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You can connect Agent Canvas to OpenHands Cloud as a backend. Conversations and automations then run in OpenHands Cloud’s on-demand sandboxes instead of on your local machine.

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When to Use It

A Cloud backend is a good fit when you want to:
  • Run agents without tying up local resources
  • Use OpenHands Cloud’s managed sandboxes and integrations
  • Keep your local machine for development while offloading agent work

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Prerequisites

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Add a Cloud Backend

  1. Open Agent Canvas and click the backend switcher in the top bar.
  2. Choose Manage Backends → Add Backend.
  3. Click Login with OpenHands Cloud and sign in with your account.
Once connected, select it as the active backend. Conversations will now run in OpenHands Cloud.

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OpenHands Enterprise

If your organization runs OpenHands Enterprise, click Advanced in the Add Backend flow and enter your enterprise host URL before signing in.

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What’s Different with a Cloud Backend

  • Sandboxed execution — each conversation runs in an isolated cloud sandbox rather than on your host filesystem.
  • Cloud integrations — GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Slack, and other integrations configured in OpenHands Cloud are available.
  • Settings are per-backend — LLM configuration, secrets, and MCP servers saved against the Cloud backend are independent from your local backend settings.
  • Cloud-managed customization — Customize > Skills becomes Skills and Plugins and opens the Cloud skills settings in a new tab. The local Plugins page is hidden; MCP Servers are still fully managed through the Canvas UI but installed on Cloud.
  • Cloud settings links — the Cloud link becomes All Cloud Settings, and Integrations opens the Cloud integrations settings in a new tab.