Quickstart
Sign up, log in, and get a GPU VM running with the orl CLI in four commands.
This is the fastest path onto OpenRelay: create a key, log in, deploy a GPU VM, and SSH into it. If you want an OpenAI-compatible API to call from your app instead of your own box, use the Inference API.
Create an account and an API key
Sign up at app.openrelay.inc. No card is required to start, and new accounts come with free credit.
Signing up creates an organization for you: your workspace that owns your
keys, VMs, and balance. In the dashboard, open Settings > API Keys,
create a key, and copy it. The plaintext value (it starts with vl_) is shown
once, so paste it somewhere safe.
The key is bound to that organization. You never pass an org id to orl: it
reads the org from the key.
Install and log in
Install orl (see Install), then log in and paste the key when
prompted:
orl auth loginorl stores the key in your OS keyring and confirms which organization it acts
for. Check it any time:
orl auth statusCheck what it costs
GPU VMs are billed per hour while they run. See live rates and what has capacity right now before you deploy:
orl catalog pricing get
orl catalog gpu-availability getDeploy a GPU VM
orl deploy takes a name and creates the VM. Pass --connect to wait for it to
boot and drop you into an SSH session:
orl deploy trainer --gpu-model h100 --gpu-count 1 --connectRun it with no flags in a terminal (orl deploy trainer) and orl walks you
through the GPU choice from live availability.
Boot takes a few minutes while the VM provisions and starts, longer for
many-GPU shapes. Use --wait instead of --connect if you just want the id
once it is ready, or drop both flags to return immediately.
Connect, watch spend, and stop
Reconnect to a running VM any time, and check your balance and current-month spend:
orl vms ssh <vm-id>
orl balanceA VM keeps billing until you stop or terminate it:
orl vms stop <vm-id> # keep the disk, stop the meter
orl vms terminate <vm-id> # destroy it (asks first; --force to skip)Next steps
- The signature commands and how to script
orlin CI: Workflows - Serve the whole API to an agent with one key: Agents (MCP)
- The same flow with
curland full API detail: API Quickstart