Cloud Workstations API

Name: Cloud Workstations API API
Brand: Cloud Workstations API
Availability: InStock

✓ Official Vendor SpecCloud InfrastructureComputeoauth220 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Provision Cloud Workstations clusters, configurations, and individual developer environments. Start, stop, and mint connection tokens for managed dev VMs running container-based images.

Quickstart

Get started with Cloud Workstations API in minutes using your preferred integration method.

# Add to your MCP client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf)
{
  "jentic": {
    "url": "https://api.jentic.com/mcp",
    "auth": "oauth"
  }
}

# Then ask your agent:
"create and start a cloud workstation"

# → Jentic returns the GET /events tool with parameter schema, agent executes.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with Cloud Workstations API API.

Create and manage workstation clusters as the regional fleet boundary

Define reusable workstation configurations including container image, machine type, and idle timeout

Provision, start, and stop individual workstations on behalf of developers

Generate short-lived access tokens for connecting to a running workstation

GET STARTED

Start building with Cloud Workstations API API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

Use for: Create a workstation cluster in europe-west1, Define a workstation configuration with a custom container image, Start a workstation for a specific developer, Stop an idle workstation to save cost

Not supported: Does not handle source-control hosting, container image building, IDE installation, or production workload hosting — use for provisioning and managing managed developer workstations on Google Cloud only.

The Google Cloud Workstations API provisions and manages fully managed developer environments in Google Cloud. Administrators define workstation clusters and configurations, while individual developers create, start, stop, and connect to workstations that run preconfigured container images with their tools and source. The API exposes the cluster, config, and workstation lifecycle as well as start, stop, and connection-token endpoints, removing the need to manage VMs or local laptops as the source of truth for developer environments.

Use Cases

Patterns agents use Cloud Workstations API API for, with concrete tasks.

★ Standardised developer environments at scale

Platform engineering teams replace per-laptop dev setups with Cloud Workstations so every engineer joins a project with the same toolchain, source access, and IAM context. Configurations capture the container image, machine type, and persistent home directory; individual workstations inherit those settings. Onboarding time drops from days to minutes and security scope is bounded by IAM rather than by what is on a laptop.

Create a workstationConfig with container image gcr.io/myorg/dev-image:latest, then provision a workstation under that config and start it via POST /v1/{+name}:start.

Cost control through stop/start automation

Idle workstations are an unnecessary cloud cost. Schedulers call POST /v1/{+name}:stop on configurable inactivity windows and rely on persistent disks to preserve the developer's working state. The same automation can start workstations when a developer signs in for the day, balancing responsiveness against spend.

List workstations under a workstationConfig, identify those whose state is RUNNING and have been idle past a threshold, and call POST /v1/{+name}:stop on each.

Per-customer ephemeral environments

Consultancies and implementation teams spin up a workstation per client engagement so that source code and credentials never co-mingle. The cluster and config encode the security boundary; the workstation lifecycle endpoints handle provisioning when work begins and tear-down when it ends. This pattern keeps audit trails clean and aligns with customer security reviews.

Create a workstationCluster, then a workstationConfig and a workstation tied to a specific customer, and finally generate an access token via POST /v1/{+workstation}:generateAccessToken.

Agent-driven environment management through Jentic

An IT or platform agent connected through Jentic can provision new dev environments on request and tear them down when an engineer leaves. Jentic search for create a cloud workstation returns the workstations create operation; the agent fills in the parent config and name and executes. OAuth credentials are isolated inside the Jentic vault.

Through Jentic, create a workstation under a named workstationConfig, start it, and return the access token from POST /v1/{+workstation}:generateAccessToken to the calling system.

Key Endpoints

20 endpoints — the google cloud workstations api provisions and manages fully managed developer environments in google cloud.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

GET

/v1/{+parent}/workstationClusters

List workstation clusters

GET

/v1/{+parent}/workstationConfigs

List workstation configurations

POST

/v1/{+name}:start

Start a workstation

POST

/v1/{+name}:stop

Stop a workstation

GET

/v1/{+name}

Get a workstation, config, or cluster

GET

/v1/{+name}/operations

Track long-running operations

GET

/v1/{+parent}/workstationClusters

List workstation clusters

GET

/v1/{+parent}/workstationConfigs

List workstation configurations

POST

/v1/{+name}:start

Start a workstation

POST

/v1/{+name}:stop

Stop a workstation

GET

/v1/{+name}

Get a workstation, config, or cluster

Why though Jentic?

Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.

Credential isolation

OAuth 2.0 client credentials are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault. Agents execute with scoped access tokens; refresh tokens and client secrets never leave the vault.

Intent-based discovery

Agents call Jentic search with intents like create a cloud workstation or stop a workstation and Jentic returns the matching operation with its full input schema.

Time to first call

Direct integration: 1-2 days for OAuth, IAM, and operation polling. Through Jentic: under an hour to provision and start a workstation.

Related APIs

Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.

Alternative

Compute Engine API

Raw VM provisioning when you need full control rather than a managed dev environment

Use Compute Engine when you need a custom VM lifecycle. Use Cloud Workstations when developer ergonomics and managed lifecycle matter more.

Complementary

GKE API

Kubernetes platform for running production workloads alongside dev environments

Pair GKE-hosted services with Cloud Workstations dev environments connecting into the same VPC.

Complementary

Cloud Build API

Build the container images that workstation configs reference

Use Cloud Build to produce vetted dev images, then reference those images from a workstationConfig.

FAQs

Specific to using Cloud Workstations API API through Jentic.

What authentication does the Cloud Workstations API use?

OAuth 2.0 (Oauth2 and Oauth2c schemes) scoped to https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform. Through Jentic the OAuth credentials are stored encrypted and short-lived access tokens are minted at execution time.

Can I use my own container image?

Yes. The workstationConfig.container.image field accepts any Artifact Registry or public OCI image. The image is launched by the workstation runtime and the container's entrypoint is the developer's environment. Use this to ship a vetted base image with your team's tools, source paths, and IDE pre-installed.

What are the rate limits for the Cloud Workstations API?

Per-project quotas on workstation create, start, and stop calls are configured in the Cloud Console under APIs and Services. The practical limit is concurrent workstations per region, which scales with Compute Engine machine quotas. Heavy provisioning workloads should request a quota increase in advance.

How do I start a workstation through Jentic?

Search Jentic for start a cloud workstation, load the schema for POST /v1/{+name}:start, and execute it with the workstation name. The response is a long-running operation; poll /v1/{+name}/operations until done is true and then generate an access token to connect.

How are connection tokens issued?

Call POST /v1/{+workstation}:generateAccessToken on a running workstation to receive a short-lived token used by the local IDE or browser to connect. Tokens are scoped to the workstation and rotate automatically; they should not be cached beyond their expireTime.