Pause, stop and timeouts
Pause keeps saved memory for resume. Stop preserves the disk but discards memory. Delete starts the separate deletion and purge lifecycle. These actions have different data and billing consequences; a legal hold may require preservation even when a non-destructive stop is permitted.
Three independent clocks
| Clock | Default and bounds | What expiry means |
|---|---|---|
| Computer run timer | 3,600 seconds; finite values 1 through 2,592,000 | The configured on_timeout lifecycle action (pause by default, or stop) |
| Setup script | 900 seconds; 1 through 86,400 | Setup failure, independent of the run timer |
| Exec / process | Foreground SDK exec defaults to 60 seconds; a background process has no deadline unless you set one | That process's timeout, not an extension of the computer timer |
Always-on stores the run-timer configuration but leaves it inactive. On-demand starts the timer when the computer is observed running, independently of later setup readiness. Pausing or stopping clears the current deadline; the next start or resume uses the stored duration.
Extend before expiry
Extend applies only to a running on-demand computer with an active, unexpired deadline. A relative extension adds to the remaining time; an absolute deadline must be in the future and within the 30-day horizon. Extend does not change the stored default timeout. Updating timeout_seconds while running instead sets a deadline relative to now. Updating only on_timeout does not move the current deadline.
An already due timer is already being handled by the platform and may return 409 rather than accepting an extension. computer.timeout_expiring is emitted once per deadline version, five minutes before expiry, or immediately for a newly installed deadline less than five minutes away. Treat events as a warning and verify the current state before retrying.
Paused memory can age out after 30 days with seven days' notice, except where a legal hold requires preservation. Keep important data on disk and in independent backups. Lifecycle and Events show how to observe actual transitions. The exact PATCH and extend rules are on the Computers page.
Safety pauses and held data
Pauses for low balance, spend limits and timeouts are retried with capped backoff. Low-balance enforcement can fall back to stop after repeated refusal; spend-limit pauses do not fall back to stop. A legal hold turns a destructive request into 409 invalid_state with retryable: false; non-destructive pause and stop remain subject to the lifecycle table. No hold-release date is promised.
Dory is in development; these pages describe the planned service and may change. Questions: support@computeengines.com.