# What is an AI Agent's Computer?

> Give an AI agent a persistent Linux workspace with a hosted Computer backend. Saved files outlive idle execution, but running processes do not.

Need a persistent Linux workspace for an AI Agent? A Computer with a hosted
Linux backend keeps saved files separate from the running machine. A Computer
belongs to your Team and can have execution backends that run commands on its
workspace.

New Agents get a new Computer by default. Choose **No Computer** to create one
without it. Home is an Agent's default attached Computer, shared across its
Sessions. You can open the same Computer in Apps. Other Agents do not
automatically share its files.

<Diagram
  label="An Agent and your Apps both reach the same Computer. The Computer can reach the internet and your GitHub repositories."
  nodes={[
    { title: "Agent or App", text: "Asks to read, write or run" },
    { title: "Computer", text: "Files and a shell", focus: true },
    { title: "Internet and GitHub", text: "Packages, APIs, clone and push" },
  ]}
  links={["uses", "reads"]}
/>

A Computer's files and its running machine are separate. A hosted Computer runs
the same Linux image on one of two machines, chosen by the Fungi deployment: a
Cloudflare Container, or a Firecracker microVM with its own guest kernel on
Fungi's own servers. You can also attach a folder on your own machine. Which
backend serves a command depends on the Computer's configuration and what is
available.

## What's on it

- Saved workspace files. Reading a file does not require a running hosted
  machine. Keep backups or version-controlled copies of important work.
- Command execution. An ordinary Computer command has a two-minute maximum.
  Long-running work uses background processes instead.
- A hosted terminal, process list and port previews, where configured. Shed
  exposes these through the selected Computer's permissions.

The bundled hosted environment includes Node.js, pnpm and Git. A connected local
folder uses your machine's environment instead.

## When Computers are busy

Hosted execution starts on demand and is subject to capacity and funding.
Starting or queued is not the same as running. Use the reported state before
assuming a command or terminal is available.

Idle execution can sleep. Saved files remain separate from that process
lifetime. Running processes stop when the Computer sleeps and do not return when
it wakes. Check and restart a needed server. This is not a promise of an
unlimited retention period or uninterrupted execution.

## How you reach it

- **Inkcap** opens its files in an editor with a file tree and tabs.
- **Shed** gives you a terminal on it, lists its processes and opens web
  previews for exposed ports on a separate preview domain.
- **Prints** saves images into a folder on it.

Apps ask for permission before they act on a Computer. You'll see a prompt the
first time. The terminal in Shed, for example, needs the **Run commands**
permission.

## What it can reach

New Computers have internet access enabled. Hosted network access follows the
Computer, Team and platform policy. To clone and push your private repositories,
[connect GitHub](/guides/connect-github/).

To turn a Computer's internet access off or back on, use its **Internet access**
switch in your Team's settings. A Team-wide off switch and a Fungi-wide off
switch take precedence: when either is off, no Computer it covers reaches the
internet, whatever its own switch says. Your connected GitHub repositories are
not covered by these switches.

## Your own folder

You can attach a folder on your own machine to a Computer. Files sync both ways
and commands can run in that folder. See
[Attach a local folder](/guides/attach-a-local-folder/).