Local Development

How to test templates locally

You can test Templates locally by converting them to a Docker-compatible container images that you can build and run locally.

E2B Templates do not map 1:1 to Dockerfiles. Only a limited set of methods are supported and converted to equivalent Docker instructions.

See Compatibility for more details.

Example

Create a template file:

template.ts

TypeScript

import { Template } from "e2b";

export const template = Template()
  .fromBaseImage()
  .setEnvs({
    HELLO: "Hello, World!",
  })
  .runCmd("echo $HELLO")

Then, create a conversion script to convert the template to a Dockerfile definition:

dev.ts

TypeScript

import fs from "fs";
import { Template } from "e2b";
import { template } from "./template";

fs.writeFileSync("Dockerfile", Template.toDockerfile(template));

Run the conversion script, forwarding the output to a new Dockerfile file:

TypeScript

npx tsx dev.ts

Should produce a Dockerfile in the current directory with the following content:

FROM e2bdev/base
ENV HELLO="Hello, World!"
RUN echo $HELLO

Build a container image from the Dockerfile and run it locally:

docker build -t template .
docker run template

Compatibility

TypeScript

Method	Supported	Docker Equivalent
fromBaseImage()		FROM e2bdev/base
fromUbuntuImage()		FROM ubuntu:version
fromNodeImage()		FROM node:version
fromPythonImage()		FROM python:version
fromDebianImage()		FROM debian:version
fromImage()		FROM custom-image
setEnvs()		ENV key=value
runCmd()		RUN command
setStartCmd()		ENTRYPOINT command
setWorkdir()		WORKDIR path
setUser()		USER user
copy()		COPY src dest
aptInstall()		RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y package
pipInstall()		RUN pip install package
npmInstall()		RUN npm install package
gitClone()		RUN git clone repository
makeSymlink()		RUN ln -s src dest
fromTemplate()		Not supported - templates based on other templates cannot be converted to Dockerfile
fromDockerfile()		Not supported - parsing Dockerfiles is not supported for local development
fromRegistry()		Not supported - registry authentication not supported for local development
fromAWSRegistry()		Not supported - AWS registry authentication not supported for local development
fromGCPRegistry()		Not supported - GCP registry authentication not supported for local development
skipCache()		Not supported - cache invalidation is not applicable for Dockerfile conversion
setReadyCmd()		Not supported - ready commands are E2B-specific and not part of Docker

Python

Method	Supported	Docker Equivalent
from_base_image()		FROM e2bdev/base
from_ubuntu_image()		FROM ubuntu:version
from_node_image()		FROM node:version
from_python_image()		FROM python:version
from_debian_image()		FROM debian:version
from_image()		FROM custom-image
set_envs()		ENV key=value
run_cmd()		RUN command
set_start_cmd()		ENTRYPOINT command
set_workdir()		WORKDIR path
set_user()		USER user
copy()		COPY src dest
apt_install()		RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y package
pip_install()		RUN pip install package
npm_install()		RUN npm install package
git_clone()		RUN git clone repository
make_symlink()		RUN ln -s src dest
from_template()		Not supported - templates based on other templates cannot be converted to Dockerfile
from_dockerfile()		Not supported - parsing Dockerfiles is not supported for local development
from_registry()		Not supported - registry authentication not supported for local development
from_aws_registry()		Not supported - AWS registry authentication not supported for local development
from_gcp_registry()		Not supported - GCP registry authentication not supported for local development
skip_cache()		Not supported - cache invalidation is not applicable for Dockerfile conversion
set_ready_cmd()		Not supported - ready commands are E2B-specific and not part of Docker