Managed Agents - cURL / Raw HTTP
Use these examples when the user needs raw HTTP requests or is working without an SDK.
Setup
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-api-key"
# Common headers
HEADERS=(
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
-H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"
-H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01"
-H "anthropic-beta: managed-agents-2026-04-01"
)Create an Environment
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/environments \
"${HEADERS[@]}" \
-d '{
"name": "my-dev-env",
"config": {
"type": "cloud",
"networking": { "type": "unrestricted" }
}
}'With restricted networking
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/environments \
"${HEADERS[@]}" \
-d '{
"name": "restricted-env",
"config": {
"type": "cloud",
"networking": {
"type": "limited",
"allow_package_managers": true,
"allow_mcp_servers": true,
"allowed_hosts": ["api.example.com"]
}
}
}'Create an Agent (required first step)
Warning: There is no inline agent config. Under
managed-agents-2026-04-01,model/system/toolsare top-level fields onPOST /v1/agents, not on the session. Always create the agent first - the session only takes"agent": {"type": "agent", "id": "..."}.
Minimal
# 1. Create the agent
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/agents \
"${HEADERS[@]}" \
-d '{
"name": "Coding Assistant",
"model": "claude-opus-5-5",
"tools": [{ "type": "agent_toolset_20260401" }]
}'
# -> { "id": "agent_abc123", ... }
# 2. Start a session
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/sessions \
"${HEADERS[@]}" \
-d '{
"agent": { "type": "agent", "id": "agent_abc123", "version": 1 },
"environment_id": "env_abc123"
}'
# -> { "id": "sesn_abc123", ... }
# Trace: https://platform.claude.com/workspaces/default/sessions/sesn_abc123 (swap 'default' for your workspace ID if the API key is not in the Default workspace)With system prompt, custom tools, and GitHub repo
# 1. Create the agent
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/agents \
"${HEADERS[@]}" \
-d '{
"name": "Code Reviewer",
"model": "claude-opus-5-5",
"system": "You are a senior code reviewer. Be thorough and constructive.",
"tools": [
{ "type": "agent_toolset_20260401" },
{
"type": "custom",
"name": "run_linter",
"description": "Run the project linter on a file",
"input_schema": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"file_path": { "type": "string", "description": "Path to lint" }
},
"required": ["file_path"]
}
}
]
}'
# 2. Start a session with the repo mounted
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/sessions \
"${HEADERS[@]}" \
-d '{
"agent": { "type": "agent", "id": "agent_abc123", "version": 1 },
"environment_id": "env_abc123",
"title": "Code review session",
"resources": [
{
"type": "github_repository",
"url": "https://github.com/owner/repo",
"mount_path": "/workspace/repo",
"authorization_token": "ghp_...",
"branch": "feature-branch"
}
]
}'With a session budget
# Create a session with a hard $25.00 spend cap (list-priced; USD only; create-only).
# amount is in minor units (cents) as an integer string: "2500" = $25.00
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/sessions \
"${HEADERS[@]}" \
-d '{
"agent": { "type": "agent", "id": "agent_abc123" },
"environment_id": "env_abc123",
"budget": {
"type": "limit",
"max_list_cost": { "amount": "2500", "currency": "USD" }
}
}'
# Change the cap - higher or lower, but it must exceed the consumed list cost.
# An accepted update resumes work paused at budget_reached
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/sessions/$SESSION_ID \
"${HEADERS[@]}" \
-d '{ "budget": { "type": "limit", "max_list_cost": { "amount": "4000", "currency": "USD" } } }'
# Remove the cap entirely - one-way; a removed budget can never be re-added
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/sessions/$SESSION_ID \
"${HEADERS[@]}" \
-d '{ "budget": null }'See shared/managed-agents-core.md § Session budgets for list-cost composition, the settle-event allowlist at the cap, and multiagent semantics.
Send a User Message
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/sessions/$SESSION_ID/events \
"${HEADERS[@]}" \
-d '{
"events": [
{
"type": "user.message",
"content": [{ "type": "text", "text": "Review the auth module for security issues" }]
}
]
}'Stream Events (SSE)
curl -N https://api.anthropic.com/v1/sessions/$SESSION_ID/events/stream \
"${HEADERS[@]}"Response format:
event: session.status_running
data: {"type":"session.status_running","id":"sevt_...","processed_at":"..."}
event: agent.message
data: {"type":"agent.message","id":"sevt_...","content":[{"type":"text","text":"I'll review..."}],"processed_at":"..."}
event: session.status_idle
data: {"type":"session.status_idle","id":"sevt_...","processed_at":"..."}Poll Events
# Get all events
curl https://api.anthropic.com/v1/sessions/$SESSION_ID/events \
"${HEADERS[@]}"
# Paginated - get next page of events
curl "https://api.anthropic.com/v1/sessions/$SESSION_ID/events?page=page_abc123" \
"${HEADERS[@]}"Provide Custom Tool Result
When the agent calls a custom tool, send the result back:
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/sessions/$SESSION_ID/events \
"${HEADERS[@]}" \
-d '{
"events": [
{
"type": "user.custom_tool_result",
"custom_tool_use_id": "sevt_abc123",
"content": [{ "type": "text", "text": "No linting errors found." }]
}
]
}'Interrupt a Running Session
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/sessions/$SESSION_ID/events \
"${HEADERS[@]}" \
-d '{
"events": [
{
"type": "user.interrupt"
}
]
}'Get Session Details
curl https://api.anthropic.com/v1/sessions/$SESSION_ID \
"${HEADERS[@]}"List Sessions
curl https://api.anthropic.com/v1/sessions \
"${HEADERS[@]}"Delete a Session
curl -X DELETE https://api.anthropic.com/v1/sessions/$SESSION_ID \
"${HEADERS[@]}"Upload a File
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/files \
-H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
-H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
-F "file=@path/to/file.txt" \
-F "purpose=agent"List and Download Session Files
List files the agent wrote to /mnt/session/outputs/ during a session, then download them.
# List files associated with a session
curl "https://api.anthropic.com/v1/files?scope_id=$SESSION_ID" \
-H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
-H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
-H "anthropic-beta: managed-agents-2026-04-01"
# Download a specific file
curl "https://api.anthropic.com/v1/files/$FILE_ID/content" \
-H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
-H "anthropic-version: 2023-06-01" \
-o downloaded_file.txtList Agents
curl https://api.anthropic.com/v1/agents \
"${HEADERS[@]}"MCP Server Integration
# 1. Agent declares MCP server (no auth here - auth goes in a vault)
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/agents \
"${HEADERS[@]}" \
-d '{
"name": "MCP Agent",
"model": "claude-opus-5-5",
"mcp_servers": [
{ "type": "url", "name": "my-tools", "url": "https://my-mcp-server.example.com/sse" }
],
"tools": [
{ "type": "agent_toolset_20260401" },
{ "type": "mcp_toolset", "mcp_server_name": "my-tools" }
]
}'
# 2. Session attaches vault containing credentials for that MCP server URL
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/sessions \
"${HEADERS[@]}" \
-d '{
"agent": "agent_abc123",
"environment_id": "env_abc123",
"vault_ids": ["vlt_abc123"]
}'See shared/managed-agents-tools.md §Vaults for creating vaults and adding credentials.
Tool Configuration
curl -X POST https://api.anthropic.com/v1/agents \
"${HEADERS[@]}" \
-d '{
"name": "Restricted Agent",
"model": "claude-opus-5-5",
"tools": [
{
"type": "agent_toolset_20260401",
"default_config": { "enabled": true },
"configs": [
{ "name": "bash", "enabled": false }
]
}
]
}'