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Quick Start Guide

This guide will walk you through your first pod creation and management workflow with the Lium CLI.

Prerequisites​

Before starting, make sure you have installed and configured the Lium CLI. See the Installation Guide for detailed instructions.

Step 1: Browse Available GPUs​

List available GPU nodes:

lium ls

This shows a table with:

  • Node index numbers
  • GPU types (H100, A100, RTX 4090, etc.)
  • Pricing per hour
  • Available memory and storage
  • Pareto-optimal choices marked with ★

Filter by GPU type:

lium ls --gpu H100  # Show only H100 GPUs
lium ls --gpu A100  # Show only A100 GPUs

The GPU filter has one entry per family: H100, H200, H800, A100 80GB, RTX PRO 6000, RTX PRO 4500 and B300 SXM6. Ticking a family shows every model name in it, for example NVIDIA H100 80GB HBM3, NVIDIA H100 PCIe and NVIDIA H100 NVL under H100. In lium ls, the Config column shows the GPU count and a short model name, for example 1×H100 or 8×B300. lium ls --gpu matches every model with that short name, so lium ls --gpu H100 shows all three H100 models and lium ls --gpu B300 shows both AC and PC. Pricing rows and /gpu/... pages stay one per exact model, because the models in a family have different prices. The one exception is the B300 SXM6: AC and PC are the same card at one price, so they share a row and a page.

Step 2: Create Your First Pod​

Create a pod using a node from the list:

lium up 1  # Uses node #1 from the list

You'll be prompted to select a template from the available options. You can filter the templates during selection.

Filtering Nodes​

You can filter nodes automatically using various criteria:

# Filter by GPU type
lium up --gpu H200

# Filter by GPU type and count
lium up --gpu A6000 -c 2

# Filter by country
lium up --country US

# Combine filters
lium up --gpu H200 --country FR

# Ensure minimum available ports (and allocate them)
lium up --ports 5

Step 3: Check Pod Status​

View your active pods:

lium ps

This displays:

  • Pod names and IDs
  • Status (running, stopped, etc.)
  • Uptime and costs
  • SSH connection details

Step 4: Connect to Your Pod​

SSH Access​

Connect via SSH:

lium ssh my-pod

Or use the pod number from lium ps:

lium ssh 1

Execute Commands​

Run commands without SSH:

lium exec my-pod "nvidia-smi"
lium exec my-pod "python --version"

Step 5: Transfer Files​

Copy Files to Pod​

Copy a single file:

lium scp my-pod ./script.py

Copy to specific location:

lium scp my-pod ./data.csv /root/datasets/

Copy to multiple pods:

lium scp 1,2,3 ./model.py
lium scp all ./config.json  # All pods

Sync Directories​

Synchronize entire directories:

lium rsync my-pod ./project
lium rsync my-pod ./data /root/datasets/

Step 6: Stop Your Pod​

Remove a pod when done:

lium rm my-pod

Remove multiple pods:

lium rm pod1 pod2 pod3
lium rm all  # Every pod on the account — see Clean Up

Complete Example Workflow​

Here's a complete machine learning training workflow:

# 1. List available GPUs and choose one
lium ls --gpu A100

# 2. Create a pod with filters (auto-selects best matching node)
lium up --gpu A100 --country US --name ml-training

# Or create with a specific node
lium up 1 --name ml-training

# 3. Copy your training code
lium scp ml-training ./train.py
lium rsync ml-training ./data /root/datasets/

# 4. Install dependencies (a custom template may need --break-system-packages; the default does not)
lium exec ml-training "pip install -r requirements.txt"

# 5. Start training
lium exec ml-training "python train.py --epochs 100"

# 6. Monitor progress
lium ssh ml-training
# Inside pod: tail -f training.log

# 7. Copy results back
lium scp ml-training /root/models/best_model.pt ./ -d

# 8. Clean up
lium rm ml-training

Using Templates​

List available templates:

lium templates

Search for specific templates:

lium templates pytorch
lium templates tensorflow

Create pod and select template:

lium up 1
# You'll be prompted to select from available templates

Cost Management​

Monitor Spending​

Check current costs:

lium ps  # Shows hourly rate and total spent

Fund Your Account​

Add funds with TAO:

lium fund  # Interactive mode
lium fund -w my-wallet -a 10.0  # Fund 10 TAO

Or top up with a stablecoin — lium topup returns a deposit address to send to (ideal for agents that self-fund):

lium topup create -a 20 -c USDT -n tron  # $20 invoice; prints deposit address

See lium topup for the full self-funding loop.

Tips and Best Practices​

1. Use Pareto-Optimal Nodes​

Look for ★ symbols in lium ls - these offer the best price/performance.

2. Name Your Pods​

Use descriptive names for easier management:

lium up 1 --name experiment-bert-v2

3. Batch Operations​

Copy files to multiple pods efficiently:

lium scp all ./updated_config.json

4. Monitor Resources​

Check GPU utilization:

lium exec my-pod "nvidia-smi"

5. Clean Up​

Always remove pods when done to avoid charges:

lium rm my-pod

lium rm all removes every pod on the account, including ones other people or agents started. Prefer naming what you want gone. Better still, set a deadline at creation time so a forgotten pod stops billing on its own:

lium up 1 --name my-pod --ttl 2h

Next Steps​