Give your AI agent a GPU in one command

pip install lium.io && lium up --gpu H100 --ttl 1h

Set it up in three steps

1. Create a budgeted key for the agent on a machine or user account the agent cannot read, such as your laptop when the agent runs on a server: pip install lium.io, lium workspaces login, then lium keys create agent --scope read --scope rent --pod-visibility own --daily-budget 20. The login keeps your own session in ~/.lium, so never run it where the agent runs. It needs an account email and password; if you signed up with Google or GitHub, set a password under Settings with Change password.
2. On the agent's machine, install the CLI and give it only that key: export LIUM_API_KEY=sk_..., then lium whoami to check it. The key sees only the pods it rents and stops at its budget. It holds no billing scope, so it cannot pay by card or transfer credits.
3. Add the rules below to the project's CLAUDE.md (Claude Code) or AGENTS.md (Codex, Cursor), then ask for what you want, for example "benchmark this training script on a GPU and give me the numbers".

## GPU compute (Lium)

Rent GPUs with the `lium` CLI. The API key is configured; never print it.
- Pick a node with `lium ls --count 1 --format json` (cheapest first) unless I ask for a specific GPU.
- Always rent with a name and a deadline: `lium up <huid> --name <name> --ttl 1h -y --json`.
- Run work with `lium exec <name> "<command>"`; use `lium exec <name> -d "<command>"` for anything long.
- Bring results back with `lium scp <name> <remote-file> <local-dir> -d`.
- When done, or if anything fails: `lium rm <name> -y`, then `lium ps` to confirm.
- If a rent is refused with API_KEY_BUDGET_EXCEEDED, stop and tell me.

Guardrails Lium enforces, whatever the agent does

• Scoped keys. A key holds only the scopes it was created with. Card payments and credit transfers need the billing scope, and no key can create keys or raise its own budget.
• Budgets per key. Give a key a daily, monthly or total budget and a rent that would pass it is refused with 402 API_KEY_BUDGET_EXCEEDED. Set budgets when you create the key, or later with lium keys budget; API keys shows how.
• Its own pods only. A key created with --pod-visibility own sees and controls only the pods it rented.
• Automatic removal. --ttl schedules the pod's removal as soon as it exists, so a crashed or forgotten session still ends with no pod running (scheduled termination).
• A real machine. Every pod has root access and its own Docker daemon, so the agent can build and run containers inside it.

Tools built for agents

• The agent skill teaches the commands once: npx skills add Datura-ai/lium-skill --skill lium.
• The docs MCP server answers questions mid-task: https://docs.lium.io/mcp.
• lium.io/llms-full.txt is the whole agent reference in one fetch.
• AI agents in the docs covers headless signup, funding and the REST API.