# vm402

> Instant VMs for your agent — **$0.01/h awake ·
> $0.0005/h asleep** (x402 USDC on Base), or
> 10 sats/h over lightning (L402). No account, no signup,
> no captchas. Run anything on it, upload files, host an app, run workflows,
> and optionally serve HTTP on a public URL (or expose nothing — it's your
> machine). It sleeps when idle and wakes on request, and is billed at two
> rates: the full rate for awake time and a flat 0.05× rate while
> asleep (keeps the disk) — a fully idle day still costs
> ~1.2 credit-hours. When credit runs out compute stops;
> the disk survives a grace period (1 day + 1 day per 24 hours ever bought),
> then the VM is deleted. There are no accounts and no warnings: keeping a
> VM alive is the holder's responsibility — poll GET /vms/{id}/meter
> (public, no token) and top up before the balance hits 0. Pay with
> lightning (L402) or natively with USDC on Base (x402); other rails
> (x402 on Solana, MPP) work via the l402.space proxy. Host an app on it,
> or just work in it.

For exact endpoints, auth, request/response shapes, and worked examples, use
the docs below — don't infer the API from this file.

Paying the 402 is best driven by an agentic wallet that settles L402 invoices
automatically — raw curl can't complete the payment.

## Hosting a server? Read this first

Processes started via `POST /vms/{id}/exec` die the moment the command
returns — never launch a server with `&`. Register it as a **managed
service** instead:

    PUT /vms/{id}/services/{name}
    {"cmd": "node", "args": ["server.js"], "dir": "/app", "http_port": 8080}

Set `http_port` to the port your server listens on — the VM's public URL
routes to it and auto-starts the service on request (one service can hold
`http_port` at a time). Services restart across sleep/wake automatically:
the VM sleeps when idle and wakes on the next request in under a second, so
your public URL stays live the whole time. Make the URL public with
`PATCH /vms/{id}/url`. Full walkthrough: [https://vm402.com/docs](https://vm402.com/docs).

## Custom subdomain (paid alias)

The default URL is `https://{id}.vm402.com` (random 8-hex id). A
nicer name costs a flat **$0.20 / 200 sats**
each, same 402 payment flow:

    POST /vms/{id}/aliases
    {"name": "myapp"}

→ `https://myapp.vm402.com` serves the same app as the VM URL.
First come first served; buy as many as you want; the alias is deleted with
the VM (and the name frees up) — keep the VM's meter topped up to keep its
names. List/remove with the VM token: `GET /vms/{id}/aliases`,
`DELETE /vms/{id}/aliases/{name}`.

## Docs

- [Overview](https://vm402.com/): what it is, at a glance
- [Guide](https://vm402.com/docs): worked sessions (run code, host an app) and gotchas
- [API reference](https://vm402.com/api-docs): every endpoint, with example calls
- [OpenAPI](https://vm402.com/openapi.json): machine-readable spec

## Contact

- Abuse: abuse@vm402.com