manage-volumes

name	manage-volumes
description	Manage Vast.ai persistent storage volumes — search, create, delete, clone, and attach volumes to instances. Use for persistent data across instance lifecycles.
argument-hint	[action or volume-id]
allowed-tools	Bash

Manage Vast.ai Volumes

Help the user manage persistent storage volumes on Vast.ai.

User Request

$ARGUMENTS

Available Actions

Search Volume Offers

vastai search volumes '<QUERY>' -o 'storage_cost' --raw

Key fields: disk_space, disk_bw, storage_cost, geolocation, reliability, duration

Create a Volume

vastai create volume <OFFER_ID> -s <SIZE_GB>     # Local volume
vastai create network-volume <OFFER_ID> -s <SIZE_GB>  # Network volume

Default size: 15 GB.

List User's Volumes

vastai show volumes                    # All volumes
vastai show volumes -t local           # Local only
vastai show volumes -t network         # Network only

Clone a Volume

vastai clone volume <SOURCE_VOLUME_ID> <DEST_OFFER_ID> -s <SIZE_GB>

Delete a Volume

vastai delete volume <ID>

Confirm with user first — this is irreversible and deletes all data.

Attach Volume When Creating Instance

# New volume
vastai create instance <OFFER_ID> --image <IMG> --ssh \
  --create-volume <VOLUME_OFFER_ID> --volume-size <GB> --mount-path /root/data

# Existing volume
vastai create instance <OFFER_ID> --image <IMG> --ssh \
  --link-volume <VOLUME_ID> --mount-path /root/data

File Transfer To/From Volumes

vastai copy local:./data V.<VOLUME_ID>:/data
vastai copy V.<VOLUME_ID>:/results local:./results

Tips

• Volumes persist across instance destroy/recreate — use them for datasets and checkpoints
• Local volumes must be on the same machine as the instance
• Network volumes can be accessed from different machines but are slower
• Always check vastai show volumes before creating to avoid duplicates