How PocketHost Works

Your instance is real PocketBase, so the PocketBase docs apply. A few things work differently on a shared, on-demand platform. Read this page once and you’ll avoid most surprises.

Instances start on demand and hibernate when idle

PocketHost starts your instance when a request arrives. After a few seconds with no open requests, it shuts the instance down. This is hibernation. Each instance runs in its own isolated container.

• The next request wakes it. That first request takes a little longer while PocketBase starts.
• Nothing runs while the instance is asleep. That includes pb_hooks timers, background goroutines, and long-lived in-memory state.
• Realtime (SSE) connections keep the instance awake while they are open.
• A hibernated instance still counts as powered on for your slot count.

See Limits for details.

Use webhooks for scheduled jobs, not cronAdd

cronAdd only fires while the instance happens to be awake, so on PocketHost it misses runs. Use Webhooks instead. PocketHost calls a route on your instance on your schedule and wakes it if needed.

Requests go through the edge first

Every request passes through Cloudflare and then PocketHost’s edge before it reaches PocketBase.

• TLS is handled for you on *.pockethost.io and on custom domains.
• Rate limits apply at the edge, per IP and per instance. See Limits. If your traffic comes from a server with a fixed IP, add it to Trusted IPs.
• Static files in pb_public are cached on the Cloudflare CDN. A cache miss reaches your instance and wakes it. See Static Assets for when to host your frontend elsewhere.
• CORS is open by default. Lock it to your own sites with CORS Origins.

Stock PocketBase binaries

You choose a PocketBase version per instance and can change it while the instance is powered off. Custom Go builds aren’t supported. See Custom Binaries. Extend PocketBase with JavaScript hooks and Admin UI Extensions instead.

Files and deploys

There is no shell. Get files onto your instance with SFTP or the phio CLI, which watches your local project and syncs changes as you save. Environment variables are set as Secrets.

Applying changes

Change	When it takes effect
Files in pb_hooks	Right away. PocketBase watches the folder and reloads.
Secrets	The next time the instance starts. Power it off and on to apply now.
CORS Origins	Within seconds, no restart.
PocketBase version	Power off first. You can’t change the version while the instance is on.

What PocketHost runs for you

• TLS certificates and DNS for your subdomain and custom domains
• Nightly Auto Vacuum of idle databases
• Admin Sync, so your PocketHost login works as a superuser
• Live logs in the dashboard