Overview & quickstart

we provide a python cli (open source) for a convenient interface to the rest api you can use the explain option with any cli command and it will print out the underlying api calls pypi install you can install the latest stable pypi release with pip install vastai github alternatively you can get the very latest version directly from github wget https //raw\ githubusercontent com/vast ai/vast python/master/vast py o vast; chmod +x vast; this repository contains the open source python command line interface for vast ai this cli has all of the functionality of the vast ai website gui and uses the same underlying rest api the cli is self contained in the single script file vast py quickstart in order to authenticate most commands you will need to first login to the vast ai website and get an api key go to https //vast ai/console/cli/ https //vast ai/console/cli/ copy the command under the heading "login / set api key" and run it the command will be something like vastai set api key xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx where the xxxx is a unique api key (a long hexadecimal number) note that if the script is named "vast" in this command on the website and your installed script is named "vast py" you will need to change the name of the script in the command you run the set api key command saves your api key in a hidden file in your home directory do not share your api keys with anyone as they authenticate commands from your account your default main key allows full access to all commands without limitations, but you can use the cli to create additional keys with fine grained access restrictions https //docs vast ai/api/permissions and authorization usage for the most up to date help, use 'vast py help' you can then get a list of the available commands each command also typically has help documentation vastai help to see how the api works you can use it to find machines for rent vastai search offers help there are many parameters that can be used to filter the results the search command supports all of the filters and sort options that the website gui uses to find gpu instances with compute capability 8 0 or higher vastai search offers 'compute cap >= 800 ' to find instances with a reliability score >= 0 99 and at least 4 gpus, ordering by num of gpus descending vastai search offers 'reliability > 0 99 num gpus>=4' o 'num gpus ' the output of this command at the time of this writing is id cuda num model pcie bw vcpus ram storage $/hr dlperf dlp/$ nvidia driver version net up net down r max days machine id 1596177 11 4 10x gtx 1080 5 5 48 0 257 9 4628 2 0000 73 0 36 5 470 63 01 653 3 854 5 99 5 638 2459430 11 5 8x rtx a5000 9 1 128 0 515 8 3094 4 0000 209 4 52 3 495 46 1844 2 2669 6 99 7 12 0 4384 2459380 11 4 8x rtx 3070 6 3 12 0 64 0 710 1 4200 67 2 47 3 470 86 0 0 0 0 99 8 4102 2456624 11 4 8x rtx 2080 ti 10 7 32 0 257 9 1653 2 8000 126 4 45 2 470 82 00 14 6 214 2 99 8 28 7 3047 2456622 11 4 8x rtx 2080 ti 10 8 32 0 128 9 1651 2 8000 127 1 45 4 470 82 00 14 9 214 7 99 1 28 7 1569 2456600 11 5 8x rtx 2080 ti 10 9 48 0 256 6 1704 2 4000 125 5 52 3 495 29 05 169 0 169 8 99 7 25 7 4058 2455617 11 2 8x rtx 3090 21 7 64 0 515 8 6165 6 4000 261 1 40 8 460 67 477 6 707 2 99 8 28 7 2980 2454397 11 2 8x a100 sxm4 22 4 128 0 2064 1 21568 13 2000 300 1 22 7 460 106 00 708 7 1119 8 99 2 4762 2405590 11 4 8x rtx 2080 ti 11 2 48 0 257 9 1629 3 8000 125 5 33 0 470 82 00 389 4 608 8 100 0 1 8 2776 2364579 11 4 8x a100 pcie 18 5 128 0 515 8 4813 14 8000 278 8 18 8 470 74 472 4 699 0 99 9 28 7 3459 2281839 11 2 8x tesla v100 11 8 72 0 483 1 1171 5 6000 193 6 34 6 460 67 493 0 697 8 100 0 28 7 2744 2281832 11 2 8x a100 pcie 17 7 64 0 515 9 5821 14 8000 276 7 18 7 460 91 03 478 2 655 5 99 9 28 7 2901 2452630 11 4 7x rtx 3090 6 3 28 0 64 0 61 3 5000 165 5 47 3 470 86 84 6 84 4 99 3 3 8 4420 2342561 11 4 7x rtx 3090 6 1 96 0 257 6 1664 4 5500 149 2 32 8 470 82 00 476 9 671 7 99 4 1 7 4202 2237983 11 4 7x rtx 3090 12 5 32 0 257 6 3228 3 1500 204 5 64 9 470 86 194 4 183 8 99 1 4207 2459511 11 4 6x rtx 3090 6 2 128 8 812 2 8200 150 2 53 2 470 94 374 4 271 4 99 0 6 7 3129 2448342 11 5 6x rtx a6000 12 4 64 0 515 7 6695 3 6000 169 8 47 2 495 29 05 668 6 1082 6 99 6 3624 2437565 11 4 6x rtx 3090 23 0 16 0 128 8 1676 5 4000 196 8 36 5 470 94 34 1 131 5 99 4 4238 2332973 11 2 6x rtx 3090 11 9 48 0 193 3 1671 3 3000 180 3 54 6 460 84 582 1 737 6 99 9 25 6 3552 2459459 11 5 4x rtx 3090 23 1 32 0 257 8 1363 2 0000 131 2 65 6 495 46 1954 7 2725 8 99 6 12 0 3059 2459428 11 5 4x rtx a5000 24 6 64 0 515 8 1547 2 0000 104 9 52 4 495 46 1844 2 2669 6 99 7 12 0 4384 2459368 11 4 4x rtx 3090 25 3 48 0 64 2 133 1 3967 130 5 93 4 470 86 0 0 0 0 99 4 4637 2458968 11 6 4x rtx 3090 11 7 16 0 128 5 752 1 4000 79 8 57 0 510 39 01 797 8 842 7 99 9 4 0 2555 2458878 11 6 4x rtx 3090 11 6 36 0 128 5 1531 1 4000 81 9 58 5 510 39 01 757 1 807 6 99 9 4 0 3646 2458845 11 6 4x rtx 3090 3 1 12 0 128 5 369 1 4000 92 4 66 0 510 39 01 725 7 852 2 99 8 4 0 700 2458838 11 6 4x rtx 3090 5 7 48 0 128 9 624 1 4000 85 3 60 9 510 39 01 574 9 731 7 99 8 4 0 2217 2454395 11 2 4x a100 sxm4 22 9 64 0 2064 1 10784 6 6000 150 0 22 7 460 106 00 708 7 1119 8 99 2 4762 2452632 11 4 4x rtx 3090 6 3 16 0 64 0 35 2 0000 123 5 61 8 470 86 84 6 84 4 99 3 3 8 4420 2450275 11 4 4x rtx 3080 ti 12 5 32 0 128 7 817 1 8000 128 8 71 6 470 82 00 278 3 350 4 99 7 4260 2449210 11 5 4x rtx 3090 11 2 48 0 128 9 324 2 0000 89 7 44 9 495 29 05 688 3 775 4 99 8 2764 2445175 11 4 4x rtx 3090 11 9 32 0 257 6 1530 2 0000 135 4 67 7 470 86 868 6 887 1 99 7 25 9 3055 2444916 11 4 4x rtx 3090 11 9 16 0 128 7 1576 1 4000 131 8 94 2 470 82 00 39 4 402 3 99 9 3759 2437188 11 4 4x tesla p100 11 7 24 0 95 2 2945 0 7200 44 8 62 2 470 82 00 10 9 76 2 99 5 0 1 3969 2437179 11 4 4x tesla p100 11 7 32 0 192 1 3070 0 7200 44 8 62 3 470 82 00 11 1 66 0 99 2 0 0 4159 2431606 11 4 4x rtx 3090 17 9 32 0 110 7 330 1 8400 134 3 73 0 470 82 01 584 6 813 4 99 7 4 4 4079 2419191 11 4 4x rtx 2080 ti 6 3 32 0 64 4 837 2 0000 64 7 32 4 470 63 01 40 5 205 9 99 7 162 2405589 11 4 4x rtx 2080 ti 10 8 24 0 257 9 815 1 9000 62 8 33 0 470 82 00 389 4 608 8 100 0 1 8 2776 2392087 11 4 4x rtx a6000 10 8 32 0 515 9 1247 1 8000 64 5 35 8 470 94 669 9 705 4 99 1 10 9 4782 2377227 11 2 4x rtx 3090 6 3 24 0 64 3 1638 2 0000 128 3 64 1 460 32 03 37 8 145 0 99 7 3 0 2672 2349173 11 4 4x rtx 3090 23 2 48 0 128 7 1475 2 0000 107 4 53 7 470 86 33 2 84 2 99 8 47 3 3949 2338635 11 4 4x rtx 3090 23 0 32 0 128 5 3151 1 6000 108 8 68 0 470 86 33 8 86 4 99 6 47 4 3948 2303959 11 2 4x rtx 3090 11 7 28 0 128 8 791 2 1200 131 3 61 9 460 32 03 519 7 570 7 99 5 3042 2281830 11 2 4x a100 pcie 18 1 32 0 515 9 2910 7 4000 143 6 19 4 460 91 03 478 2 655 5 99 9 28 7 2901 2193726 11 4 4x rtx 3090 12 4 32 0 128 8 1646 3 6000 153 9 42 8 470 82 01 33 3 137 5 99 5 3434 1737692 11 2 4x rtx 3070 6 3 28 0 128 5 656 2 8000 37 5 13 4 460 91 03 452 6 703 2 99 6 3510 launching instances vastai create instance help you create instances using the create instance command referencing an instance type id returned from search offers so to create an ssh direct instance of type 2459368 (using the id returned from the search above for 4x 3090 on machine 4637) with the vastai/tensorflow image and 32 gb of disk storage vastai create instance 2459368 image vastai/tensorflow disk 32 ssh direct once an instance is created, it then must first pull the image if it is not cached after the image is loaded the instance boots and transititons to the running state you are charged for the resources you reserve as storage is reserved at creation, storage charges begin when the instance is created and end only when it is destroyed gpu charges begin when the instance transitions to the running state, and end when it is stopped or destroyed get instance info vastai show instance help vastai show instances help starting stopping vastai start instance help vastai stop instance help you can stop an instance to avoid gpu charges, converting it into a storage unit storage is usually very cheap compared to gpu starting an existing instance takes only a second or less whereas creating a new instance can take much longer (to pull a large docker image), so maintaining a pool of stopped instances is useful for many applications you can call stop/destroy instance from inside https //docs vast ai/instances/docker execution environment the instance using a special autogenerated instance apikey, to avoid exposing your main apikey copy data vastai copy help vastai cloud copy help you can copy data from a stopped instance to a running instance, to/from cloud storage, or to/from another machine destroy instances vastai destroy instance help vastai destroy instances help once you are done with an instance make sure to destroy it to avoid ongoing storage charges