Boot VMs from any OCI or Docker image

snapshots.create(oci_image=...) pulls any OCI image and applies build_args: apt packages, pip/npm installs, git clone, environment variables. VMs boot from the resulting snapshot in under 500ms.

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<500ms

Snapshot boot

3 GB

Max disk

1–8 vCPU

Per VM

run any oci

$client.snapshots.create(oci_image='python:3.11-slim', ...)

↳pulling layers from docker.io | 183MB

↳running build_args: git clone, pip install numpy pandas

#snapshot status: ready (5.72s)

$client.vms.create(snapshot_id='snap_c2f8', wait=True)

↳vm provisioned in 392ms | snapshot boot

Capabilities

Any OCI image reference

Docker Hub, GitHub Container Registry, private registries. Pass the image URL to snapshots.create() — no format translation needed.

Build-time setup via build_args

git_clone_url, git_clone_branch, extra_apt_packages, extra_pip_packages, extra_npm_packages, envs, post_build_cmd. All run during snapshot build.

Snapshot reuse

Build once, boot many. vms.create(snapshot_id=...) launches a new VM from the same snapshot. No re-pulling, no re-installing.

VM-level isolation

Each VM from the snapshot gets its own Firecracker kernel. Not a container fork — full hardware isolation with configurable egress.

SDK reference

run-any-oci.py

pythonSnapshot + VM

1from instavm import InstaVM
2
3client = InstaVM(api_key="sk_instavm_...")
4
5# Build snapshot from OCI image (async — polls until ready)
6snap = client.snapshots.create(
7    oci_image="docker.io/library/python:3.11-slim",
8    name="agent-runtime",
9    build_args={
10        "git_clone_url": "https://github.com/org/agent.git",
11        "git_clone_branch": "main",
12        "extra_pip_packages": "numpy pandas",
13        "envs": {"APP_ENV": "production"},
14    },
15)
16
17# Boot VM from snapshot (<500ms)
18vm = client.vms.create(
19    wait=True,
20    snapshot_id=snap["snapshot_id"],
21    vcpu_count=4,
22    memory_mb=2048,
23)
24print(vm["vm_id"])

How it works

Image pull, snapshot build, VM boot

Create snapshot from image

snapshots.create(oci_image='python:3.11-slim', build_args={...}) pulls layers and runs setup. Build is async — poll status until 'ready'.

Boot VM from snapshot

vms.create(snapshot_id=..., wait=True) launches a VM from the snapshot. Boot time is under 500ms since layers are pre-cached.

Reuse across workloads

Same snapshot, many VMs. Run evals, CI jobs, or agent sessions in parallel — each with identical starting state.

Get started with InstaVM

Free tier available. No credit card required. VMs provision in under 200ms.

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