/containers

Manage OpenAI code interpreter containers (sessions) for executing code in isolated environments.

Feature	Supported
Cost Tracking	✅
Logging	✅ (Full request/response logging)
Load Balancing	✅
Proxy Server Support	✅ Full proxy integration with virtual keys
Spend Management	✅ Budget tracking and rate limiting
Supported Providers	openai

Supported Providers:

• OpenAI

Quick Start

Containers provide isolated execution environments for code interpreter sessions. You can create, list, retrieve, and delete containers.

SDK, PROXY, and OpenAI Client

SDK

Create a Container

import litellm
import os 

# setup env
os.environ["OPENAI_API_KEY"] = "sk-.."

container = litellm.create_container(
    name="My Code Interpreter Container",
    custom_llm_provider="openai",
    expires_after={
        "anchor": "last_active_at",
        "minutes": 20
    }
)

print(f"Container ID: {container.id}")
print(f"Container Name: {container.name}")

### ASYNC USAGE ### 
# container = await litellm.acreate_container(
#     name="My Code Interpreter Container",
#     custom_llm_provider="openai",
#     expires_after={
#         "anchor": "last_active_at",
#         "minutes": 20
#     }
# )

List Containers

from litellm import list_containers, alist_containers
import os 

os.environ["OPENAI_API_KEY"] = "sk-.."

containers = list_containers(
    custom_llm_provider="openai",
    limit=20,
    order="desc"
)

print(f"Found {len(containers.data)} containers")
for container in containers.data:
    print(f"  - {container.id}: {container.name}")

### ASYNC USAGE ### 
# containers = await alist_containers(
#     custom_llm_provider="openai",
#     limit=20,
#     order="desc"
# )

Retrieve a Container

from litellm import retrieve_container, aretrieve_container
import os 

os.environ["OPENAI_API_KEY"] = "sk-.."

container = retrieve_container(
    container_id="cntr_123...",
    custom_llm_provider="openai"
)

print(f"Container: {container.name}")
print(f"Status: {container.status}")
print(f"Created: {container.created_at}")

### ASYNC USAGE ### 
# container = await aretrieve_container(
#     container_id="cntr_123...",
#     custom_llm_provider="openai"
# )

Delete a Container

from litellm import delete_container, adelete_container
import os 

os.environ["OPENAI_API_KEY"] = "sk-.."

result = delete_container(
    container_id="cntr_123...",
    custom_llm_provider="openai"
)

print(f"Deleted: {result.deleted}")
print(f"Container ID: {result.id}")

### ASYNC USAGE ### 
# result = await adelete_container(
#     container_id="cntr_123...",
#     custom_llm_provider="openai"
# )

LiteLLM PROXY Server

$ export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

$ litellm

# RUNNING on http://0.0.0.0:4000

Custom Provider Specification

You can specify the custom LLM provider in multiple ways (priority order):

1. Header: -H "custom-llm-provider: openai"
2. Query param: ?custom_llm_provider=openai
3. Request body: {"custom_llm_provider": "openai", ...}
4. Defaults to "openai" if not specified

Create a Container

# Default provider (openai)
curl -X POST "http://localhost:4000/v1/containers" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-1234" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{
        "name": "My Container",
        "expires_after": {
            "anchor": "last_active_at",
            "minutes": 20
        }
    }'

# Via header
curl -X POST "http://localhost:4000/v1/containers" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-1234" \
    -H "custom-llm-provider: openai" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{
        "name": "My Container"
    }'

# Via query parameter
curl -X POST "http://localhost:4000/v1/containers?custom_llm_provider=openai" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-1234" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{
        "name": "My Container"
    }'

List Containers

curl "http://localhost:4000/v1/containers?limit=20&order=desc" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-1234"

Retrieve a Container

curl "http://localhost:4000/v1/containers/cntr_123..." \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-1234"

Delete a Container

curl -X DELETE "http://localhost:4000/v1/containers/cntr_123..." \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-1234"

OpenAI Python Client

Setup

from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key="sk-1234",  # Your LiteLLM proxy key
    base_url="http://localhost:4000"  # LiteLLM proxy URL
)

Create a Container

container = client.containers.create(
    name="test-container",
    expires_after={
        "anchor": "last_active_at",
        "minutes": 20
    },
    extra_body={"custom_llm_provider": "openai"}
)

print(f"Container ID: {container.id}")
print(f"Container Name: {container.name}")
print(f"Created at: {container.created_at}")

List Containers

containers = client.containers.list(
    limit=20,
    extra_body={"custom_llm_provider": "openai"}
)

print(f"Found {len(containers.data)} containers")
for container in containers.data:
    print(f"  - {container.id}: {container.name}")

Retrieve a Container

container = client.containers.retrieve(
    container_id="cntr_6901d28b3c8881908b702815828a5bde0380b3408aeae8c7",
    extra_body={"custom_llm_provider": "openai"}
)

print(f"Container: {container.name}")
print(f"Status: {container.status}")
print(f"Last active: {container.last_active_at}")

Delete a Container

result = client.containers.delete(
    container_id="cntr_6901d28b3c8881908b702815828a5bde0380b3408aeae8c7",
    extra_body={"custom_llm_provider": "openai"}
)

print(f"Deleted: {result.deleted}")
print(f"Container ID: {result.id}")

Container Parameters

Create Container Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	Yes	Name of the container
expires_after	object	No	Container expiration settings
expires_after.anchor	string	No	Anchor point for expiration (e.g., "last_active_at")
expires_after.minutes	integer	No	Minutes until expiration from anchor
file_ids	array	No	List of file IDs to include in the container
custom_llm_provider	string	No	LLM provider to use (default: "openai")

List Container Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
after	string	No	Cursor for pagination
limit	integer	No	Number of items to return (1-100, default: 20)
order	string	No	Sort order: "asc" or "desc" (default: "desc")
custom_llm_provider	string	No	LLM provider to use (default: "openai")

Retrieve/Delete Container Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
container_id	string	Yes	ID of the container to retrieve/delete
custom_llm_provider	string	No	LLM provider to use (default: "openai")

Response Objects

ContainerObject

{
  "id": "cntr_123...",
  "object": "container",
  "created_at": 1234567890,
  "name": "My Container",
  "status": "active",
  "last_active_at": 1234567890,
  "expires_at": 1234569090,
  "file_ids": []
}

ContainerListResponse

{
  "object": "list",
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "cntr_123...",
      "object": "container",
      "created_at": 1234567890,
      "name": "My Container",
      "status": "active"
    }
  ],
  "first_id": "cntr_123...",
  "last_id": "cntr_456...",
  "has_more": false
}

DeleteContainerResult

{
  "id": "cntr_123...",
  "object": "container.deleted",
  "deleted": true
}