User Guides

Comprehensive guides for common workflows and tasks with soong CLI.

Getting Started

If you haven't configured soong yet, start with the Quick Start guide.

Available Guides

Core Workflows

• Launching Instances - Start GPU instances with the right configuration
• Managing Leases - Monitor and extend your instance leases
• SSH Tunneling - Access remote services securely through SSH tunnels

Configuration and Optimization

• Model Management - Choose, configure, and add custom models
• Cost Optimization - Strategies to minimize GPU costs

Quick Navigation

I want to...

• Launch a new instance → Launching Instances
• Check how much time I have left → Managing Leases
• Access web services on my instance → SSH Tunneling
• Add a custom model → Model Management
• Save money on GPU costs → Cost Optimization

Common Use Cases

Development Workflow

graph LR
    A[Start Instance] --> B[SSH Tunnel]
    B --> C[Develop/Test]
    C --> D{Need More Time?}
    D -->|Yes| E[Extend Lease]
    D -->|No| F[Stop Instance]
    E --> C

1. Launch an instance with your preferred model and GPU
2. Start SSH tunnel to access services
3. Develop and test your application
4. Monitor lease time periodically
5. Extend if needed or stop when done

Model Selection Strategy

graph TD
    A[Need GPU?] -->|Complex Reasoning| B[DeepSeek-R1 70B]
    A -->|Fast Coding| C[Qwen2.5-Coder 32B]
    A -->|Budget| D[Qwen2.5-Coder 32B INT4]
    A -->|General Purpose| E[Llama 3.1 70B]
    A -->|Quick Tasks| F[Llama 3.1 8B]

    B --> G[A100 80GB]
    C --> H[A6000 48GB]
    D --> I[A10 24GB]
    E --> G
    F --> I

See Model Management for detailed model comparisons.

Cost Control Features

soong includes several safety mechanisms to prevent runaway costs:

1. Lease System - All instances have a maximum 8-hour lease
2. Idle Detection - Automatic shutdown after 30 minutes of inactivity
3. Cost Confirmations - Preview costs before launching or extending
4. Lease Extensions - Explicit action required to keep instances running

Learn more in Cost Optimization.

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions:

• SSH tunnel won't start: Check SSH Tunneling Guide
• Instance won't launch: See Launching Instances
• Lease expired unexpectedly: Review Managing Leases

Next Steps

• Review the CLI Reference for all available commands
• Read about Architecture to understand how it works