Manage Your Servers

Hoody rents you physical machines and provisions them automatically, the way a VPS provider provisions virtual machines. Containers have no per-unit cost. Once a server exists, you can create as many as its capacity allows.

The server model

Most hosting makes you pick one or the other: a VPS provisions in minutes but runs on shared hardware, and bare metal gives you the physical machine but takes days to set up. Hoody servers are physical machines that provision automatically.

Bare metal. A rented server is the whole physical machine, with no other tenant’s workload on it. Every core, byte, and disk is yours.
Automated provisioning. Each listing shows its own estimated setup time; in-stock machines are ready shortly after purchase.
Duration-based pricing. Rentals start at one day, and longer periods get automatic discounts.
Worldwide datacenters. Servers are available in several regions.
Container density. One server hosts hundreds of isolated containers.

VPS hosting charges per virtual machine, so every new environment adds to the bill. Renting one physical server inverts that: the server is the recurring cost, and the containers on it are not metered.

Traditional VPS:          Hoody Bare Metal:
Per-VM monthly fee       One server rental
Multiple VMs needed      Unlimited containers
Expensive at scale       Cost-effective scaling

The free tier

Eligible accounts can claim a free server while free-tier capacity is available. It is a slice of a shared machine, not a dedicated box: a real container host with hard resource caps, and it has no rental expiry.

	Free slice	Rented bare metal
Security	Shared host: your containers are isolated by their own bridge and an unprivileged user namespace, but the kernel and the hardware are shared with other tenants	The whole machine is yours: no other tenants on the hardware, and no one else’s workload shares your kernel
Containers	10 by default	No fixed cap unless the operator sets one
Snapshots per container	10	1000
Network	100 Mbit/s per direction	The machine’s full link
Swap	None	Machine-dependent
Proxy aliases	20	5000
CPU / RAM	Shared compute, no per-slice figure	The whole machine
Disk	A per-slice quota set by the operator	The machine’s disks
Expiry	Never	Rental period, then a hold

That security row is the main reason to move off the free tier. Containers are unprivileged system containers, not virtual machines, so every container on a host shares one kernel. On a free slice that kernel is shared with strangers; on a machine rented to you, everything on the hardware answers to you alone. See Security & Permissions, Layer 3 for what that changes and what it does not. Disk encryption is not part of that gap: every Hoody host runs LUKS full-disk encryption, free slice or rented metal alike.

Managed hosts

You control the containers; Hoody manages the host. On traditional bare metal you install and maintain the operating system yourself. On a Hoody server you never touch it, and there is no SSH access to the physical machine.

Hoody manages:

Host operating system (cannot be modified or customized)
Full-disk encryption (LUKS, always on). The key is held off the machine and supplied at boot, so a stolen or seized server is ciphertext.
Container runtime and infrastructure
Security updates and patches
Hardware health monitoring
Platform service updates
Automatic failover and recovery

You control:

All containers and their configurations
Container OS choices and customization
Network rules and firewall settings
Storage organization and shares
Resource allocation across containers

That split is what removes the maintenance work. Security updates are applied for you, every server runs a compatible platform version, performance stays consistent across servers, and Hoody tunes the container runtime. You get the isolation and performance of a dedicated machine without having to operate one.

The rental workflow

Step 1: Browse the marketplace

The marketplace lists in-stock bare metal servers across multiple datacenters. Filter by:

Location (country, region, city)
Specifications (CPU, RAM, storage)
Pricing tiers (duration-based discounts)

See: Rent Servers →

Step 2: Rent a server

Renting starts provisioning, and the server is production-ready as soon as provisioning completes. Because it is fully automated, there is no manual setup, no hardware configuration to pick, and no wait measured in weeks.

Rental periods are flexible and carry no commitment contract. Nothing auto-renews: a rental simply ends at rental_end.

Step 3: Group servers into pools

Pools group servers for team access. Your personal servers sit in the default pool; custom pools hold shared team servers with role-based access.

See: Share Servers →

Step 4: Create containers

Containers carry no per-container charge, so the server’s capacity is the only limit. That capacity depends on:

Container resource requirements (CPU, RAM, storage)
Workload types (lightweight or heavy)
Server specifications, which vary by marketplace offering
Dynamic resource sharing across containers

Marketplace listings show server specs, which is what you use to estimate container capacity.

API Endpoints Summary

Server management uses these APIs:

Servers API

GET /api/v1/pools - List your pools and their servers
POST /api/v1/pools - Create pools for team organization
GET /api/v1/servers/available - Browse marketplace
POST /api/v1/servers/{id}/rent - Rent a server

Server Management API

GET /api/v1/servers/{serverId}/available-commands - List executable commands
POST /api/v1/servers/{serverId}/execute-command - Run commands on server

Wallet API

Manage balance for server rentals
View transaction history
Handle payments

Dedicated hardware

Single tenancy

On a rented server, containers run on a physical machine allocated to you alone. There is no shared hypervisor, no virtual partition between you and another tenant, and nothing running on the box that you did not start, so there is no shared infrastructure layer you have to trust.

That matters most when you cannot fully audit what you are running:

AI-generated code
Client data that has to stay separated (agencies, consultancies)
Compliance requirements such as GDPR and HIPAA, where single-tenant hardware makes the story straightforward

Performance predictability

A rented machine has no noisy neighbors. All of its CPU, RAM, and storage is yours, the full disk I/O bandwidth is yours, and there is no resource contention to make performance vary between runs.

Cost at scale

For container workloads, per-VM pricing is what gets expensive: an agency running several environments for each of several clients pays for every one of them. A few servers with many containers on each replaces that with a fixed rental cost.

Agency with multiple clients, multiple environments each

Traditional VPS:
Separate VM per environment = High monthly costs per client

Hoody Bare Metal:
Few servers, unlimited containers = Massive cost reduction
Plus: Unlimited additional containers for experiments

Provisioning time

Most bare-metal providers take one to seven days to provision a machine, with manual configuration and OS installation, a long-term contract, and setup work left to you. A Hoody listing shows its own estimated setup time, from rent to ready. Provisioning is fully automated, the server is production-ready when it completes, and nothing auto-renews: a rental simply ends at rental_end.

Because provisioning finishes without a human in the loop, an AI agent can rent a server through the API and use it in the same session:

// An agent turns a chat request into infrastructure
User: "I need a staging environment for client demo"

AI: *Rents server via API, waits for provisioning to complete*
    "Staging server ready: https://client-demo.hoody.com"
    "Containers deployed: frontend, backend, database"
    "Mock data populated. Demo URL: ..."

Server locations

Hoody servers run in datacenters worldwide. Browse current locations and availability via the Servers API marketplace.

Place servers closest to your users to minimize latency
Check data residency requirements before choosing a region
Use multiple regions for geographic redundancy

If the region you need is not listed, contact support for a custom datacenter request, or check the marketplace for what is currently available.

Server and pool listings

# List all your pools and their servers
hoody pools list

# Get details for a specific pool
hoody pools get $POOL_ID

# Browse marketplace for new servers
hoody servers marketplace

# Execute a command on your server
hoody servers exec $SERVER_ID \
  --command-slug check-uptime \
  --wait

import { HoodyClient } from 'hoody-sdk';

const client = new HoodyClient({ baseURL: 'https://api.hoody.com', token: process.env.HOODY_TOKEN });

// List all pools
const pools = await client.api.pools.list();

// Get pool details
const pool = await client.api.pools.get(poolId);

// Browse marketplace
const available = await client.api.serverRental.browse();

// Execute a server command
const result = await client.api.serverCommands.execute(serverId, {
  command_slug: 'check-uptime',
  wait: true,
});

# List all pools
curl "https://api.hoody.com/api/v1/pools" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOODY_TOKEN"

# Get pool details
curl "https://api.hoody.com/api/v1/pools/$POOL_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOODY_TOKEN"

# Browse marketplace
curl "https://api.hoody.com/api/v1/servers/available" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOODY_TOKEN"

# Execute a server command
curl -X POST "https://api.hoody.com/api/v1/servers/$SERVER_ID/execute-command" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOODY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"command_slug": "check-uptime", "wait": true}'

One request, one link

cURL runs inside your container and can wrap any HTTP request into a single GET URL. The call stops being something you need a client for and becomes something you can paste into a browser, send in a chat, bookmark, schedule with cron, or drop into a no-code tool.

Nothing is installed on the machine that opens it. The link does carry whatever credentials the call needs, so treat it as you would treat those credentials.

Slashes, colons and braces pass through as they are. The one character you must encode is an & inside a value, which happens when the wrapped URL carries its own query string. Left raw it ends the value early, and the rest is read as cURL's own parameters, so you get a 200 on a request you did not make.

How the wrapping works Chaining calls into one link Turning a link into a shortcut

List pools, view one pool’s details, browse the marketplace, or run a predefined command on a server.

# List pools
https://PROJECT_ID-CONTAINER_ID-curl-1.SERVER.containers.hoody.com/api/v1/curl/request?url=https://api.hoody.com/api/v1/pools&method=GET&bearer_token=TOKEN&response=transparent

# Pool details
https://PROJECT_ID-CONTAINER_ID-curl-1.SERVER.containers.hoody.com/api/v1/curl/request?url=https://api.hoody.com/api/v1/pools/POOL_ID&method=GET&bearer_token=TOKEN&response=transparent

# Browse marketplace
https://PROJECT_ID-CONTAINER_ID-curl-1.SERVER.containers.hoody.com/api/v1/curl/request?url=https://api.hoody.com/api/v1/servers/available&method=GET&bearer_token=TOKEN&response=transparent

# Execute command
https://PROJECT_ID-CONTAINER_ID-curl-1.SERVER.containers.hoody.com/api/v1/curl/request?url=https://api.hoody.com/api/v1/servers/SERVER_ID/execute-command&method=POST&bearer_token=TOKEN&json={"command_slug":"check-uptime","wait":true}&response=transparent

The link carries a credential and executes with it, so it is as sensitive as the credential itself — and it passes through the cURL service's request log on the way, not just the target's. Share it only where you would share the secret, and prefer a delegated token with minimal permissions and an expiry: see API tokens.

Pool list

Lists every pool you own or are a member of.

GET List all pools you own or are a member of

/api/v1/pools

Click "Run" to execute the request

The response shows:

All pools you have access to (owned or member)
Your role in each pool (owner or member)
Number of servers in each pool
Member count

Pool details

Returns one pool by ID.

GET Get detailed information about a pool

/api/v1/pools/{id}

Click "Run" to execute the request

The response includes:

Complete pool information
List of all servers assigned to pool
All pool members and their roles
Pool settings and quotas

Marketplace listings

Lists the servers currently available to rent.

GET List available servers for rental

/api/v1/servers/available

Click "Run" to execute the request

Each listing shows server location, specifications, pricing, and availability.

Server commands

Hoody ships a small catalog of predefined commands for uptime, memory usage, and emergency reboot. Operators can configure the live catalog, so list the commands available on the target server rather than assuming others exist.

Eligibility. Non-platform-admin users can run server commands only on a dedicated physical host that their account actively rents. Free-tier servers and shared hosts are not eligible; attempting execution returns 403. Pool membership does not grant this permission.

Available commands

Lists the commands the target server accepts.

GET List available commands for a server

/api/v1/servers/{serverId}/available-commands

Click "Run" to execute the request

Filter by:

category - filter commands by their category (e.g. system)
risk_level - maximum risk level: low, medium, high, critical

Command execution

Runs one predefined command on a server.

POST Run predefined commands on your servers

/api/v1/servers/{serverId}/execute-command

Click "Run" to execute the request

Commands are predefined and safe; there is no SSH access to the host
Risk levels gate dangerous operations
High-risk commands require confirmation tokens
Results are returned immediately or via status polling

The shipped catalog is exactly three commands:

System uptime (check-uptime)
Memory usage (check-memory)
Emergency kernel reboot (kexec-reboot)

Commands that would expose filesystem paths, running processes, service state or network reachability are deliberately not offered. List what your server supports via GET /api/v1/servers/{serverId}/available-commands.

Server monitoring

Resource usage

CPU, RAM, storage, and network usage are visible:

In the Hoody dashboard, as graphs
Through the API, programmatically
Through server commands for memory only (check-memory); storage and network reports are not available as server commands

Containers per server

List all containers on a server
See resource usage per container
Identify heavy and light workloads
Rebalance if needed

Rental status

Track the rental lifecycle:

Active rental period
Expiration date
Days remaining
Grace period status

Renewal is manual. Monitor the rental through the API or the dashboard, set calendar reminders for the expiration date, and renew before it passes to avoid data loss.

Rental terms

Servers can be rented for as little as 1 day, and longer periods get automatic discounts. Available durations vary by marketplace offer, so check the current options when browsing servers.

Terms:

No long-term contracts
A grace period after expiration (the hold period)
Renewal at any point during the hold, with no data loss
Manual renewal, required before expiration
No early cancellation and no refund for unused time. A rental runs to rental_end, enters the hold period, and is then deprovisioned unless you renew.

Payment:

Deducted from your general balance (see Wallet)
Billed automatically when the rental starts
Itemized on an invoice

Use Cases

Solo developer

Rent 1 server for all projects
Run dozens of containers (personal + client work)
Each project: dev, staging, prod environments
AI experimentation playground

Small team (5-10 people)

Rent 2 servers
Organize into pools for team access
Many containers across all team projects
Shared resources, isolated projects

Digital agency

Rent multiple servers
One pool per major client, so no client shares a server with another
High container density per server
Per-client cost attribution

Enterprise development

Rent 10+ servers distributed globally
Production, staging, development separated
Hundreds or thousands of containers
Geographic redundancy and compliance

Best Practices

Server selection:

Start with a mid-tier server and monitor usage for the first month
Upgrade only when consistently hitting >80% resource usage
Don’t over-provision speculatively

Organization:

Use pools to group related servers (team, client, environment)
Name servers clearly (purpose, location, tier)
Document which containers run on which servers

Cost management:

Monitor container density to see whether the server is being used
Delete unused containers to free resources
Use snapshots instead of keeping idle containers running
Consolidate low-usage containers to fewer servers

Security:

Separate production from development servers
Use different pools for different clients/teams
Enable appropriate firewall rules per server
Rotate credentials regularly

Performance:

Place latency-sensitive containers on servers closest to users
Group communicating containers on same server
Monitor resource usage and rebalance as needed

Useful Questions

How long does server provisioning really take?

Each marketplace listing shows its own estimated setup time, and in-stock machines are ready shortly after purchase. Hoody keeps a pool of ready-to-provision hardware across its datacenters, which is what removes the days-to-weeks wait most bare-metal providers have.

What if I need more than what’s in the marketplace?

Contact support with your requirements (location, specs, quantity). Hoody works with reliable datacenter partners and can provision custom configurations, though it may take longer than an instant marketplace rental.

Can I have servers in multiple regions?

Yes. Rent servers in different locations as needed. Containers on different servers communicate via their public URLs (through Hoody Proxy). Use Realms to isolate API visibility and control across environments, tenants, or automation.

What happens when my rental expires?

You enter a hold period (grace period) where the server remains active but you’re prompted to renew. If you renew during this time, no data is lost. After the hold period, the server is deprovisioned and data is deleted.

Can I move containers between servers?

Yes, through container copy/sync. You can copy or move containers from one server to another, preserving all state, files, and configuration.

How do I know which server a container is running on?

Container URLs include the server identifier. The Hoody dashboard also shows server assignments. You can manage this through the API or UI.

What’s included in server rental cost?

The tier price covers hardware, bandwidth, storage, automated management, updates, monitoring, and support, with no bandwidth overage charges, no storage tiers, and no per-container fee. Some listings additionally carry a one-time setup fee (pricing.setup_fee_cents) charged once when the rental starts and never on renewal; pricing.price_tiers[days].total_first_payment is the full amount debited on that first payment.

Troubleshooting

Server provisioning takes longer than the listing’s estimate

Cause: High demand in specific datacenter or rare hardware allocation delay

Solution: Check the dashboard for status updates; provisioning may be retrying automatically. If it sits well past the listing’s estimated setup time with no progress, contact support.

Can’t spawn containers on server

Cause: Server still completing post-provisioning setup, or resource exhaustion

Solution: Wait 1-2 more minutes for complete initialization. Check server resource usage in dashboard. If server shows “ready” and resources available but containers won’t spawn, check error logs or contact support.

Server performance degraded

Cause: Too many containers or resource-heavy workloads

Solution: Check resource usage in dashboard. Identify resource-heavy containers. Consider: setting resource limits on specific containers, moving some containers to another server, or upgrading to higher-tier server.

Payment declined during rental

Cause: Insufficient balance or payment method issues

Solution: Add funds to your general balance via Wallet. Ensure payment method is valid and not expired. Rental will retry automatically once balance is sufficient.

Lost access to server after expiration

Cause: Hold period ended, server deprovisioned

Solution: If still within hold period, renew immediately to restore access. If already deprovisioned, server and data are gone. Always set calendar reminders for critical server renewals.

What’s Next

Rent Servers → - Browse the marketplace and provision a machine
Share Servers → - Organize servers with pools
Projects & Containers → - What runs on servers
Server Management API → - Full API reference
Wallet → - Manage billing and payments