SSH Keys - InstaPods

There are two levels of SSH key, and they do different jobs:

Account keys live on your account. A key marked auto_inject is installed into every new pod you create, so you never have to add it again.
Pod keys are the authorized_keys entries on one pod. Adding one here affects that pod only.

Adding an account key does not retroactively install it on pods that already exist - add it to those directly. See SSH Access for connecting.

Account Keys

List

GET /api/ssh-keys

Response: 200 OK

[
  {
    "id": "key_abc123",
    "user_id": "usr_xyz",
    "name": "laptop",
    "public_key": "ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3... you@laptop",
    "fingerprint": "SHA256:1a2b3c...",
    "auto_inject": true,
    "created_at": "2026-01-15T10:00:00Z"
  }
]

Add

POST /api/ssh-keys

{
  "public_key": "ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3... you@laptop",
  "name": "laptop",
  "auto_inject": true
}

Field	Type	Required	Description
`public_key`	string	Yes	The public key. Never send a private key
`name`	string	No	A label. Derived from the key’s trailing comment when omitted
`auto_inject`	boolean	No	Install this key into every new pod you create. Default `false`

Response: 201 Created - returns the stored key, including the fingerprint we computed.

Code	Reason
`400`	Not a valid SSH public key
`409`	A key with that fingerprint is already on your account

Update

PUT /api/ssh-keys/{id}

{
  "name": "work laptop",
  "auto_inject": false
}

Both fields are optional; omitting one leaves it unchanged. The key material itself can’t be edited

delete and re-add instead.

Delete

DELETE /api/ssh-keys/{id}

Returns {"status": "deleted"}.

Deleting an account key does not remove it from pods it was already installed on. Remove it from each pod as well if that’s what you meant.

Pod Keys

Connection Info

GET /api/pods/{name}/ssh

Response: 200 OK

{
  "user": "instapod",
  "host": "5.223.55.67",
  "port": 2201,
  "ssh_ready": true,
  "command": "ssh instapod@5.223.55.67 -p 2201"
}

Every pod gets its own port on a shared host, so always read port rather than assuming 22. A pod whose SSH port hasn’t been allocated yet - which happens briefly right after creation - answers 503 with ssh_ready: false and an explanatory error. Retry rather than treating it as a failure.

List Keys on a Pod

GET /api/pods/{name}/ssh/keys

{
  "keys": ["ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3... you@laptop"]
}

Reads the pod’s authorized_keys. A pod with no keys returns an empty array, not a 404.

Add a Key to a Pod

POST /api/pods/{name}/ssh/keys

{ "key": "ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3... you@laptop" }

Takes effect immediately - no restart. Adding a key that’s already there is a no-op and returns 200 with {"message": "key already exists"}.

Remove a Key From a Pod

DELETE /api/pods/{name}/ssh/keys

{ "key": "ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3... you@laptop" }

The body must carry the key to remove, so this is a DELETE with a body. Returns 404 if the pod has no keys, or if that key isn’t among them.

​Account Keys

​List

​Add

​Update

​Delete

​Pod Keys

​Connection Info

​List Keys on a Pod

​Add a Key to a Pod

​Remove a Key From a Pod

Account Keys

List

Add

Update

Delete

Pod Keys

Connection Info

List Keys on a Pod

Add a Key to a Pod

Remove a Key From a Pod