Perplexity has released SPACE, the sandboxing platform that powers its Computer product, as open-source software under the Apache 2.0 license. The code is now available for developers to inspect and reuse in their own AI agent systems.
SPACE works by assigning each agent task its own Firecracker microVM. Firecracker is a lightweight virtualization technology designed for high-density workloads. By isolating tasks in separate VMs, SPACE aims to contain potential damage from a compromised agent.
A notable design choice is that credentials and outbound network traffic are controlled from outside the VM. This means sensitive operations are not left to the agent itself, reducing the risk of credential leakage or unauthorized access.
The open-source release allows others to build similar sandboxing layers for AI agents. Since only one source was available, no comparisons with other sandboxing approaches were noted.