Vast.ai Python SDK & CLI

The official Vast.ai Python package — provides both the CLI and SDK for managing Vast.ai GPU cloud resources, plus a serverless client for endpoint inference.

Install

Linux, macOS, or WSL — install the CLI with no Python required:

curl -fsSL https://vast.ai/install.sh | bash

This installs vastai into an isolated managed runtime under ~/.local/share/vastai, decoupled from any system or project Python. Update anytime with vastai update, or pin/roll back with vastai update --version X.

Windows, or using the Python SDK — install from PyPI instead:

pip install vastai

Note: pip install vastai-sdk also works and installs the same package. Both package names are supported for backward compatibility.

Quickstart

1. Get your API key from https://cloud.vast.ai/manage-keys/

2. Set your API key:

vastai set api-key YOUR_API_KEY

3. Test a search:

vastai search offers --limit 3

You should see a short list of available GPU offers.

CLI Usage

The vastai command provides full access to the Vast.ai platform from your terminal:

vastai search offers 'gpu_name=RTX_4090 num_gpus>=4'
vastai create instance 12345 --image pytorch/pytorch --disk 32 --ssh --direct
vastai show instances
vastai stop instance 12345
vastai destroy instance 12345

Run vastai --help for a full list of commands. You can also use --help on any subcommand:

vastai search offers --help
vastai create instance --help

SDK Usage

from vastai import VastAI

vast = VastAI()  # uses VAST_API_KEY env var, or pass api_key="..."

vast.search_offers(query='gpu_name=RTX_4090 num_gpus>=4')
vast.show_instances()
vast.start_instance(id=12345)
vast.stop_instance(id=12345)

Use help(vast.search_offers) to view documentation for any method.

Migrating from vastai-sdk? The old import still works: from vastai_sdk import VastAI

Using the Serverless Client

1. Create the client

from vastai import Serverless
serverless = Serverless() # or, Serverless("YOUR_API_KEY")

2. Get an endpoint

endpoint = await serverless.get_endpoint("my-endpoint")

3. Make a request

request_body = {
    "model": "Qwen/Qwen3-8B",
    "prompt" : "Who are you?",
    "max_tokens" : 100,
    "temperature" : 0.7
}
response = await serverless.request("/v1/completions", request_body)

4. Read the response

text = response["response"]["choices"][0]["text"]
print(text)

Find more examples in the examples/ directory.

Tab Completion

Tab completion is supported in Bash and Zsh via argcomplete (installed automatically). To enable it:

activate-global-python-argcomplete

Or for a single session:

eval "$(register-python-argcomplete vastai)"

AI Agents

Vast.ai has a skill for AI coding agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Codex, etc.):

npx skills add vast-ai/vast-cli

This installs the Vast.ai skill so your agent can search offers, create instances, and manage GPU workflows directly. See CLI SKILL.md or SDK SKILL.md for the full reference.

Contributing

This repository is open source. If you find a bug, please open an issue. PRs are welcome.