Skip to content
Capsem

How to use Capsem

Start a VM to work with an AI agent, pause it when you are done for the day, or duplicate it to try something new. Run the Capsem commands below in a terminal on your own computer, after installing Capsem.

Launch your first VM

After installation, create a VM with Claude Code available:

Terminal window
capsem create -n my-work --image claude-code
  • -n my-work names the VM and makes it persistent: you can stop and resume it without losing your files or setup. You can also pause and continue running work with capsem suspend and capsem resume, or duplicate your VM with capsem fork. Use my-work to select this VM in commands.
  • --image claude-code chooses the image that provides the VM’s software. You can use one of Capsem’s prebuilt images, such as this one with Claude Code, or your own container image if your administrator authorizes it. See Choose an image for your VM for the available images and how to use your own.

Capsem downloads the image if needed and starts the VM in the background. Once creation finishes, open the VM to begin working.

Access your VM

Once your VM is created, you can access it through the terminal interface (TUI) or the graphical interface (Capsem UI). Choose either option below; both open the same VM, so you can switch between them later.

From your terminal

Open the terminal interface (TUI), focused on my-work:

Terminal window
capsem shell my-work

Once the TUI opens, type in its terminal to run commands inside the VM. The TUI manages multiple VMs in one terminal window. Use Alt + Left/Right to switch VM tabs, Alt + L to see VMs and their status, and Alt + ? for help. See all the navigation controls. When you want to close the TUI, press Alt + Q; your VM keeps running, and you can reopen it with the same command.

From the Capsem UI

Open the Capsem UI in your browser, open Capsem (in Applications on macOS), or choose Dashboard from the Capsem system tray menu. Click my-work in the list of VMs to open it, then use its Terminal view to work inside the VM. The same VM tab also lets you inspect files, logs, and activity.

Pause your work and return later

When you are ready to pause your work, use capsem suspend to free up its CPU and memory while keeping your running programs ready to continue. Run this in another terminal on your computer:

Terminal window
capsem suspend my-work

Once suspension finishes, your programs are paused. When you are ready to work again, use capsem resume, then reopen its terminal with capsem shell:

Terminal window
capsem resume my-work
capsem shell my-work

After resuming, you can also return through the Capsem UI.

Fork your VM

After setting up your tools and files in my-work, you can reuse that VM’s setup instead of doing it again. capsem fork duplicates your VM’s files and setup in a new VM so you can try a change while keeping the original VM.

For example, duplicate my-work into a VM named experiment, start the new VM, and open its terminal:

Terminal window
capsem fork my-work experiment
capsem resume experiment
capsem shell experiment

my-work is the original VM; experiment names the new persistent VM. Once the new VM is running, you can change files and try tools there without changing my-work. Programs start afresh in the new VM; to continue programs already running in the original, use capsem suspend and capsem resume.

Choose an image for your VM

--image accepts a Capsem prebuilt image or an authorized custom OCI image. Use capsem images to see the available catalog. For other agents, custom images, temporary VMs, and CPU/memory choices, see Configure and reuse your environment.

Next steps

Once you are comfortable creating and using VMs, choose the next path for your task:

  • Guides for task-based how-tos.
  • Reference for the complete CLI and MCP contracts.
  • SDK to manage VMs from your application.