Imports - InstaPods

The import endpoint turns something that already exists elsewhere into a running pod. Two of the four import routes go through it:

Route	Endpoint
Live URL (static snapshot) and pasted source	`POST /api/imports`, documented here
GitHub repository	`POST /api/pods/from-repo`
Project ZIP	`POST /api/pods/from-zip`

See Import an existing app for which route fits what, and Import AI artifacts for the Claude and ChatGPT paths. Rate limited to 20 requests per hour per IP, because a single call can trigger a crawl of someone else’s site.

Create an Import

POST /api/imports

Send exactly one of url or paste. Everything else is optional.

Field	Type	Description
`url`	string	The page or artifact to import
`paste`	object	Source code sent inline. See Pasting source
`mode`	string	`site` forces a static snapshot of `url` even when the host is one we’d normally answer with a guide. Omit to detect
`max_pages`	integer	Cap the crawl for a site snapshot
`single_page`	boolean	Snapshot only the page you gave, following no links
`name`	string	Pod name. Derived from the artifact’s title if omitted
`region`	string	Region slug. Geo-resolved from your IP if omitted
`plan_slug`	string	Plan. Default `launch`
`ssh_key`	string	Public SSH key to inject
`dry_run`	boolean	Parse and return the artifact without creating a pod

Setting any of mode: "site", max_pages or single_page makes it a site snapshot, which is given a longer fetch budget than other imports (75 seconds rather than 25).

curl -X POST https://app.instapods.com/api/imports \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com", "mode": "site", "max_pages": 25}'

Response: 202 Accepted

{
  "artifact": {
    "source": "site",
    "source_url": "https://example.com",
    "title": "Example",
    "slug": "example",
    "type": "html",
    "preset": "static",
    "files": [{ "path": "index.html", "size": 4096 }],
    "transfer": { "headline": "...", "transfers": [], "does_not_transfer": [], "notes": [] }
  },
  "pod": { "name": "example", "status": "creating" },
  "message": "Pod created. Files will be uploaded once the pod is running."
}

The pod is created immediately and the files are pushed in the background once it reaches running, which is why this is a 202 and not a 201. Poll GET /api/pods/{name} the same way you would after any other create. If you didn’t pass a name and the derived one is taken, we suffix it rather than failing. An explicit name is used as-is, so it can collide and return 409.

Errors

Code	Reason
`400`	Neither or both of `url`/`paste`, an empty paste, a bad name or unknown preset, or a fetch that failed
`402`	No payment method, or the subscription is suspended
`409`	A pod with the name you gave already exists
`422`	The URL belongs to a platform we can’t fetch from. The response carries the guide
`503`	No capacity in the chosen region

The 422 is the interesting one. It isn’t a bad request - the URL is fine, the path is closed - and it comes back with the steps for getting that platform’s code out by hand:

{
  "error": "Lovable projects can't be imported from their URL - push the project to your own GitHub repository, then deploy that repository here",
  "guide": {
    "slug": "lovable",
    "name": "Lovable",
    "summary": "...",
    "route": "github",
    "automatic": false,
    "steps": [{ "text": "Open your project and connect it to GitHub" }],
    "transfer": { "...": "..." },
    "docs": [{ "text": "Lovable docs", "href": "https://..." }]
  }
}

Show the guide. A bare error here is a dead end for the user, which is the failure this feature exists to avoid.

Previewing First

Set dry_run: true and you get 200 OK with just the parsed artifact - no pod, no charge. This is what the dashboard’s preview pane uses. File content is trimmed in a preview even though paths and sizes are not: anything binary, over 64KB, or past a 128KB total budget comes back with content_omitted set instead of content, and a site snapshot keeps the content of index.html only. Sizes are always accurate, so use those if you want to show what’s coming.

Pasting Source

{
  "paste": {
    "title": "Dashboard",
    "source": "claude",
    "type": "react",
    "language": "tsx",
    "body": "export default function App() { ... }"
  }
}

Field	Description
`body`	The source, for a single-file artifact
`files`	A whole project as `[{"path": "...", "content": "..."}]`. When present, `body` is ignored
`title`	Names the pod and the artifact
`source`	Metadata only, e.g. `claude`, `chatgpt`, `paste`
`type`	Override detection: `html`, `react`, `vue`, `svg`, `mermaid`, `code`, `multi`
`language`	A hint for `type: "code"`

Send one of body or files, not both. A files project containing a package.json is installed and built on the pod rather than served as static files.

The Import Catalog

GET /api/imports/sources

Every route in, every guided platform, and what each one does and does not carry across. Read-only, no outbound fetch, and outside the import rate limit - so it’s safe to call on page load. Response: 200 OK

{
  "routes": [
    {
      "route": "github",
      "name": "GitHub repository",
      "description": "Clone a repo and build it on the pod, with push-to-deploy...",
      "transfer": {
        "headline": "...",
        "transfers": [{ "label": "Your code", "detail": "..." }],
        "does_not_transfer": [{ "label": "Your database and its contents", "detail": "..." }],
        "notes": ["..."]
      }
    }
  ],
  "platforms": [
    {
      "slug": "lovable",
      "name": "Lovable",
      "summary": "...",
      "route": "github",
      "automatic": false,
      "steps": [{ "text": "..." }],
      "transfer": { "...": "..." },
      "host_examples": ["lovable.app"]
    }
  ]
}

Query Param	Description
`url`	Also answer “what would you do with this URL?”

With ?url=, the response gains detected_source (site, claude, chatgpt, or unknown) and, when the URL matches a guided platform, that platform’s guide. This is what the dashboard calls as you type a URL, so it can show the right next step before you submit. automatic is false on every guided platform, stated explicitly so nothing implies a one-click path that doesn’t exist.

Build your own import UI against this endpoint rather than hard-coding the routes and their caveats. It is served from the backend precisely so the dashboard, the CLI and these docs cannot drift on what an import actually carries.

​Create an Import

​Errors

​Previewing First

​Pasting Source

​The Import Catalog

Create an Import

Errors

Previewing First

Pasting Source

The Import Catalog