Deploy and manage AI agents in Nora
Learn how to deploy, configure, start, stop, and delete AI agents from the Nora dashboard, including sandbox types and lifecycle states.Nora gives you a single place to deploy and operate AI agent runtimes. From the Deploy page you configure a name, resource allocation, and sandbox type, then Nora queues the deployment, provisions the container, and brings the agent online. Once an agent is running, you can chat with it, inspect its logs, and open an interactive terminal — all from the same dashboard.
Before you start
Make sure you have at least one LLM provider key saved in Settings before deploying. Agents need a provider key to run chat workflows. See Add and sync LLM provider keys to set one up.Deploy an agent
Open the Deploy page
Navigate to Deploy in the sidebar. This is the starting point for every new agent.
Enter a name
Type a name for your agent. Names are limited to 100 characters. If you leave the field blank,
Nora generates a default name such as
OpenClaw-Agent-472.Choose a sandbox type
Select the sandbox that will run your agent. See the sandbox comparison table below for details on each option.
Set resource limits
Specify the vCPU count, RAM (MB), and disk size (GB) for the agent container. In self-hosted mode
these values are clamped to the operator-configured limits. In PaaS mode they are fixed to your
subscription plan.
What happens during deployment
After you click Confirm & Deploy Agent, the deployment moves through two stages:- Queued — The agent record is created and a deployment job is queued. The status is set to
queuedimmediately so you can track progress. - Running — Nora provisions the container and starts the agent runtime. The status transitions to
runningonce the container is live.
If the container cannot start, the status transitions to
error or warning. From either of
those states you can redeploy the agent (see below).Lifecycle actions
Once an agent exists you can manage it from its detail page. The following actions are available:| Action | When available | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Start | Agent has a container but is stopped | Starts the existing container and sets status to running |
| Stop | Agent is running | Stops the container and sets status to stopped |
| Restart | Agent has a container | Restarts the container in place and keeps status running |
| Redeploy | Agent is in warning, error, or stopped state | Clears the old container assignment and queues a fresh deployment with the same specs |
| Delete | Any state | Destroys the container (if any) and permanently removes the agent record |
Access chat, logs, and terminal
- Chat — Send messages to the agent runtime using the OpenClaw chat interface with streaming responses.
- Logs — View live and historical log output from the agent container.
- Terminal — Open an interactive terminal session connected to the running agent.
running. Logs are accessible regardless of status.
Sandbox types
Nora supports the GA standard sandbox and the experimental NemoClaw sandbox profile. Choose the one that fits your security and model requirements.| Feature | Standard sandbox | NemoClaw sandbox |
|---|---|---|
| Runtime | OpenClaw + Docker | NemoClaw + OpenClaw |
| Underlying runtime | Docker container | Docker-hosted NemoClaw container |
| Policy controls | None | OpenShell allow/deny policies |
| Supported models | Any configured LLM provider | NVIDIA Nemotron models only |
| Approval workflow | No | Yes — operator reviews flagged actions |
| Operator requirement | None | nemoclaw in ENABLED_SANDBOX_PROFILES |
| Use case | General-purpose agents | Security-sensitive or compliance workflows |