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A running endpoint holds a GPU and bills every hour, whether or not it serves requests. Valkyrie gives you two behaviors to choose from:
  • Idle stop (the default). An endpoint that serves no requests for 2 hours is stopped, so a forgotten endpoint doesn’t keep billing.
  • Always on. The endpoint runs 24/7. It is never stopped for being idle, stop schedules skip it, and if its GPU is lost Valkyrie brings it back on a new one.

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Idle stop

Every endpoint that isn’t always on is stopped once it has served no inference request for 2 hours. Valkyrie checks every 30 minutes, so the stop can come up to about half an hour after the 2 hours are up.
  • What counts as a request: a real inference call to the endpoint, through its URL, an alias, a pool, or the MCP execute_tool. Valkyrie’s own keep-warm pings and health checks don’t count.
  • When the clock starts: at the last request. An endpoint that has never served a request counts from when it started. Turning always-on off restarts the clock from that moment.
  • What a stop does: Valkyrie bills the last partial interval and releases the GPU, and the endpoint shows as Terminated. It keeps its URL, alias, and settings, but not the machine’s disk, so bringing it back rents a new GPU and loads the model again.
  • What it doesn’t touch: always-on endpoints, endpoints that are already stopped or paused, and fine-tuning runs (a fine-tune ends on its own when training finishes).
To bring it back, open it on Endpoints and choose Redeploy from its menu. It comes back on the same URL.
If an endpoint only needs to run at set times, use Office hours or a schedule instead: it starts and stops by itself and you pay only for those hours. See Operate an endpoint.

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Always on

Turn always-on on for an endpoint that must answer at any hour, such as one behind a production app. While it is on:
  • The endpoint is never stopped for being idle.
  • Stop schedules are skipped. A one-off scheduled stop can’t be set, and a pending one is cancelled when you turn always-on on. Start schedules and cron schedules stay in place; the stop side simply doesn’t run.
  • A lost GPU is replaced. If the endpoint’s machine goes away, including interruptible capacity that was outbid, Valkyrie starts it on a new GPU automatically. It tries up to 3 times, waiting about 1, 5, and 15 minutes. If all 3 fail, it stops trying until you restart the endpoint yourself. A manual restart, the endpoint becoming healthy again, or turning always-on off and on gives it a fresh set of attempts.
  • It bills every hour, around the clock.
An always-on endpoint costs its hourly price times about 730 hours a month. At $1.00 an hour that is about $730 a month. Turn it off when you no longer need the endpoint available at all hours.

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Turn it on for a running endpoint

1

Open the endpoint

On Endpoints, open the endpoint. The Always on card sits above Schedules.
2

Turn on the switch

A confirmation, Keep this endpoint always on?, shows the Hourly price and the cost Per month (730 hours). If the price isn’t known yet, it says so.
3

Confirm

Click Keep always on. An Always on pill appears next to the status on the endpoint and in the Endpoints list. If a one-off scheduled stop was pending, the message says it was cancelled.
Turning the switch off needs no confirmation and stops nothing. The idle stop applies again from that moment.

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Turn it on when you deploy

Both deploy pages (base model and fine-tuned version) have a Keep always on checkbox under When should it run?, off by default. It shows the 24/7 monthly cost. Checking it selects Until stopped, because office hours stop the endpoint every evening; picking Office hours unchecks it.

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Monthly cost alert

While always-on is on, the card has a Monthly cost alert: a threshold for the endpoint’s estimated monthly cost (its hourly price times 730). The default is $1,000 per month.
  • Set amount sets your own threshold.
  • Reset to default goes back to the default.
  • Turn alert off (or an amount of 0) removes the threshold.
When the estimate is above the threshold, the card shows a warning, and Valkyrie’s team is alerted. The alert never stops the endpoint.

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Who can change it

Turning always-on on or off, and changing the cost alert, need permission to manage the endpoint. Owners and Admins can change it on any endpoint in the workspace, and Builders on their own endpoints and on ones shared with them as Can manage. The switch is disabled for Viewer, User, and Billing members and for Can use shares, with the reason shown under it. An ended endpoint can’t change. See Roles.

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From an agent or a script

  • The MCP tool set_deployment_always_on turns it on or off, and deploy_base_model and deploy_fine_tuned_model take always_on. See MCP tools.
  • always_on can’t be combined with a scheduled stop or an office-hours schedule in the same deploy request; the request is refused.
  • The cost alert threshold is set in the dashboard only.