } from 'e2b'

// Assign a single tag
await Template.assignTags('my-template:v1.2.0', 'production')

// Assign multiple tags at once
await Template.assignTags('my-template:v1.2.0', ['production', 'stable'])

from e2b import Template

# Assign a single tag
Template.assign_tags('my-template:v1.2.0', 'production')

# Assign multiple tags at once
Template.assign_tags('my-template:v1.2.0', tags=['production', 'stable'])

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Remove tags

Remove a tag from a template. The underlying build artifact remains accessible via other tags. 
import { Template } from 'e2b'

// Remove a tag
await Template.removeTags('my-template', 'staging')

from e2b import Template

# Remove a tag
Template.remove_tags('my-template', 'staging')
Removing a tag does not delete the build artifact. Other tags pointing to the same build will continue to work.

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List tags

Retrieve all tags for a template. Each tag includes the tag name, the associated build ID, and when the tag was assigned. 
import { Template } from 'e2b'

const tags = await Template.getTags('my-template')
for (const tag of tags) {
  console.log(`Tag: ${tag.tag}, Build: ${tag.buildId}, Created: ${tag.createdAt}`)
}

from e2b import Template

tags = Template.get_tags('my-template')
for tag in tags:
    print(f"Tag: {tag.tag}, Build: {tag.build_id}, Created: {tag.created_at}")

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Use cases

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Semantic versioning

Use semantic version tags to track releases and enable rollbacks. 
// Release versions
await Template.build(template, 'api-server:v1.0.0')
await Template.build(template, 'api-server:v1.1.0')
await Template.build(template, 'api-server:v2.0.0')

// Create sandbox from specific version
const sandbox = await Sandbox.create('api-server:v1.1.0')

# Release versions
Template.build(template, 'api-server:v1.0.0')
Template.build(template, 'api-server:v1.1.0')
Template.build(template, 'api-server:v2.0.0')

# Create sandbox from specific version
sandbox = Sandbox.create('api-server:v1.1.0')

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Environment tags

Use environment tags for deployment pipelines. 
// Build new version
await Template.build(template, 'my-app:v1.5.0')

// Promote through environments
await Template.assignTags('my-app:v1.5.0', 'staging')

// After testing, promote to production
await Template.assignTags('my-app:v1.5.0', 'production')

// Use in your application
const env = process.env.NODE_ENV
const sandbox = await Sandbox.create(`my-app:${env}`)

import os

# Build new version
Template.build(template, 'my-app:v1.5.0')

# Promote through environments
Template.assign_tags('my-app:v1.5.0', 'staging')

# After testing, promote to production
Template.assign_tags('my-app:v1.5.0', 'production')

# Use in your application
env = os.environ.get('ENV', 'staging')
sandbox = Sandbox.create(f'my-app:{env}')

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Latest and stable tags

Maintain rolling tags that always point to specific versions. 
// Build with version and latest tag
await Template.build(template, 'my-tool', { tags: ['v3.0.0', 'latest'] })

// Mark a tested version as stable
await Template.assignTags('my-tool:v2.9.0', 'stable')

// You can choose your risk tolerance
const latestSandbox = await Sandbox.create('my-tool:latest')  // Newest
const stableSandbox = await Sandbox.create('my-tool:stable')  // Tested

# Build with version and latest tag
Template.build(template, 'my-tool', tags=['v3.0.0', 'latest'])

# Mark a tested version as stable
Template.assign_tags('my-tool:v2.9.0', 'stable')

# You can choose your risk tolerance
latest_sandbox = Sandbox.create('my-tool:latest')  # Newest
stable_sandbox = Sandbox.create('my-tool:stable')  # Tested