# Pause, resume and delete a Cloider app

> Pause a Cloider app to stop paying for its compute while keeping its image, variables and domains, resume it on the same version, or delete it with its subdomains.

**Pausing** an app stops its container but keeps everything it needs to come back: its live version, its image, its
environment variables, its domains and its build history. A paused app costs nothing for compute. **Resuming** starts it
again on the same version. **Deleting** an app removes it for good, together with its images and, by default, its free
subdomains. This page covers all three and what each one costs. Pausing a [cron job](/apps/cron-jobs) stops its schedule
and a run going at that moment, and resuming it puts the schedule back.

## At a glance

| | Pause | Resume | Delete |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Container** | Stopped | Started on the version it was serving | Removed |
| **Image, variables, builds** | Kept | Kept | Removed |
| **Free subdomain** | Kept, answers with an error | Serves the app again | Deleted by default |
| **Custom domain** | Kept, answers with an error | Serves the app again | Kept; only its route to the app is removed |
| **Compute cost** | None | Billed again | None |
| **Allowed when** | The app is `Ready` and no build is running | The app is `Paused` | Any time, unless it is already being deleted |
| **Statuses** | `Pausing` then `Paused` | `Starting` then `Ready` | `Terminating`, then gone from the list |

Pause, resume and delete are in the actions menu (the three dots) of each app on the **Apps** list.

## Pause an app

Pause an app you don't need right now: a staging app overnight, a demo between presentations, a side project. Its
address keeps resolving but answers with an error until you resume it.

**Dashboard**

1. Open **Apps** in the sidebar.
2. Click the three dots of the app and choose **Pause**.
3. In **Pause App**, click **Pause app**.

The status goes `Pausing`, then `Paused`. The **Logs** and **Terminal** tabs are hidden while it is paused.

**CLI**

```bash
cloider app pause blog --wait
```

```text title="Output"
✓ App blog is paused
```

Without `--wait` the command returns at once with `✓ App blog is pausing`.

**Terraform**

The Terraform provider can't pause apps. Use the dashboard, the CLI or the API.

**API**

```bash
curl -X POST https://cloider.com/api/apps/a7c2mq/pause \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CLOIDER_TOKEN"
```

The response is the account's app list, with this app in `Pausing`. Poll `GET /api/apps/a7c2mq/status` until it
answers `Paused`.

**MCP**

```text title="Prompt"
Pause the blog app.
```

```json title="Tool call: pause_app"
{"app": "blog", "wait": true}
```

### What can I do with a paused app?

While an app is paused:

- **Can't**: deploy a new version, retry a build, change the port, start command, build arguments or build variables,
  open a terminal, run commands or read logs. Pushes to a git app's branch are skipped.
- **Can**: read the **Overview**, **Insights** and **Builds** tabs, change environment variables (they apply when it
  resumes), manage its domains, and delete it.

### How is a paused app billed?

A paused app has no running container, so it records no CPU or memory and costs nothing for compute. Its images stay in
your account's apps registry project, which is billed by storage like any [registry project](/container-registry/usage-and-billing).
See [Insights](/apps/insights) for the app's cost.

## Resume an app

Resuming starts the app again on the version it was serving, with its current environment variables. Nothing is built.

**Dashboard**

1. Open **Apps** in the sidebar.
2. Click the three dots of the paused app and choose **Resume**.
3. In **Resume App**, which says the version it comes back on, click **Resume app**.

**CLI**

```bash
cloider app resume blog --wait
```

```text title="Output"
✓ App blog is ready
```

**Terraform**

The Terraform provider can't resume apps. Use the dashboard, the CLI or the API.

**API**

```bash
curl -X POST https://cloider.com/api/apps/a7c2mq/resume \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CLOIDER_TOKEN"
```

The app goes `Starting`, then `Ready`.

**MCP**

```json title="Tool call: resume_app"
{"app": "blog", "wait": true}
```

A git app with commits pushed while it was paused isn't updated by resuming. Click **Deploy latest commit** afterwards
to catch up.

## Delete an app

Deleting an app removes its container, its versions and builds, its environment variables and build variables, and its
images. A GitLab or Bitbucket webhook Cloider created for it is removed too. **This can't be undone.**

What happens to its domains:

- **Free subdomains** claimed for the app are deleted with it by default, since they only exist for it. Keep them by
  unticking them in the dashboard, or with `--keep-domains`.
- **Custom domains** are never deleted with an app. They only lose their route to the app; their DNS records and other
  targets stay.

**Dashboard**

1. Open **Apps** in the sidebar.
2. Click the three dots of the app and choose **Delete**.
3. In **Delete App**, review what goes. Under **Delete this subdomain too**, untick a subdomain to keep it. Custom
   domains are listed as **kept, it just stops pointing at this app**.
4. Click **I want to delete the app**.
5. Type the app's name to confirm and click **Delete app**.

**CLI**

```bash
cloider app delete blog
```

The CLI asks you to confirm. In scripts, pass `--yes`. Keep the app's free subdomains with `--keep-domains`, and wait
until the deletion is finished with `--wait`:

```bash
cloider app delete blog --yes --keep-domains --wait
```

```text title="Output"
✓ Deleted app blog
```

**Terraform**

The Terraform provider can't delete apps. If Terraform manages a `cloider_target` that routes to the app, remove it from
your configuration first, then delete the app with the dashboard, the CLI or the API.

**API**

`delete_domains` lists the subdomains to delete with the app. Only free subdomains are deleted; a custom domain named
here only loses its route:

```bash
curl -X DELETE https://cloider.com/api/apps/a7c2mq \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CLOIDER_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"delete_domains": ["blog-x7k2.cloider.app"]}'
```

The response is the app list, with this app in `Terminating`. `GET /api/apps/a7c2mq/status` answers `Terminated` once
it is gone.

**MCP**

```text title="Prompt"
Delete the blog app but keep its cloider.app subdomain.
```

```json title="Tool call: delete_app"
{"app": "blog", "keep_domains": true, "wait": true}
```

`delete_app` is marked as a tool that deletes, so MCP clients that honor that ask you before running it.

A build waiting in the queue when the app is deleted is `Canceled`. Billing for the app stops once it is deleted.

## Troubleshooting

| Message | Cause and fix |
| --- | --- |
| **Only a running app can be paused!** | The app isn't `Ready`, for example it is `Failed` or still deploying |
| **This app is building, wait for that build to finish before pausing it!** | Wait for the build, then pause |
| **Only a paused app can be resumed!** | The app isn't `Paused`. If it is `Pausing`, wait a moment |
| **This app is already being deleted!** | The app is `Terminating` |
| **You have read-only access to this account, you can not pause apps!** | Ask an account admin for write access |
| The address shows an error after resuming | The app is still starting. Wait for `Ready`, then check its [logs](/apps/logs) |

## Next steps

- [Insights](/apps/insights): what an app costs per day.
- [Billing model](/concepts/billing-model): how paused and deleted resources are billed.
- [Delete a domain](/domains/delete-a-domain): remove a custom domain you no longer need.