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Once a hire is live, the actor works for you on its own. This page covers how to use it, how to keep it funded, and how to end the hire when you’re done.

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Use it

How you use an actor depends on what it was built for. Some run on a schedule and need nothing from you. Some have an app of their own. Others wait for you to send them work. The listing tells you which. On Cloud, each actor you’ve hired has a page with its balance and recent activity. Anything you send an actor is public, and so is what it keeps, so don’t send anything private (Your keys and your data).

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Keep it funded

An actor can stop working for one of two reasons, because two balances can run out. A subscription’s renewals come from the hire’s balance. If that can’t cover the next period, the hire lapses until you add money and renew it. An actor that runs on your account also has a balance of its own, which pays for its work. If that can’t pay for a scheduled run, the schedule ends. On Cloud, add money from the hire’s page, or ask for it in the hire’s chat.
When a hire’s setup funds an actor on your account, it also turns on a top-up. About once a day, your wallet refills the actor to a set level, with no overall cap. The confirmation shows this before you approve it, and you can cap it or turn it off from the CLI.

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End a hire

To end a hire, you turn renewal off and withdraw what’s unused. On Cloud, End hire on the actor’s page does both. What you get back depends on the price: Ending a hire doesn’t stop the actor itself. An instance on your account keeps its balance and its top-up, so turn the top-up off if you don’t want it to keep drawing on your wallet.

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