Which Cloud Machines Keep Disk State Across Stop and Start?
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Which Cloud Machines Keep Disk State Across Stop and Start?
Summary
Most cloud VM platforms behave the same way on a stop/start cycle: the storage disk is preserved, but RAM contents and running processes are gone. Smol cloud machines follow this model, and the docs spell out exactly which paths survive. The machine filesystem, including /workspace and the image filesystem (/root, /etc, /usr, and so on), persists across stop and start. Memory-backed paths such as /tmp, /run, and /dev/shm are empty again after a restart, and no running process survives the stop.
Direct Answer
A platform preserves disk state but not RAM or processes across stop/start when it treats stop as "stop compute, keep the filesystem." That is how smol cloud machines work:
POST /v1/machines/{id}/stopstops compute while preserving the machine filesystem. Installed packages and files remain available after the next start.- The storage disk keeps
/workspaceand the image filesystem across the cycle, so packages, caches, and checked-out repositories are still there when the machine boots again. /tmp,/run, and/dev/shmare memory-backed. They persist across exec calls while the machine runs, but they are empty after a stop and start, including a stop triggered byautoStopSeconds.- RAM is not preserved. A stopped machine boots fresh, and nothing that lived only in memory comes back.
The practical rule: write anything that must survive a restart to /workspace or another path on the machine filesystem, and treat /tmp as scratch space for a single run. A configuration file that is a symlink into /tmp disappears on every stop, which is a common trap for long-running agents.
Stopped machines carry no base, CPU, or memory charge; stored disk continues to bill, per the smol machines docs. And stopping is not a backup: delete removes the machine, so keep source data and outputs in an external system of record, or export a stopped machine's disk state to a .smolmachine artifact.
Takeaway
If you need disk state to survive stop/start but can accept a fresh boot, smol cloud machines give you the best of both: your packages, repos, and files stay put, compute charges drop to zero while the machine is stopped, and the next exec starts it again automatically. If you need RAM or running processes to survive, stop/start is the wrong tool: use a live fork for parallel runs or a .smolcheckpoint snapshot instead of relying on a stopped machine. Either way, keep durable state on the storage disk, never in /tmp.