> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.asteroid.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Live environments

> Start a standalone sandbox and connect to it directly, outside of any workflow run.

A live environment is a sandbox you start and drive yourself, instead of one a workflow execution starts
for you. Use it to test a page or an app by hand, or to drive a browser from your own code.

## Start one

Start a live environment with `environmentStart` (MCP) or `POST /environments` (API). Pass your
`organizationId`, and optionally an `agentId` to bind it to an agent.

The response carries a `connection.cdpUrl`, a websocket URL at `wss://cdp.asteroid.ai`. Point any Chrome
DevTools Protocol (CDP) client at it, such as Playwright's `connectOverCDP`.

## Read and stop it

Read it again with `environmentGet`, and stop it with `environmentStop` when you are done. An environment
you do not stop still ends on its own, at its session timeout.

## How it differs from a workflow's environment

A [workflow's environment](/concepts/environments) is Browser, Linux, or Windows, and it starts and stops
with the execution that uses it. A live environment is the same underlying sandbox, but it stands on its
own. Nothing runs inside it unless you drive it yourself. It stays up until you stop it or it times out.

See the [API reference](/api-reference/overview) for the full request and response shape.