Build Template

novita template create builds a Dockerfile directly into a reusable sandbox template. It reads the Dockerfile, builds the image, applies sandbox settings (start / ready command, CPU, memory), and registers the result under the template name — which you can then pass to sandbox.create(...).

Usage

CLI

novita template create <template-name> [options]

Argument

Argument	Required	Description
`<template-name>`	Yes	Template name to create or rebuild. Must be lowercase and contain only letters, numbers, dashes and underscores (`^[a-z0-9-_]+$`).

Options

Option	Default	Description
`-p, --path <path>`	current directory	Change the root directory where the command is executed. Dockerfile lookup and the build file context are resolved relative to it.
`-d, --dockerfile <file>`	`novita.Dockerfile`, then `Dockerfile`	Path to the Dockerfile, relative to the root directory. Without this option the CLI looks for `novita.Dockerfile` first and falls back to `Dockerfile`.
`-c, --cmd <start-command>`	—	Command executed when the sandbox is started. Must be used together with `--ready-cmd`.
`--ready-cmd <ready-command>`	—	Command that must exit 0 for the template to be considered ready. Can be used on its own.
`--cpu-count <cpu-count>`	`2`	Number of CPUs used to run the sandbox.
`--memory-mb <memory-mb>`	`2048`	Memory in megabytes used to run the sandbox. Must be an even number.
`--no-cache`	off	Skip the build cache when building the template.
`--patch-cmd <cmd>`	—	Command to patch an incompatible base image at the end of the provision phase.

Behavior and validation

Authentication is required: log in with novita auth login or set NOVITA_API_KEY in the environment.
Providing --cmd without --ready-cmd fails with Both start and ready commands must be provided.; --ready-cmd alone is allowed.
An invalid template name or an odd --memory-mb value aborts the build before anything is sent to the server.
Build logs are streamed to the terminal. On success the CLI prints Python / JS snippets showing how to create a sandbox from the new template.

Examples

An example Dockerfile used by the commands below:

Dockerfile

FROM python:3.12

WORKDIR /home/user/app

RUN pip install --no-cache-dir flask requests

COPY app.py .

ENV PORT=8080

CMD ["python", "app.py"]

Minimal build

Reads ./novita.Dockerfile (or ./Dockerfile) in the current directory:

CLI

novita template create my-python-template

Specify a Dockerfile explicitly

Point the build at a specific Dockerfile relative to the root directory:

CLI

novita template create my-python-template --dockerfile ./Dockerfile

Full build

Custom root directory, resources, start/ready commands, and no cache:

CLI

novita template create my-python-template \
  --path ./app \
  --dockerfile ./docker/novita.Dockerfile \
  --cpu-count 4 \
  --memory-mb 2048 \
  --cmd "python app.py" \
  --ready-cmd "curl -sf http://localhost:8080/health" \
  --no-cache

Once the build finishes, create sandboxes from the template by name:

JavaScript & TypeScript

const sandbox = await novita.sandbox.create('my-python-template')

Get started

Model APIs

Novita Sandbox

GPUs

Observability

Resources

Usage

Argument

Options

Behavior and validation

Examples

Minimal build

Specify a Dockerfile explicitly

Full build

​Usage

​Argument

​Options

​Behavior and validation

​Examples

​Minimal build

​Specify a Dockerfile explicitly

​Full build

Usage

Argument

Options

Behavior and validation

Examples

Minimal build

Specify a Dockerfile explicitly

Full build