Lot

Projects

A project links Lot to a GitHub repository. It holds your configuration, environment variables, and the setup snapshot that sessions boot from.

Creating a project

  1. Click New Project in the sidebar
  2. Select a repository from your connected GitHub account
  3. Choose the branch to work from (usually main)
  4. Pick a sandbox size
  5. Add environment variables if your project needs them for setup (e.g., database URLs, API keys)
  6. Optionally enable browser verification for web apps
  7. Click Create

Sandbox size

Choose the right sandbox size for your project:

  • Small (2 vCPU, 4 GB) — works for most backend services, APIs, CLIs, and lightweight frontend apps.
  • Large (4 vCPU, 8 GB) — recommended for Next.js applications, monorepos, or projects that need browser verification. Next.js dev servers and builds are memory-hungry; the small sandbox can run out of memory during compilation.

The setup agent

When you create a project, Lot launches a setup session. An AI agent analyzes your repository and:

  1. Installs the correct runtime (Node.js version, Python, etc.)
  2. Installs dependencies (npm install, pip install, etc.)
  3. Configures services if needed (databases, Redis, etc.)
  4. Determines the setup command and dev command
  5. Starts the dev server to verify everything works
  6. Takes a snapshot

You can watch the setup agent work in real time and even chat with it if it gets stuck or needs guidance.

Setup command (runs once)

The setup command runs only during the initial setup. It includes things like dependency installation, database migrations, and data seeding. This is baked into the snapshot, so new sessions don't re-run it.

Dev command (runs every session)

The dev command runs at the start of every coding session. It's typically just the dev server start command (e.g., npm run dev). Since sessions boot from a snapshot with everything already installed, this command starts fast.

Updating the environment

If your project dependencies change significantly (e.g., a major framework upgrade) or you need to reconfigure the dev environment, you can trigger an environment update from project settings. This runs the setup agent again on top of the existing snapshot and creates a new one.

Retry setup

If the initial setup fails (e.g., a missing environment variable or a flaky install), click Retry Setup on the project. This creates a fresh setup session with the same configuration. Fix the underlying issue (like adding the missing env var) before retrying.

Deleting a project

Deleting a project stops all active sessions, deletes the snapshot, and removes all associated data (environment variables, sessions, events). This cannot be undone.