> ## 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.

# Worker Pods

> Run a bot, scraper, queue consumer or scheduled job on a pod with no public URL.

Not everything you deploy is a website. A Telegram bot, a Discord bot, a queue consumer, a scraper or a cron-driven script has no web server and nothing to serve - but on a normal pod, InstaPods still gives it a public URL, points nginx at it, and issues a certificate. Nothing is listening, so every request comes back as an error, and the platform's health checks flag the pod as broken.

A **worker pod** is the answer. It's an ordinary pod in every way except one: it has no public ingress at all.

## What changes

|                                         | Web pod (default)             | Worker pod |
| --------------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | ---------- |
| Public URL                              | `my-app.nbg1-1.instapods.app` | none       |
| nginx vhost and TLS certificate         | yes                           | no         |
| DNS record                              | yes                           | no         |
| Health checks against the URL           | yes                           | no         |
| SSH, Web Terminal, Web IDE, files, logs | yes                           | yes        |
| Databases and managed services          | yes                           | yes        |
| Backups                                 | yes                           | yes        |

Everything you use to build and operate the pod still works. What goes away is only the front door.

<Note>
  A worker pod has no address to visit, so a browser pointed at its old URL returns "no such host" rather than a misleading `502`. That is the correct answer: the pod is running, it just isn't a website.
</Note>

## Converting a pod

The switch is reversible, and you can flip it at any time.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Dashboard">
    Open the pod, go to the **Settings** tab, and use the **Pod type** card. Click **Convert to worker** (or **Convert to web pod** to go back).

    Switching to a worker removes the pod's public URL, its nginx vhost and its certificate. Switching back regenerates the URL and re-provisions ingress - if the pod is stopped, that happens the next time you start it.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="API">
    ```bash theme={null}
    # Convert to a background worker
    curl -X POST https://app.instapods.com/api/pods/my-bot/kind \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -d '{"kind": "worker"}'

    # Convert back to a website
    curl -X POST https://app.instapods.com/api/pods/my-bot/kind \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -d '{"kind": ""}'
    ```

    `kind` accepts `"worker"` or `""` (a normal web pod). Converting to the state the pod is already in is a no-op.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

<Warning>
  Converting a web pod to a worker **drops its domain**. Converting back issues a fresh per-host domain - it may not be the same name you had before, and any custom domain will need to be re-pointed. Don't flip a pod that people are visiting.
</Warning>

## Running your code

A worker pod runs the same start command as any other pod. Point it at your long-running process instead of a web server:

```bash theme={null}
# Deploy your code as usual
instapods deploy my-bot

# Watch it run
instapods logs my-bot -n 200
```

For a Git-deployed worker, set a **Custom Start Command** on the pod's Git tab (for example `node bot.js` or `python -m worker`) so the deploy knows what to run.

<Tip>
  A worker that only needs to run on a schedule doesn't need to stay resident. Use `cron` inside the pod (via the Web Terminal or SSH) and keep the pod on the Launch plan.
</Tip>

## 1-Click Apps

The pod-type switch isn't offered on 1-Click App pods. Those apps ship a web interface as the whole point of the app, so taking the URL away would leave you no way to use them.