> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.instapods.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Imports > Create a pod from a live URL, an AI artifact, or pasted source. 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`](/api-reference/pods#create-a-pod-from-a-repo) | | **Project ZIP** | [`POST /api/pods/from-zip`](/api-reference/pods#create-a-pod-from-a-zip) | See [Import an existing app](/guides/import-existing-app) for which route fits what, and [Import AI artifacts](/guides/import-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](#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). ```bash theme={null} 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`** ```json theme={null} { "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: ```json theme={null} { "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 ```json theme={null} { "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`** ```json theme={null} { "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.