SSH Access

Every pod has a dedicated SSH port, allowing you to connect directly to your container with any SSH client.

Connection Details

Find your pod’s SSH details on the SSH tab of the pod detail page, or via the CLI:

instapods pods get my-app

The SSH connection format is:

ssh instapod@<server-host> -p <port>

For example:

ssh instapod@nbg1-1.instapods.app -p 2201

Adding SSH Keys

Via CLI

# Add your default key (~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub or ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub)
instapods ssh-keys add my-app

# Add a specific key
instapods ssh-keys add my-app --key ~/.ssh/work_key.pub

Via Dashboard

Go to your pod’s SSH tab
Paste your public key in the text field
Click Add Key

Via API

curl -X POST https://app.instapods.com/api/pods/my-app/ssh/keys \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"key": "ssh-ed25519 AAAA... user@host"}'

At Pod Creation

You can also include an SSH key when creating a pod:

instapods pods create my-app --preset nodejs --ssh-key ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Quick Connect via CLI

The CLI has a built-in SSH command:

instapods ssh my-app

This looks up the connection details and launches an SSH session automatically.

Host Key Verification

InstaPods uses Trust On First Use (TOFU) for SSH security:

First connection: The host key is automatically accepted and saved to ~/.ssh/known_hosts
Subsequent connections: The saved key is verified. If it matches, you connect normally
Key mismatch: You’ll see a warning. This shouldn’t happen for a running pod

When you delete a pod, the CLI automatically removes the old host key from your known_hosts file to prevent conflicts when the SSH port is reused.

SSH Port Allocation

Each pod gets a unique SSH port in the range 2200–3200. Ports are assigned automatically at pod creation. To prevent host key conflicts, deleted pods’ ports are not reused for 7 days.

SCP / SFTP

You can use SCP or SFTP to transfer files:

# Upload a file
scp -P 2201 ./app.js instapod@nbg1-1.instapods.app:/home/instapod/app/

# Download a file
scp -P 2201 instapod@nbg1-1.instapods.app:/home/instapod/app/config.json ./

# Upload a directory
scp -P 2201 -r ./project/ instapod@nbg1-1.instapods.app:/home/instapod/app/

Or use SFTP for interactive file management:

sftp -P 2201 instapod@nbg1-1.instapods.app

Getting Started

Dashboard

Presets

Services

SSH & Files

Guides

Partners

Support

Connection Details

Adding SSH Keys

Via CLI

Via Dashboard

Via API

At Pod Creation

Quick Connect via CLI

Host Key Verification

SSH Port Allocation

SCP / SFTP

​Connection Details

​Adding SSH Keys

​Via CLI

​Via Dashboard

​Via API

​At Pod Creation

​Quick Connect via CLI

​Host Key Verification

​SSH Port Allocation

​SCP / SFTP

Connection Details

Adding SSH Keys

Via CLI

Via Dashboard

Via API

At Pod Creation

Quick Connect via CLI

Host Key Verification

SSH Port Allocation

SCP / SFTP