> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://vastai-80aa3a82-auto-openapi-update-8483c1e9.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create Host Background Jobs

> Creates host-owned background (bid) container jobs on a specified machine, replacing any existing host default jobs.



## OpenAPI

````yaml /api-reference/openapi.yaml put /api/v0/machines/create_bids/
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
  title: Vast.ai API
  description: >-
    Vast.ai REST API for managing GPU cloud instances, machine operations, and
    AI/ML workflows.


    ## AI Agent Quick-Start


    Install the CLI skill for your agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):
      npx skills add vast-ai/vast-cli

    CLI reference:
    https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vast-ai/vast-cli/master/vastai/SKILL.md

    SDK reference:
    https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vast-ai/vast-cli/master/vastai_sdk/SKILL.md


    ## Auth

    All endpoints require `Authorization: Bearer $VAST_API_KEY`.

    Get your key at: https://cloud.vast.ai/manage-keys/


    ## Key Quirks

    - `gpu_ram` in CLI = GB; in REST API = MB (CLI auto-converts)

    - SSH keys must be registered BEFORE creating an instance (VM: no recovery;
    Docker: can add post-create)

    - `onstart` field is limited to 4048 characters -- gzip+base64 for longer
    scripts

    - `POST /api/v0/asks/{id}/` (create instance) returns `new_contract` as the
    instance ID, not `id`

    - Poll trap: if `actual_status` becomes `exited`, `unknown`, or `offline` it
    will never reach `running` -- destroy and retry
  version: 1.0.0
  contact:
    name: Vast.ai Support
    url: https://discord.gg/vast
servers:
  - url: https://console.vast.ai
    description: Production server
security:
  - BearerAuth: []
paths:
  /api/v0/machines/create_bids/:
    put:
      tags:
        - Machines
      summary: Create Host Background Jobs
      description: >-
        Creates host-owned background (bid) container jobs on a specified
        machine, replacing any existing host default jobs.
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              properties:
                machine:
                  type: integer
                  description: ID of the machine to create jobs for.
                  example: 12345
                price_gpu:
                  type: number
                  format: float
                  description: Price per GPU per day.
                  example: 0.5
                price_inetu:
                  type: number
                  format: float
                  description: Price for internet upload.
                  example: 0.1
                price_inetd:
                  type: number
                  format: float
                  description: Price for internet download.
                  example: 0.1
                image:
                  type: string
                  description: Docker image to use for the job.
                  example: vastai/tensorflow
                args:
                  type: array
                  items:
                    type: string
                  description: Arguments for the Docker image.
                  example:
                    - '--arg1'
                    - '--arg2'
                args_str:
                  type: string
                  description: >-
                    Command-line arguments as a single shell-quoted string
                    (parsed via shlex). Mutually exclusive with args.
                  example: '--train --epochs 10'
                use_ssh:
                  type: boolean
                  description: >-
                    Whether to enable SSH access on the created background job
                    containers.
                  example: false
                onstart:
                  type: string
                  description: Shell command to run when the container starts.
                  example: bash /start.sh
                env:
                  type: object
                  description: >-
                    Key-value pairs of environment variables to inject into the
                    container.
                  example:
                    MY_VAR: value
              required:
                - machine
                - price_gpu
                - price_inetu
                - price_inetd
                - image
      responses:
        '200':
          description: >-
            Returns {success: false, msg: "only the owner can create default bid
            contracts for a machine."} if not machine owner (no HTTP error code
            set)
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: object
                properties:
                  success:
                    type: boolean
                    description: Whether the operation succeeded
                  machine_id:
                    type: integer
                    description: ID of the machine on which bids were created
                  user_id:
                    type: integer
                    description: ID of the authenticated user
                  you_sent:
                    type: object
                    description: Echo of the request body
              example:
                success: true
                machine_id: 12345
                user_id: 9876
                you_sent:
                  machine: 12345
                  image: pytorch/pytorch:latest
        '400':
          description: >-
            Missing or invalid machine_id ("Missing or invalid machine id, must
            be integer"), invalid image ("Missing or invalid image, must be
            string"), or conflicting args ("Please only use args or args_str")
            or invalid shlex params
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
      security:
        - BearerAuth: []
components:
  schemas:
    Error:
      type: object
      properties:
        error:
          type: string
        msg:
          type: string
  securitySchemes:
    BearerAuth:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer
      description: API key must be provided in the Authorization header

````