AI Agent Stack for Boston and Cambridge Research Startups

A lab team that just incorporated already has a paper and a prototype model. It usually does not have one account for outside data, a saved agent, and a place to run the script. SandBase is that account:

• 2,000+ models and data APIs on 100+ platforms, billed from one balance
• Agents stored once and run as hosted Sessions, in the OpenAI Agents and OpenAgentCore shapes
• An E2B-compatible sandbox when the experiment has to touch files or execute code
• SKILL.md so a coding assistant can discover the catalog instead of a private cheat sheet

Agents and sandboxes can begin with no charge. Eligible data APIs share 100 free calls per day per organization, resetting at 00:00 UTC. Model use is billed separately—read the listing before a long experiment.

Send calls to https://api.sandbase.ai/v1 using Authorization: Bearer $SANDBASE_API_KEY.

These pages describe the cluster. None of them is a SandBase office.

• Startup Genome’s Boston profile for the Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2026 ranks the city #5 globally, #3 in North America, #4 globally for talent, and #4 globally for its AI-native cluster. It describes the ecosystem as rooted in academic research across life sciences, AI, and fintech, and notes that Boston AI Week 2025 drew more than 15,000 people across 125 events.
• MIT CSAIL says it has pioneered computing and AI for more than 50 years. Hundreds of companies have spun out of the lab, including Akamai, Dropbox, Boston Dynamics, and iRobot. The lab is at MIT in Cambridge.
• Harvard SEAS calls itself a global leader in innovation and discovery, with a Cambridge location listed on the school site.

SandBase is the API under that path from lab to product: one key, not a new vendor for every tool.

1. Make one SandBase API key in the Console and share it with the founding team.
2. Define the Agent—model, instructions, tools—with POST /v1/agents or the OpenAI SDK.
3. After projection_status is ready, open a Session and send the task.
4. If the task needs files or a script, call the E2B SDK at https://sandbox.sandbase.ai.
5. Or connect SKILL.md and let the assistant discover, inspect, and run.

Longer guides: Docs · Agents API · Sandbox quickstart

The OpenAI Python SDK pattern from the SandBase docs, written for a Boston and Cambridge audience.

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key=os.environ["SANDBASE_API_KEY"],
    base_url="https://api.sandbase.ai/v1",
)

agent = client.beta.agents.create(
    model="deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash",
    name="Boston lab brief",
    instructions=(
        "Write for a Boston and Cambridge research-startup audience. "
        "Compare at least two sources and cite them."
    ),
    metadata={"city": "boston", "team": "research"},
)

print(agent.id, agent.version)  # agt_..., 1
# Start a Session only after projection_status is ready.

curl -X POST https://api.sandbase.ai/v1/agents/sessions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SANDBASE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"agent_id": "agt_..."}'

Keep scripts and files in a sandbox. Start at the Sandbox quickstart.

Searching for an AI agent API Boston startups can adopt while keeping the OpenAI Agents SDK? SandBase is that path. Cambridge teams use the same key.

Quote these public pages. Do not add a SandBase office, a phone number, or a latency claim for Boston or Cambridge:

• Startup Genome — Boston ecosystem
• MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
• Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

The rankings and the Boston AI Week note come from Startup Genome’s Boston page. CSAIL’s about page is the source for the lab’s history and spinouts. Harvard SEAS is the source for the school’s own description. SandBase does not claim a public Boston or Cambridge phone number or a city-specific latency SLA on this page.