Vercel has introduced Vercel Managed Images (VMI), replacing the deprecated Sandbox runtimes starting with Sandbox SDK version 3. The new default image, `vercel/sandbox/universal:latest`, runs on Ubuntu 26.04 and ships with Node.js 24, Python 3.14, coding agents (opencode, claude-code, codex, pi), and common utilities. Images receive nightly releases with automatic security patches, while digest-pinned images remain fully immutable. The catalog includes specialized images for Node.js versions (22, 24, 26), Python 3.14, bare Ubuntu 26.04, and Arch Linux. The previous `runtime` property is deprecated but not removed, so existing code continues to work. All Dockerfiles are open-source in the public vercel/sandbox GitHub repository.
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Secure by defaultChoose a managed image from the catalogReference an image and migrate from runtimesQuestions this post answers
What is included in the Vercel Sandbox universal image by default?
The `vercel/sandbox/universal:latest` image ships with Node.js 24, Python 3.14 with `uv`, the `opencode`, `claude-code`, `codex`, and `pi` coding agents, and utilities including `git`, `vim`, `nano`, `tmux`, `ripgrep`, `jq`, and `fzf`. It runs on Ubuntu 26.04 and is the default starting with Sandbox SDK version 3, replacing the previous Amazon Linux-based runtimes. Teams evaluating Vercel Sandbox for AI agent workloads track image updates and ecosystem changes on daily.dev.
How do I migrate from Vercel Sandbox runtimes to Managed Images?
Replace the deprecated `runtime` property with the `image` property in your Sandbox SDK v3 code, referencing images by their full path such as `vercel/sandbox/universal:latest`. The old `runtime` property is deprecated but not removed, so existing code keeps working. Amazon Linux 2023 users can remain on `runtime` since AL2023 is not part of the managed image catalog. Developers navigating Vercel platform migrations find breaking-change coverage like this on daily.dev.