# Introduction

Source: https://phonebox.dev/docs

> Phonebox gives AI agents cloud Android phones they can see and control.



Phonebox gives your agent an Android phone in the cloud: its screen, its installed apps, touch input and the keyboard. Your agent reads the screen as a short numbered list of elements, taps them by their label, types, swipes, installs and opens apps, and moves files.

Phonebox is not a phone number or an SMS inbox, and it doesn't make or receive calls. Your agent controls the device itself.

## Who it's for [#who-its-for]

* Coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex and Cursor use it to test the Android builds they produce: `phonebox apps "$PHONEBOX_PHONE" install app-debug.apk` installs the APK an agent just built, and the agent then walks the screens it changed. [Test your Android build with a coding agent](/docs/guides/test-android-builds) shows how.
* Agents use it to operate apps that have no API, where the screen is the only way in.
* Teams use it to build agent products on phones for their own customers, with one phone for each customer.

## How it works [#how-it-works]

You create a phone with one call. Your agent then works in a loop: it reads the screen, acts on it, and reads it again to see what changed. When your agent is done, it parks the phone, and a phone that no request addresses parks itself after about 5 minutes. A parked phone keeps its apps, files and signed-in accounts, and it costs nothing until it starts again.

## How the pieces fit [#how-the-pieces-fit]

Every interface calls the same service, so keys, limits and billing work the same way whichever you use.

| Interface                              | Use it for                                                                                       |
| -------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| [REST API](/docs/interfaces/rest)      | Any language. The API lives at `https://phonebox.dev/v1` and takes an API key as a bearer token. |
| [CLI](/docs/interfaces/cli)            | Agents that work in a terminal, and quick checks by hand.                                        |
| [TypeScript SDK](/docs/interfaces/sdk) | Node.js code. It ships in the same npm package as the CLI.                                       |
| [MCP](/docs/interfaces/mcp)            | MCP clients, through the hosted server at `https://phonebox.dev/mcp`.                            |
| [Agent skill](/docs/interfaces/skill)  | Teaching a coding agent the whole workflow from one file.                                        |

Agents can read these docs as Markdown too: every page has a Markdown version, [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) lists them all, and the API schema is at [/openapi.json](/openapi.json).

## Pricing [#pricing]

A phone costs $0.06 a minute while it runs, billed per second with a 60-second minimum per session, and a parked phone costs nothing. Every new account gets $2 starter credit without a card. Paid top-ups start at $10.

## Start here [#start-here]

* The [Quickstart](/docs/getting-started/quickstart) takes you from a new key to your first phone in the terminal.
* [Set up with your coding agent](/docs/getting-started/coding-agent) shows the one prompt that lets your agent do the setup for you.