The terminal can't execute the "cd xxx" command

[XitaoLi]

Describe the bug
I want to test if the E2B sandbox executes all commands well, as it's required for LLM Agent to do anything, but some issues appear:

1. the cd command doesn't work. This may be caused by the fixed parameter "cmd" in the initialization of TerminalManager
2. the terminal also can't set the environment variables,

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

    sandbox = Sandbox()
    while True:
        cmd = input("Enter command: ")
        if cmd == "exit":
            break
        proc = sandbox.terminal.start(lambda data: print(data), 1, 1, cwd="/home/user", cmd=cmd)
        proc.wait()

Expected behavior
E2B terminal works as the real terminal.

Terminal commands & output

Enter command: ls
java
jdk-11.0.2
jdk-11.0.2_linux-x64_bin.tar.gz

Enter command: cd java
Enter command: ls -a
.
..
.bash_logout
.bashrc
.profile
.sudo_as_admin_successful
java
jdk-11.0.2
jdk-11.0.2_linux-x64_bin.tar.gz

Enter command: export TEST=1        
Enter command: echo $TEST


Enter command: 

Desktop:

• OS: Ubuntu18

Any feedback will be helpful.

[ValentaTomas]

Hey @XitaoLi , we recommend using the Beta SDK (https://e2b.dev/docs/guide/beta-migration) — it has module for terminal (pty) that should work more clearly.

Here is the implementation (https://github.com/e2b-dev/E2B/blob/beta/packages/python-sdk/e2b/sandbox_sync/pty/main.py) and here is an analogous usage in our CLI (in TypeScript) (https://github.com/e2b-dev/E2B/blob/beta/packages/cli/src/terminal.ts#L12).

If you want just to execute a command, the sandbox.process.start_and_wait (or sandbox.commands.run in Beta SDK) might be a better solution here — the terminal/pty is made to be connected to an actual terminal emulator, outputting all the colored output and taking into account things like terminal size, which might not be relevant for you.

[XitaoLi]

@ValentaTomas Thanks for your quick response. I have tried the commands.run method in the latest version, similar to sandbox.process. It still can't change the working directory flexibly according to the cd command.

Any other suggestions for connecting an actual terminal emulator using E2B? It's essential for LLM Agnets.

[ValentaTomas]

We added the pty/terminal to the Python Beta SDK — https://github.com/e2b-dev/E2B/blob/beta/packages/python-sdk/e2b/sandbox_sync/pty/main.py#L78

A very brief example of the usage can be found in the SDK automated tests here https://github.com/e2b-dev/E2B/tree/beta/packages/python-sdk/tests/sync/sandbox_sync/pty

We are working on more detailed documentation in the meantime.

[ValentaTomas]

It still can't change the working directory flexibly according to the cd command.

With the commands.run, each run is like a separate terminal session, and the directory you got into via cd there won't affect other sessions. The pty/terminal I mentioned in the previous comment might ultimately be more useful to you.