# /vantage/instances/search

`POST /api/vantage/instances/search`

Price: 10 credits

Search a cloud instance-type catalogue by specs, family and region availability

## How to use it

Pick instance types out of one catalogue by hardware shape — vCPU and memory bands, GPU count, architecture, family, bare metal, generation — ordered by type name, vCPU, memory or the cheapest on-demand rate. Matching is exact and literal over the whole catalogue rather than a relevance ranking: `query` is a case-insensitive substring of the type name, display name, family or processor, so nothing is dropped for being a weak match and nothing is added for being similar. `offered_in_region` keeps types that carry a price in a region, while `regions` only chooses which regions' prices come back — ask both when you want cheap types in one region. Each result carries the full spec, benchmark and pricing block, so a follow-up call per type is rarely needed.

## Parameters

- `access-token` (string, required)

## Request body

- `timeout` (integer) — Max scrapping execution timeout (in seconds) (default: 300; min: 20; max: 1500)
- `catalog` (string, required) — Which cloud catalogue to read (one of: "aws_ec2", "aws_rds", "aws_elasticache", "aws_redshift", "aws_opensearch", "azure_vm", "gcp_compute")
- `count` (integer, required) — Max number of instance types to return (min: 1; max: 300)
- `offset` (integer) — How many matching instance types to skip before the first returned one, in sort order (default: 0; min: 0)
- `query` (string) — Case-insensitive substring matched against the instance type, its display name and family (default: ""; examples: "m7g", "graviton", "highmem")
- `min_vcpu` (number, nullable) — Keep types with at least this many vCPUs
- `max_vcpu` (number, nullable) — Keep types with at most this many vCPUs
- `min_memory_gb` (number, nullable) — Keep types with at least this much memory, in GB
- `max_memory_gb` (number, nullable) — Keep types with at most this much memory, in GB
- `min_gpu_count` (integer, nullable) — Keep types with at least this many GPUs attached
- `architecture` (string) — Keep types whose processor architecture matches, case-insensitive (default: ""; examples: "arm64", "x86_64", "64-bit")
- `family` (string) — Case-insensitive substring matched against the family or category label (default: ""; examples: "General purpose", "memory", "Dense Compute")
- `bare_metal` (boolean, nullable) — Keep only bare-metal types, or only virtualised ones
- `current_generation` (boolean, nullable) — Keep only current-generation types, or only previous-generation ones
- `offered_in_region` (string) — Keep only types that carry a price in this region code (default: ""; examples: "us-east-1", "eu-west-1", "us-central1")
- `regions` (array, required) — Region codes whose prices are returned, in the provider's own spelling (AWS 'us-east-1', GCP 'us-central1', Azure 'east-us'). At least one is required (examples: ["us-east-1"], ["us-east-1","eu-west-1"]; minItems: 1)
- `sort` (string) — Field the results are ordered by (default: "instance_type"; one of: "instance_type", "vcpu", "memory", "on_demand_price")
- `descending` (boolean) — Reverse the sort order (default: false)

## Response

### 200 — Successful Response

- `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstance")
- `instance_type` (string, required)
- `catalog` (string, required) (one of: "aws_ec2", "aws_rds", "aws_elasticache", "aws_redshift", "aws_opensearch", "azure_vm", "gcp_compute")
- `provider` (string, required)
- `service` (string, required)
- `url` (string, required)
- `name` (string, nullable)
- `azure_name` (string, nullable)
- `family` (string, nullable)
- `family_code` (string, nullable)
- `category` (string, nullable)
- `generation` (string, nullable)
- `is_current_generation` (boolean, nullable)
- `date_introduced` (string, nullable)
- `service_code` (string, nullable)
- `service_name` (string, nullable)
- `compute` (object, nullable)
  - `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstanceCompute")
  - `vcpu` (number, nullable)
  - `cores` (integer, nullable)
  - `vcpus_available` (integer, nullable)
  - `vcpus_per_core` (integer, nullable)
  - `memory_gb` (number, nullable)
  - `memory_per_vcpu_gb` (number, nullable)
  - `memory_speed_mhz` (integer, nullable)
  - `physical_processor` (string, nullable)
  - `processor_architecture` (string, nullable)
  - `processor_features` (string, nullable)
  - `architectures` (array) (default: [])
  - `clock_speed` (string, nullable)
  - `ecu` (number, nullable)
  - `ecu_per_vcpu` (number, nullable)
  - `azure_compute_units` (integer, nullable)
  - `normalization_size_factor` (number, nullable)
  - `azure_size_rank` (integer, nullable)
  - `is_bare_metal` (boolean, nullable)
  - `is_shared_cpu` (boolean, nullable)
  - `is_compute_optimized` (boolean, nullable)
  - `is_memory_optimized` (boolean, nullable)
  - `vcpu_by_engine` (object) (default: {})
    - `*` (string)
- `storage` (object, nullable)
  - `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstanceStorage")
  - `description` (string, nullable)
  - `local_disk` (object, nullable)
    - `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstanceLocalDisk")
    - `devices` (integer, nullable)
    - `size` (number, nullable)
    - `size_unit` (string, nullable)
    - `is_ssd` (boolean, nullable)
    - `is_nvme_ssd` (boolean, nullable)
    - `trim_support` (boolean, nullable)
    - `needs_initialization` (boolean, nullable)
    - `includes_swap_partition` (boolean, nullable)
    - `max_write_disks` (integer, nullable)
    - `read_iops` (integer, nullable)
    - `write_iops` (integer, nullable)
  - `ebs` (object, nullable)
    - `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstanceEbs")
    - `optimized` (boolean, nullable)
    - `presented_as_nvme` (boolean, nullable)
    - `iops` (integer, nullable)
    - `baseline_iops` (integer, nullable)
    - `max_bandwidth_mbps` (integer, nullable)
    - `baseline_bandwidth_mbps` (integer, nullable)
    - `throughput_mibps` (number, nullable)
    - `baseline_throughput_mibps` (number, nullable)
    - `dedicated_throughput` (string, nullable)
    - `min_volume` (string, nullable)
    - `max_gp2_volume` (string, nullable)
    - `max_gp3_volume` (string, nullable)
  - `azure_disk` (object, nullable)
    - `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstanceAzureDisk")
    - `iops` (integer, nullable)
    - `read_mbps` (integer, nullable)
    - `write_mbps` (integer, nullable)
    - `cached_disk_gb` (integer, nullable)
    - `uncached_disk_gb` (integer, nullable)
    - `uncached_disk_iops` (integer, nullable)
    - `premium_io` (boolean, nullable)
    - `ultra_ssd` (boolean, nullable)
  - `has_local_ssd` (boolean, nullable)
  - `local_ssd_size_gb` (integer, nullable)
  - `ssd_capacity` (string, nullable)
  - `max_storage` (string, nullable)
  - `node_capacity` (string, nullable)
  - `capacity_per_node` (string, nullable)
  - `multi_node_capacity` (string, nullable)
  - `io_throughput` (string, nullable)
- `network` (object, nullable)
  - `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstanceNetwork")
  - `performance` (string, nullable)
  - `baseline_bandwidth_gbps` (number, nullable)
  - `burst_bandwidth_gbps` (number, nullable)
  - `enhanced_networking` (boolean, nullable)
  - `accelerated_networking` (boolean, nullable)
  - `rdma` (boolean, nullable)
  - `ipv6_support` (boolean, nullable)
  - `placement_group_support` (boolean, nullable)
  - `trunking_compatible` (boolean, nullable)
  - `branch_interfaces` (integer, nullable)
  - `max_ecs_tasks` (integer, nullable)
  - `max_kubernetes_pods` (integer, nullable)
  - `vpc_only` (boolean, nullable)
  - `vpc` (object, nullable)
    - `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstanceVpc")
    - `max_network_interfaces` (integer, nullable)
    - `ips_per_interface` (integer, nullable)
- `accelerators` (object, nullable)
  - `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstanceAccelerators")
  - `gpu_count` (number, nullable)
  - `gpu_model` (string, nullable)
  - `gpu_memory_gb` (number, nullable)
  - `gpu_architectures` (array) (default: [])
  - `compute_capability` (number, nullable)
  - `gpu_clocks` (array) (default: [])
    - `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstanceGpuClocks")
    - `graphics_clock_mhz` (integer, nullable)
    - `sm_clock_mhz` (integer, nullable)
    - `memory_clock_mhz` (integer, nullable)
    - `video_clock_mhz` (integer, nullable)
  - `gpu_average_temperature_celsius` (number, nullable)
  - `gpu_average_power_draw_watts` (number, nullable)
  - `fpga_count` (integer, nullable)
- `benchmarks` (object, nullable)
  - `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstanceBenchmarks")
  - `coremark_iterations_per_second` (number, nullable)
  - `ffmpeg_fps` (number, nullable)
  - `ffmpeg_speed` (number, nullable)
  - `ffmpeg_used_cuda` (boolean, nullable)
- `numa` (object, nullable)
  - `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstanceNuma")
  - `uses_numa` (boolean, nullable)
  - `node_count` (integer, nullable)
  - `max_distance` (integer, nullable)
  - `cores_per_node` (integer, nullable)
  - `threads_per_node` (integer, nullable)
  - `memory_per_node_mb` (number, nullable)
  - `l3_cache_per_node_mb` (number, nullable)
  - `l3_cache_shared` (boolean, nullable)
- `features` (object, nullable)
  - `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstanceFeatures")
  - `intel_avx` (boolean, nullable)
  - `intel_avx2` (boolean, nullable)
  - `intel_avx512` (boolean, nullable)
  - `intel_turbo` (boolean, nullable)
  - `nitro_support` (boolean, nullable)
  - `nitro_enclave_support` (boolean, nullable)
  - `eks_auto_mode` (boolean, nullable)
  - `emr_support` (boolean, nullable)
  - `linux_virtualization_types` (array) (default: [])
  - `baseline_cpu_performance` (number, nullable)
  - `burst_minutes` (integer, nullable)
  - `hyperv_generations` (string, nullable)
  - `vm_deployment` (string, nullable)
  - `confidential_computing` (boolean, nullable)
  - `trusted_launch` (boolean, nullable)
  - `hibernation` (boolean, nullable)
  - `low_priority` (boolean, nullable)
  - `capacity_reservation_support` (boolean, nullable)
  - `host_encryption` (boolean, nullable)
  - `memory_preserving_maintenance` (boolean, nullable)
  - `cache_engine` (string, nullable)
  - `engine_support` (array) (default: [])
    - `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstanceEngineSupport")
    - `engine` (string, required)
    - `min_version` (string, nullable)
    - `max_version` (string, nullable)
  - `engine_media_type` (string, nullable)
  - `deployment_model` (string, nullable)
  - `unbundled_licensing` (boolean, nullable)
  - `windows_license_multiplier` (number, nullable)
  - `max_clients` (integer, nullable)
  - `max_http_payload` (string, nullable)
  - `memcached_max_cache_memory_mb` (number, nullable)
  - `memcached_threads` (integer, nullable)
  - `redis_maxmemory_bytes` (number, nullable)
  - `redis_replica_output_buffer_hard_limit_bytes` (number, nullable)
  - `redis_replica_output_buffer_soft_limit_bytes` (number, nullable)
  - `node_range` (string, nullable)
  - `multi_node_range` (string, nullable)
  - `slices_per_node` (integer, nullable)
  - `reserved_year` (string, nullable)
- `regions` (array) (default: [])
  - `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstanceRegion")
  - `code` (string, required)
  - `name` (string, nullable)
  - `availability_zones` (array) (default: [])
- `pricing` (array) (default: [])
  - `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstanceRegionPricing")
  - `region` (string, required)
  - `region_name` (string, nullable)
  - `price_sets` (array) (default: [])
    - `@type` (string) (default: "VantageInstancePriceSet")
    - `platform` (string, nullable)
    - `on_demand` (number, nullable)
    - `prices` (object) (default: {})
      - `*` (number)
    - `reserved` (object) (default: {})
      - `*` (number)
    - `variants` (array) (default: [])
    - `percentages` (object) (default: {})
      - `*` (number)

## Errors

### 422 — Validation Error

The request body did not validate

What to do: Check the fields against this schema. A URN with the wrong prefix is the most common cause.

- `detail` (array)
  - `loc` (array, required)
  - `msg` (string, required)
  - `type` (string, required)
  - `input` (any)
  - `ctx` (object)

### 408

The request ran past its time limit

What to do: Raise `timeout` in the request body, up to the maximum this endpoint documents. Lowering `count` or turning off the `with_*` flags also helps, because less work finishes sooner.

### 412

The entity was not found, or a precondition failed

What to do: Retrying will not help: either the entity does not exist, or the input points at a different one.

### 429

Too many requests: a rate limit or a usage window is exhausted

What to do: When the response carries an X-Retry-After header, wait that many seconds and retry: the same number is in the body as `detail.retry_after`, and the limit clears once that window passes. The message in the body names the limit that was hit.

### 500

Something broke on our side

What to do: Retrying will not help. If it keeps happening, send us the X-Request-ID from the response headers.

### 529

Rate limit reached, or the endpoint is overloaded

What to do: Wait at least 30 seconds, then retry.

## Response envelope

Success: Array of objects (may be empty if no results)

Error: Error may coexist with partial results if it occurs mid-execution. Check X-Error header and status code.

Every response carries these headers:

- `X-Error` — Error message text (present only on error)
- `X-Request-ID` — Unique request identifier
- `X-Execution-Time` — Execution time in seconds
- `X-Result-Count` — How many records the body carries. 0 means an empty result, which is a normal answer and not by itself an error. A non-zero count can come back together with X-Error when the failure happened partway through — read this header and X-Error independently.
- `X-Total-Available-Results` — How many records exist for this query, when the endpoint can say. On a `dry_run` request this is the answer and the body is empty. It saturates: the endpoint's documented maximum means 'at least that many', any smaller number is exact.
- `X-Warning` — Present when the request body carried keys this endpoint does not document. They were ignored, so any filter you meant to apply through them did not apply. Check the spelling against this schema and retry.
- `X-Retry-After` — Seconds to wait before retrying. Present only on 429.