Auto Vacuum

Auto Vacuum keeps your instance databases lean by running SQLite VACUUM during PocketHost’s nightly maintenance sweep.

How it works

PocketHost compacts your instance data.db and logs.db when the instance is idle (hibernated). Active instances are skipped until they have no open requests and the container has shut down.

Log retention deletes old rows, but SQLite does not shrink the file automatically. Vacuum reclaims that dead space so backups and disk usage stay reasonable.

Downtime

Vacuum is scheduled for idle windows. If a request arrives while compaction is running, you may see up to about 5 seconds of downtime while the database finishes.

During the nightly sweep, edge holds a short maintenance lock on each instance being compacted. If your instance is next in the queue and you send a request at that moment, you may see a brief maintenance message instead of a normal response. Retrying after a few seconds is usually enough.

Enabling Auto Vacuum

Auto Vacuum is on by default for new instances. Toggle it per instance under Danger Zone → Auto Vacuum in the dashboard.

When disabled, PocketHost skips your instance during the nightly sweep. You can still compact databases manually if you self-host or SSH to the volume.

Disabling Auto Vacuum

Turn off Auto Vacuum if you prefer to manage SQLite maintenance yourself, or if you want to avoid even brief wake-time contention during the nightly job.