isnipe

Retries StartInstances on a stopped EC2 instance until AWS frees up capacity (InsufficientInstanceCapacity), then tells you the moment it's yours.

A single self-contained binary for macOS, Linux, and Windows. It talks to the EC2 API directly, so there's nothing to install at runtime — not even the AWS CLI. (If the AWS CLI happens to be installed, isnipe can use it to walk you through first-time credential setup; it's never required.)

Install

go install (any OS with Go ≥ 1.21)

go install github.com/nmud/aws-instance-sniper/v2/cmd/isnipe@latest

Installs isnipe into $(go env GOPATH)/bin — make sure that's on your PATH. Go auto-downloads whatever toolchain the build needs.

Prebuilt binary

Download the binary for your OS/arch from the Releases page, then:

macOS / Linux

chmod +x isnipe-*
sudo mv isnipe-<os>-<arch> /usr/local/bin/isnipe
# macOS only, if Gatekeeper blocks the unsigned binary:
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /usr/local/bin/isnipe

Windows (PowerShell)

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "$HOME\bin" | Out-Null
Move-Item .\isnipe-windows-amd64.exe "$HOME\bin\isnipe.exe"
# add ~\bin to your user PATH (new terminals pick it up):
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(
  'Path', [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('Path','User') + ";$HOME\bin", 'User')

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/nmud/aws-instance-sniper
cd aws-instance-sniper
go build -o isnipe ./cmd/isnipe      # Windows: -o isnipe.exe

On macOS / Linux make build does the same, and make dist cross-compiles a binary for every OS/arch into ./dist.

Usage

isnipe

The interactive flow verifies your AWS credentials (using your existing profiles / SSO sessions, and offering a guided aws configure / aws sso login if the AWS CLI is present), asks for a region, then shows an arrow-key picker of your stopped instances. Pick one, set the retry delay, and it starts sniping.

While sniping: Esc cancels and returns to the instance picker, Ctrl-C quits.

Know what you want already? Skip the prompts:

isnipe -i i-09920693e8c413d06 -r us-east-1 -d 2 -j

Flag	Meaning
-p, --profile NAME	AWS profile to use
-r, --region REGION	Region (default: profile's region)
-i, --instance-id ID	Skip the picker
-d, --delay SECONDS	Delay between attempts (default 5, min 1)
-j, --jitter / --no-jitter	Randomize each delay by ±40%
-V, --version	Print version
-h, --help	Show help

Credentials

isnipe uses the standard AWS credential chain — environment variables, shared config/credentials files, SSO sessions, and instance/container roles — so if the AWS CLI or SDKs already work on your machine, isnipe does too. --profile and AWS_PROFILE select a profile; SSO sessions are read from the usual cache.

What it does with errors

• InsufficientInstanceCapacity — keeps retrying; that's the point.
• Throttling / RequestLimitExceeded — backs off exponentially (max 60s), then resumes.
• Instance already pending/running — counts as a win; still stopping — waits for it to settle.
• Expired or invalid credentials — stops and tells you how to re-auth.
• Anything else — prints the error and stops rather than spamming the API.

If you're fighting ICE constantly

An On-Demand Capacity Reservation guarantees the capacity (you pay for it even while stopped), and attribute-based instance selection in a launch template lets AWS substitute equivalent hardware.