# Sandboxes and Models (/self-hosting/sandboxes-and-models)
Agents need two things to work on code: a sandbox to run in, and a model to
call. On a self-hosted deployment, your accounts provide both. You also decide
which users may use them.
## Sandboxes (Vercel Sandbox) [#sandboxes-vercel-sandbox]
Each agent session runs in a [Vercel Sandbox](https://vercel.com/docs/vercel-sandbox)
microVM. Mogplex has no local or container substitute. Without these variables,
sandbox features return "Sandbox service not configured".
| Variable | Value |
| --------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `PLATFORM_VERCEL_TOKEN` | A Vercel access token that can create sandboxes in your team |
| `PLATFORM_VERCEL_TEAM_ID` | The team that owns and pays for the sandboxes |
| `VERCEL_PROJECT_ID` or `PLATFORM_VERCEL_PROJECT_ID` | The Vercel project the sandboxes belong to. This can be the project that hosts Mogplex. |
Sandbox usage bills to that Vercel team. Optionally, set
`PLATFORM_SANDBOX_COST_CENTS_PER_SECOND` (default `0.0028`) so that Mogplex's
cost reporting matches your Vercel pricing.
## Models [#models]
Mogplex resolves model access in this order:
1. **The user's own AI Gateway key** (Settings → Provider Keys). The user's
gateway account pays for the usage.
2. **The platform AI Gateway key**, `AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY`, for users who have
[platform access](#give-users-access). Your gateway account pays for the
usage.
3. **The user's direct provider keys**: Anthropic for Claude Code and Claude
models, OpenAI for Codex and OpenAI models, and OpenRouter for OpenRouter
models.
| Variable | Purpose |
| ------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY` | Platform model access through [Vercel AI Gateway](https://vercel.com/docs/ai-gateway). |
| `OPENROUTER_API_KEY` | Refreshes the model catalog. |
| `OPENAI_API_KEY` | Memory embeddings. Without it, memory search falls back to plain text matching. |
| `EXA_API_KEY`, `EXA_RESEARCH_SECRET` | Agent web search and page extraction (optional). |
The model catalog syncs twice a day. To populate it on a new deployment, call
`/api/cron/sync-models` once (see [Cron routes](/self-hosting/background-jobs#cron-routes)).
## Give users access [#give-users-access]
Platform AI (`AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY`) and platform sandboxes are gated per user. On
mogplex.com, the gate is a funded billing account. Without Stripe, no account
has a balance.
### Self-host mode (recommended) [#self-host-mode-recommended]
```bash
MOGPLEX_SELF_HOSTED=1
MOGPLEX_SELF_HOSTED_ALLOWED_EMAIL_DOMAINS=example.com # optional
```
Self-host mode grants platform AI and sandbox access to every signed-in user,
and hides the billing screens. With
`MOGPLEX_SELF_HOSTED_ALLOWED_EMAIL_DOMAINS`, it grants access only to users whose
email domain matches. Everyone else falls back to the rules below. Set the same
variables in Trigger.dev, so that automation runs get the same access.
Self-host mode never turns on in two cases. It logs a warning instead:
* `STRIPE_SECRET_KEY` is set, because billing then controls access.
* The process runs in the hosted Mogplex Trigger.dev project.
### Finer control [#finer-control]
A user also has access when **any** of these is true:
* The user's billing account has a positive balance (requires Stripe).
* The user's ID, email, or email domain is in an allowlist variable.
* The user's profile row has `allow_platform_ai` or `allow_platform_sandbox` set
to `true`.
```bash
PLATFORM_ACCESS_EMAIL_DOMAINS=example.com # everyone at example.com
PLATFORM_ACCESS_EMAILS=alice@example.org,bob@example.org
PLATFORM_ACCESS_USER_IDS= # Mogplex user IDs
```
The allowlists grant both AI and sandbox access. To grant one without the
other, set the profile flag directly:
```sql
update public.profiles
set allow_platform_sandbox = true, allow_platform_ai = false
where email = 'alice@example.org';
```
Users without access still see the app. Their runs fail with "Hosted AI
requires a positive billing balance" or "Hosted sandbox compute requires a
positive billing balance". These messages usually mean self-host mode is off
or the user is missing from the allowlist, not that billing is broken.
`pnpm setup:doctor` reports which access rule applies.
A user without platform AI access can still add their own AI Gateway,
Anthropic, OpenAI, or OpenRouter key under **Settings → Provider Keys**. See
[AI provider keys](/integrations/ai-provider-keys).
## Your own model endpoint [#your-own-model-endpoint]
Serve models from any server that implements the OpenAI chat completions API,
such as [LiteLLM](https://docs.litellm.ai/), [vLLM](https://docs.vllm.ai/), or
[Ollama](https://ollama.com/). This suits air-gapped deployments.
```bash
MOGPLEX_OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_BASE_URL=http://litellm:4000/v1 # the URL before /chat/completions
MOGPLEX_OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_API_KEY=sk-... # optional
MOGPLEX_OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_MODELS=llama3.1:8b=Llama 3.1 8B,qwen2.5-coder
```
* Each listed model appears in the model pickers as `openai-compatible/`
for every user. The text after `=` is the display name.
* Users can turn a model off in **Settings → Models**. Team model allowlists
accept these IDs.
* Requests go straight to your endpoint, never through AI Gateway, and do not
need platform AI access. Mogplex sends only
`MOGPLEX_OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_API_KEY` to the endpoint.
* The endpoint has no pricing data, so usage is recorded without a cost.
* These models serve the native Mogplex agent and chat. Claude Code and Codex
keep their own model access.
* Set the same variables in Trigger.dev, so that automation runs can use these
models.
## Agent harnesses [#agent-harnesses]
Runs use the native Mogplex agent, Claude Code, or Codex. Claude Code and
Codex install inside the sandbox at run time and authenticate with the model
access above. Codex runs over the Agent Client Protocol by default. Set
`MOGPLEX_HARNESS_ACP=off` to fall back to the one-shot Codex CLI. See
[Claude Code and Codex](/integrations/claude-code-and-codex).