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A preset defines the software stack pre-installed in your pod. Each preset uses a pre-built image, so pod creation takes just 1–2 seconds.

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Comparison Table

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How Presets Work

Presets are stored in the database and seeded from code on startup. Each preset maps to:
  1. A pre-built Incus image — Contains all packages pre-installed (e.g., instapods/nodejs)
  2. A cloud-init configuration — Sets hostname, starts services, and configures networking
  3. A runtime definition — Defines available capabilities (log paths, reload commands, etc.)

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Choosing a Preset

  • Static — Best for HTML/CSS/JS sites, single-page apps, documentation sites. Files are served directly by nginx.
  • PHP — Best for PHP applications, Laravel, WordPress alternatives. nginx handles HTTP, PHP-FPM processes PHP files.
  • Node.js — Best for Express, Fastify, Next.js, or any Node application. Managed by systemd.
  • Python — Best for Django, Flask, FastAPI, or any Python application. Managed by systemd with built-in venv.
  • Go — Best for Go HTTP services and APIs (net/http, Gin, Echo, Fiber, chi) and background workers. Your code is compiled on the pod and systemd runs the resulting binary.

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Runtime Versions

PHP, Node.js, Python, and Go presets support multiple runtime versions. Choose a version when creating a pod — from the dashboard’s version picker or with the CLI --version flag:
If you don’t specify a version, the default is used (PHP 8.3, Node.js 22, Python 3.12, Go 1.26). The version cannot be changed after creation.

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Compiled vs Interpreted

Go is the only preset that compiles. Static, PHP, Node.js, and Python all run your files as they are, so uploading a file changes what the pod serves immediately. On the Go preset, uploading source changes nothing until it is rebuilt — every deploy and pods reload runs go build and restarts the resulting binary. If a Go build fails, the deploy fails and returns the compiler error, and your previous binary keeps running — a broken commit does not take your app down. See Go for details.

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File Structure

All presets create a default user instapod with the app directory at /home/instapod/app. This is where you deploy your code. For PHP, the public root is /home/instapod/app/public — place your index.php there. Other files (like configuration, vendor directory) go in /home/instapod/app.