Fly.io has introduced Machines, giving developers an API for creating and controlling individual virtual machines.
Machines use the same general VM foundation as Fly.io applications but expose a lower-level control surface. The launch focuses on starting already-created machines quickly, with their images prepared in advance.
Where it could help
Developers can build their own execution or scheduling layer around individual VMs rather than relying entirely on the application’s orchestration system.
The announcement distinguishes machine creation from starting a prepared machine. It also describes application-level scale-to-zero work as a future use of the building block. A fast VM start does not remove the startup time of the application running inside it.