Rent, verify, use, and destroy a first Vast.ai GPU instance with bounded cost and explicit failure cleanup.

MITAuto-check passedDevOps & Cloud

Install Vastai Hello World

skills CLI
$ npx skills add jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace --skill vastai-hello-world -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace vastai-hello-world --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/.curated/vastai-hello-world .claude/skills/vastai-hello-world && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
vastai-hello-world
GitHub stars
2.8k
Token cost
~1.1k tokens
SKILL.md length
476 words
Files
2 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
3,342
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Rent, verify, use, and destroy a first Vast.ai GPU instance with bounded cost and explicit failure cleanup.

  • Works in 6 steps: Verify identity and budget → Search a suitable offer → Create exactly one instance → …
  • Running a safe platform canary
  • SKILL.md covers Overview, Prerequisites, Instructions and Authentication, plus 5 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Vastai Hello World is an agent skill from jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace. Rent, verify, use, and destroy a first Vast.ai GPU instance with bounded cost and explicit failure cleanup. Use when running a safe platform canary or onboarding exercise. Trigger with: "rent my first Vast.ai GPU", "run a Vast.ai canary", "test Vast.ai end to end".

Its SKILL.md is about 1.1k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 2 other files, including reference files (for example `references/official-docs.md`). Compatibility notes: Requires the Vast.ai CLI, a valid API key, account credit, an SSH public key, and an approved container image.

It sits in DevOps & Cloud, covering Deployment. The repository describes itself as: Model-agnostic agent-skills platform with a harness-free canonical layer, verified adapters, and the ccpi package manager. Explore at tonsofskills.com. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Running a safe platform canary
  • Onboarding exercise
  • With: rent my first Vast.ai GPU
  • Run a Vast.ai canary

Example prompts

  • “rent my first Vast.ai GPU”
  • “run a Vast.ai canary”
  • “test Vast.ai end to end”
  • “/vastai-hello-world”

Requirements

  • Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Requires the Vast.ai CLI, a valid API key, account credit, an SSH public key, and an approved container image.
  • Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read, Grep, Write, Edit

Workflow steps

6 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Verify identity and budget
  2. Search a suitable offer
  3. Create exactly one instance
  4. Wait with terminal branches
  5. Run and collect the canary
  6. Destroy and prove cleanup

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit cfae287. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

    • Read
    • Grep
    • Write
    • Edit

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):

    • docs.vast.ai
    • github.com

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

  • Compatibility

    Requires the Vast.ai CLI, a valid API key, account credit, an SSH public key, and an approved container image.

    From compatibility in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

Context cost

Vastai Hello World loads about 1.1k tokens when it runs, and up to ~1.4k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 71 tokens; SKILL.md has 476 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~71
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.1k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~1.4k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace at commit cfae287, republished under its MIT licence (© jeremylongshore). 476 words, ~1,076 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/vastai-hello-world/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 1 other file; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
vastai-hello-world
description
Rent, verify, use, and destroy a first Vast.ai GPU instance with bounded cost and explicit failure cleanup. Use when running a safe platform canary or onboarding exercise. Trigger with: "rent my first Vast.ai GPU", "run a Vast.ai canary", "test Vast.ai end to end".
allowed-tools
Read, Grep, Write, Edit
compatibility
Requires the Vast.ai CLI, a valid API key, account credit, an SSH public key, and an approved container image.
version
2.0.0
argument-hint
[gpu-requirement-budget-and-image]
model
inherit
effort
high
license
MIT
author
Jeremy Longshore <jeremy@intentsolutions.io>
tags
saas, vastai, instances, onboarding, cost-control

First Vast.ai GPU Rental With a Cost Fence

Overview

Prove the complete renter lifecycle without leaving billable storage behind. Search a verified offer, register SSH before creation, capture the returned contract ID, bound readiness polling, run one GPU check, retrieve evidence, and destroy.

Prerequisites

  • Maximum hourly price, maximum elapsed time, GPU/VRAM need, disk size, and region policy
  • Approved image tag and registered SSH public key
  • Cleanup owner who can destroy the contract even when the workload fails

Instructions

Step 1: Verify identity and budget

Run vastai show user --raw; confirm the intended account and enough credit. Set an external deadline and total-spend ceiling before searching.

Step 2: Search a suitable offer

Use vastai search offers --raw with verified=true, rentable=true, reliability, direct-port, GPU, disk, and price constraints. Record the selected offer ID and quoted price components.

Step 3: Create exactly one instance

Create with an immutable image tag, SSH, direct networking when required, and the smallest sufficient disk. Capture new_contract as the instance ID.

Step 4: Wait with terminal branches

Poll vastai show instance ID --raw until actual_status is running. Abort and clean up on timeout, exited, unknown, or offline; never poll forever.

Step 5: Run and collect the canary

Resolve the SSH URL, execute nvidia-smi, run the bounded workload, and copy out the small result or checksum.

Step 6: Destroy and prove cleanup

Destroy the instance non-interactively and confirm it no longer appears. Destruction is irreversible but is required to stop storage charges.

Authentication

Use a scoped key that can search offers and manage instances but cannot transfer credit or administer teams. Keep SSH private keys local and never pass them through instance environment variables.

Show full SKILL.md (201 more words)Show less

Tool Discipline

Use Read and Grep to inspect manifests, configuration, provider output, and existing tests before proposing a mutation. Use Write or Edit only for the approved plan, implementation, test, or redacted receipt; do not create, update, destroy, or fund Vast.ai resources without explicit operator approval.

Output

  • Selected offer and cost-policy decision
  • Instance state timeline and GPU canary result
  • Artifact checksum plus confirmed destruction receipt

Return account ID, offer ID, instance ID, price, state transitions, canary result, and cleanup confirmation with secrets removed.

Examples

An operator rents one verified RTX 4090 below the approved hourly ceiling, reaches running within the deadline, records a CUDA device check, copies out a checksum, and destroys the contract in a guaranteed cleanup path.

Error Handling

FailureResponse
No offer satisfies policyDo not relax controls silently; report which constraint eliminated capacity.
Instance remains loadingRespect the deadline, inspect image size and host network, then destroy and choose another offer.
Instance becomes exited, unknown, or offlineStop polling, salvage only if safe, destroy, and retry on a different host.
Cleanup command failsEscalate immediately with the instance ID because storage may still be billing.

Resources

© jeremylongshore, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 1 other file (references) in skills/.curated/vastai-hello-world of jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace.

  • SKILL.md
  • references/official-docs.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit cfae287

Compare with similar skills

Vastai Hello World next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Vastai Hello World compared with similar skills
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Mirrord Operatormetalbear-co/mirrord5.4k1 repos~4.6kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
KubeSphere ServiceMesh Managerkubesphere/kubesphere17k—~2.4kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence
Vercelremotion-dev/remotion63k—~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence

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Categories

Questions about Vastai Hello World

What does Vastai Hello World do?

Rent, verify, use, and destroy a first Vast.ai GPU instance with bounded cost and explicit failure cleanup. Vastai Hello World is an agent skill from jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace.ai GPU instance with bounded cost and explicit failure cleanup.

When should I use Vastai Hello World?

Vastai Hello World fits situations like: running a safe platform canary; onboarding exercise; with: rent my first Vast.ai GPU; run a Vast.ai canary.

How do I install Vastai Hello World in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace --skill vastai-hello-world -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/.curated/vastai-hello-world in jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace) into .claude/skills/vastai-hello-world in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Vastai Hello World in Codex?

Run `npx skills add jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace --skill vastai-hello-world -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/.curated/vastai-hello-world in jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace) into .agents/skills/vastai-hello-world in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Vastai Hello World in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace --skill vastai-hello-world -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/vastai-hello-world, .gemini/skills/vastai-hello-world, .github/skills/vastai-hello-world and .opencode/skills/vastai-hello-world in your project.

What does Vastai Hello World need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Vastai Hello World is instructions for the agent only. Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: Read, Grep, Write, Edit. Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Requires the Vast.ai CLI, a valid API key, account credit, an SSH public key, and an approved container image..

Does Vastai Hello World access the network?

SKILL.md names 2 domains. As links in the text: docs.vast.ai and github.com. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Vastai Hello World safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Vastai Hello World use?

Vastai Hello World is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Vastai Hello World use?

About 1.1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4.3k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 333 tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Vastai Hello World?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Vastai Hello World: Kubeshark Installer (kubeshark/kubeshark, 12k stars), GreptimeDB Dev Docker Image (GreptimeTeam/greptimedb, 6.7k stars), Mirrord Operator (metalbear-co/mirrord, 5.4k stars) and KubeSphere ServiceMesh Manager (kubesphere/kubesphere, 17k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Vastai Hello World?

jeremylongshore (a GitHub user) maintains it in jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace, which has 2,827 GitHub stars. The repository holds 3,342 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 10, 2026.

Source: jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.