Pod Management - InstaPods

List Pods

instapods pods list

Displays a table with name, preset, plan, CPU, memory, disk, status, and domain.

Create a Pod

instapods pods create my-app -p nodejs

The pod name can also be passed as a flag:

instapods pods create --name my-app -p nodejs

By default, the CLI returns immediately after the API accepts the request. Use -w to wait until the pod is fully running before returning.

Create Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`-p, --preset`	Preset: `static`, `php`, `nodejs`, `python`	Auto-detected
`-v, --version`	Runtime version (e.g. `8.4`, `22`, `3.11`)	Preset default
`--plan`	Plan: `launch`, `build`, `grow`, `scale`, `turbo`	`launch`
`-r, --region`	Region slug: `eu`, `us-east`	Auto-select (closest)
`--ssh-key`	SSH public key or path to key file	None
`-w, --wait`	Wait until pod is running before returning	`false`
`--timeout`	Max seconds to wait for pod creation	`120`

The --preset flag is optional. If omitted, the CLI auto-detects the preset from your current directory by looking for signature files like package.json (Node.js), composer.json (PHP), requirements.txt (Python), or index.html (Static).

Examples

# Node.js with Build plan
instapods pods create api -p nodejs --plan build

# Python with SSH key
instapods pods create ml-service -p python --ssh-key ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

# Static site in a specific region
instapods pods create my-site -p static -r us-east

# Wait until pod is fully running
instapods pods create my-site -p static -w

# Specific runtime version
instapods pods create my-app -p php --version 8.4

# Custom timeout (5 minutes)
instapods pods create big-app -p nodejs --timeout 300

Get Pod Details

instapods pods get my-app

Shows all pod information including status, IP, domain, resources, server, and creation time.

Start / Stop / Restart

instapods pods start my-app
instapods pods stop my-app
instapods pods restart my-app

restart stops and starts the whole container, so everything inside comes back up: your app, nginx, and any database service you installed. It does not install dependencies and does not build anything

it runs whatever is already on disk. That makes it the command for picking up a file you uploaded or edited on the pod, or clearing a stuck process.

While a Git deploy is building, restart and resize are refused - wait for the deploy to finish. stop always works, and cancels the running deploy; start the pod and deploy again afterwards.

Lifecycle Flags

Flag	Description	Default
`-w, --wait`	Wait until the operation completes	`false`
`--timeout`	Max seconds to wait	`60`

# Start and wait until running
instapods pods start my-app -w

# Stop with a custom timeout
instapods pods stop my-app -w --timeout 30

# Restart and wait
instapods pods restart my-app -w

Resize

Change a pod’s plan (and its associated resources):

instapods pods resize my-app --plan build

The --plan flag is required. Resources (CPU, memory, disk) are automatically set based on the target plan.

Flag	Description
`--plan`	Target plan: `launch`, `build`, `grow`, `scale`, `turbo` (required)

Downgrades check disk usage — if the pod’s current disk usage exceeds the new plan’s storage limit, the resize will fail.

Switch Node Version

Move a Node.js pod to another Node major in place (22 or 24), keeping its files, environment variables, domain and plan:

instapods pods node-version my-app 24 --wait

Without --wait the command returns as soon as the switch starts; with it, the CLI waits and prints the result. If the app doesn’t start on a new major, the pod is switched back to the old one. See Switching Version Later for what the switch does.

pods node-version needs a CLI release newer than v1.16.0. Until then, use the Node version picker on the pod’s page in the dashboard.

Reload Application

Restart the application services inside the pod, without restarting the pod itself:

instapods pods reload my-app

What gets restarted depends on the preset:

Static: nginx
PHP: nginx + PHP-FPM
Node.js, Python, Go: app systemd service

Reload also installs dependencies and runs the build. A package.json, requirements.txt, composer.json or go.mod in the app directory triggers npm install, pip install, composer install or go mod download before the restart, and the nodejs and go presets are rebuilt. If the pod is stopped, reload starts it first. This is the same step instapods deploy runs after uploading your files, so after a deploy you do not need to reload as well.

reload restarts your app; restart restarts the whole pod. If you are not sure which one you want, see Deploy, Reload, Restart.

Delete

# With confirmation prompt
instapods pods delete my-app

# Skip confirmation
instapods pods delete my-app -f

# Wait until deletion completes
instapods pods delete my-app -f -w

# Answer the exit survey without being prompted
instapods pods delete my-app --reason too_expensive --note "great product, wrong budget"

Flag	Description	Default
`-f, --force`	Skip confirmation prompt	`false`
`-w, --wait`	Wait until deletion completes	`false`
`--reason`	Why you’re deleting it: `just_testing`, `project_finished`, `redeploying`, `too_expensive`, `technical_issues`, `missing_feature`, `switching_provider`, `other`	none
`--note`	Free-text detail to go with `--reason`	none

After you confirm an interactive delete, the CLI asks one optional question about why. Press Enter to skip it. It is skipped entirely under -f, --json, or a non-interactive stdin, so it never blocks a script.

Deletion is permanent. All files, databases, and configurations are destroyed. Deleted pod names are reserved for 7 days to prevent SSH host key conflicts.

JSON Output

Add --json to any command for machine-readable JSON output:

instapods pods list --json
instapods pods get my-app --json

​List Pods

​Create a Pod

​Create Flags

​Examples

​Get Pod Details

​Start / Stop / Restart

​Lifecycle Flags

​Resize

​Switch Node Version

​Reload Application

​Delete

​JSON Output

List Pods

Create a Pod

Create Flags

Examples

Get Pod Details

Start / Stop / Restart

Lifecycle Flags

Resize

Switch Node Version

Reload Application

Delete

JSON Output