Lambda Labs CLI

An unofficial command-line interface for managing Lambda Labs cloud GPU instances with advanced scheduling capabilities.

⚠️ Disclaimer: This is an unofficial tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Lambda Labs. Use at your own risk.

Why This CLI?

Lambda Labs provides powerful GPU instances but lacks advanced automation tools. This CLI fills that gap by providing:

• Cost Control: Automated instance termination to prevent surprise bills
• Workflow Automation: Schedule instances to start/stop based on your work schedule
• Better UX: Rich terminal interface with clear, organized output
• SSH Integration: Seamless SSH key management using your existing keys
• Filesystem Management: Easy handling of persistent storage with smart defaults

Features

• Instance Management: List, create, and terminate instances
• Filesystem Management: Manage filesystems with default filesystem support
• SSH Key Integration: Automatic SSH key management using your existing keys
• Smart Scheduling: Create cron jobs for automated instance management
• Configuration Management: Easy API key and SSH directory configuration

Installation

From GitHub (Recommended)

# Using uv (recommended)
uv pip install git+https://github.com/rmcwhorter/lambdalabs-cli.git

# Or using pip
pip install git+https://github.com/rmcwhorter/lambdalabs-cli.git

Development Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/rmcwhorter/lambdalabs-cli.git
cd lambdalabs-cli

# Install in development mode
uv pip install -e .
# or
pip install -e .

Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• A Lambda Labs account and API key

Quick Start

1. Get your Lambda Labs API key from the Lambda Labs dashboard

2. Set your API key:

lambdalabs config set-api-key YOUR_API_KEY

3. Verify the setup:

# Check configuration
lambdalabs config show

# List your current instances
lambdalabs instances list

# View available instance types and regions
lambdalabs info

4. Create your first scheduled job (optional):

# Terminate all instances every day at midnight (cost protection)
lambdalabs schedule add-recurring-termination --cron "0 0 * * *" --description "Daily cleanup"

Core Commands

Instance Management

# List all instances
lambdalabs instances list

# Create a new instance
lambdalabs instances create --type gpu_1x_a10 --region us-south-1 --name my-instance

# Terminate an instance
lambdalabs instances terminate INSTANCE_ID

# Terminate all instances
lambdalabs instances terminate-all

Filesystem Management

# List filesystems
lambdalabs filesystems list

# Set default filesystem (used automatically when creating instances)
lambdalabs filesystems set-default FILESYSTEM_NAME

# Create a new filesystem
lambdalabs filesystems create my-filesystem --region us-south-1

Scheduling (Cron Jobs)

Schedule automatic instance management:

# Terminate all instances in 30 minutes
lambdalabs schedule add-termination --in 30

# Terminate all instances at 6 PM
lambdalabs schedule add-termination --at 18:00

# Ensure an instance exists every weekday at 9 AM (idempotent)
lambdalabs schedule add-startup --type gpu_1x_a10 --region us-south-1 --name my-workstation --cron "0 9 * * 1-5"

# Terminate specific instance every weekday at 6 PM
lambdalabs schedule add-recurring-termination --instance-name my-workstation --cron "0 18 * * 1-5"

# Or terminate all instances every weekday at 6 PM
lambdalabs schedule add-recurring-termination --all --cron "0 18 * * 1-5"

# List all scheduled jobs
lambdalabs schedule list

# Disable a job
lambdalabs schedule disable JOB_ID

# Remove a job
lambdalabs schedule remove JOB_ID

# Clear all scheduled jobs
lambdalabs schedule clear

Configuration

# Show current configuration (API key partially redacted)
lambdalabs config show

# Show configuration with full API key
lambdalabs config show --full

# Get just the API key (useful for scripting)
lambdalabs config get-api-key

# Set API key
lambdalabs config set-api-key YOUR_API_KEY

# Set SSH directory
lambdalabs config set-ssh-dir /path/to/ssh/keys

# Rotate API key
lambdalabs config rotate

Configuration

The CLI stores configuration in ~/.lambdalabs/config.toml:

api_key = "your_api_key_here"
ssh_dir = "/Users/you/.ssh"
default_filesystem = "your_default_filesystem"

SSH Key Management

The CLI automatically uses SSH keys from your configured SSH directory (default: ~/.ssh). It looks for:

• id_rsa.pub
• id_ed25519.pub
• id_ecdsa.pub

If no SSH keys are found in Lambda Labs, it will automatically upload your first available public key.

Scheduling Examples

Create a development workflow:

# Ensure dev instance exists every weekday morning (idempotent)
lambdalabs schedule add-startup \
  --type gpu_1x_a10 \
  --region us-south-1 \
  --name dev-workstation \
  --filesystem my-data \
  --cron "0 9 * * 1-5" \
  --description "Daily dev workstation"

# Shut down the specific instance every evening
lambdalabs schedule add-recurring-termination \
  --instance-name dev-workstation \
  --cron "0 18 * * 1-5" \
  --description "Evening shutdown"

Key Benefits:

• Idempotent: Running the startup schedule multiple times won't create duplicate instances
• Named instances: Easy to identify and manage specific workstations
• Cost effective: Instances only run when needed (9 AM - 6 PM weekdays)
• Persistent storage: Filesystem automatically attached to maintain work between sessions

Error Handling

The CLI provides clear error messages and suggestions. Common issues:

• No capacity: Try a different instance type or region
• No SSH keys: The CLI will automatically upload your SSH key
• Invalid cron schedule: Use standard cron format (minute hour day month weekday)
• API authentication errors: Verify your API key with lambdalabs config show --full

Security Notes

• API Key Storage: Keys are stored in ~/.lambdalabs/config.toml with file permissions 644
• Cron Jobs: Scheduled jobs run with your user privileges
• SSH Keys: The CLI only reads public keys from your SSH directory
• No Key Logging: API keys are never logged or printed unless explicitly requested

Contributing

This is an unofficial community project. Contributions are welcome!

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Make your changes
4. Add tests if applicable
5. Submit a pull request

Development

Built with:

• Python 3.11+
• Click for CLI framework
• Rich for beautiful terminal output
• python-crontab for scheduling
• requests for API communication

Local Development

git clone https://github.com/rmcwhorter/lambdalabs-cli.git
cd lambdalabs-cli
uv pip install -e .

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Command not found after installation:

# Make sure the installation path is in your PATH
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"  # For pip
# or check where uv installed it
uv pip show lambdalabs-cli

Cron jobs not working:

# Check if crontab service is running
# On macOS: launchctl list | grep cron
# On Linux: systemctl status cron

# Verify jobs are installed
crontab -l | grep lambdalabs-cli

API connection issues:

# Test your API key directly
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $(lambdalabs config get-api-key)" \
     https://cloud.lambda.ai/api/v1/instances

License

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2024 Lambda Labs CLI Contributors

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.