AI agents like Claude Code and Instinct are shifting from local devices to remote virtual machines, enabling mobile access. Claude Code runs in its own Firecracker micro VM with a custom Rust-based init (process_api) as PID 1, booted via vsock on port 2024. The VM splits disks: user-writable persistent storage (vda) and read-only agent components (vdc/vdd) including a 324 MB Bun harness.

Inference occurs over HTTPS/2 Server-Sent Events to api.anthropic.com via a 443-only MITM egress gateway, with host-minted OAuth tokens. Spin-up takes ~430 ms to init and ~6.4 s to harness load, triggered by inbound vsock messages. Instinct, a newer startup, does not run its own VM fleet but rents ephemeral E2B sandboxes—Ubuntu 22.04.5 with 2 vCPU, 1.9 GB RAM, 29 GB disk, lasting up to 30 minutes.

Both use Firecracker signatures: no PCI bus, minimal devices, and kvm-clock. Instinct uses standard systemd as PID 1, contrasting Claude Code’s custom Rust init. The model separates user persistence from agent immutability, enabling continuous sessions despite VM reclamation.