Manage Vast.ai Instances

Help the user manage their GPU instances on Vast.ai.

User Request

$ARGUMENTS

Available Actions

Show Instances

bash

vastai show instances                   # Table view
vastai show instances --raw             # JSON
vastai show instance <ID> --raw         # Single instance JSON

Start / Stop / Reboot / Destroy

bash

vastai start instance <ID>
vastai stop instance <ID>
vastai reboot instance <ID>             # Restart, keeps GPU priority
vastai recycle instance <ID>            # Destroy + recreate fresh
vastai destroy instance <ID>            # PERMANENT — confirm first

Batch: start instances, stop instances, destroy instances take multiple IDs.

Always confirm destroy with the user — it is irreversible.

Labels & Updates

bash

vastai label instance <ID> '<LABEL>'
vastai update instance <ID> --label '<NEW>'
vastai bid instance <ID> --price <$/hr>  # Change bid price
vastai prepay instance <ID> <AMOUNT>     # Prepay credits

SSH Connection

bash

vastai ssh-url <ID>
# Returns: ssh://root@<HOST>:<PORT>
# Connect with: ssh -p <PORT> root@<HOST>

SCP File Transfer

bash

vastai scp-url <ID>
# Upload:   scp -P <PORT> file.py root@<HOST>:/root/
# Download: scp -P <PORT> root@<HOST>:/root/results.tar.gz ./

Copy (rsync-based)

bash

vastai copy local:./data C.<ID>:/workspace/data          # Upload
vastai copy C.<ID>:/workspace/results local:./results    # Download
vastai copy C.<ID1>:/data C.<ID2>:/data                  # Instance-to-instance
vastai cancel copy C.<ID>:/path                          # Cancel transfer

Execute (API-based, limited)

bash

vastai execute <ID> 'ls -l /workspace'     # ls, rm, du only

Logs

bash

vastai logs <ID>                        # Last 1000 lines
vastai logs <ID> --tail 50              # Last N lines
vastai logs <ID> --filter 'ERROR'       # Filter lines
vastai logs <ID> --daemon-logs          # System logs

Snapshots

bash

vastai snapshot instance <ID> --repo <DOCKERHUB_REPO> [--tag <TAG>]

Scheduled Operations

bash

# Schedule reboots
vastai reboot instance <ID> --schedule DAILY --hour 3

# Schedule bid changes
vastai bid instance <ID> --price 0.5 --schedule WEEKLY --day 1

# View/delete scheduled jobs
vastai show scheduled-jobs
vastai delete scheduled-job <ID>

Instance Statuses

Status	Meaning
`created`	Just created, initializing
`scheduling`	Waiting for resources
`running`	Active and accessible
`exited`	Container exited (check logs)
`stopped`	Paused by user
`offline`	Machine went offline

Cost Awareness

When showing instances, note:

•$/hr rate for each instance
•Uptime duration
•Remind users to destroy idle instances