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docs(pipecat-cloud): correct the readyz recycle claim and document warm instance reuse (T-3090) - #1028

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docs(pipecat-cloud): correct the readyz recycle claim and document warm instance reuse (T-3090)#1028
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@jamsea jamsea commented Jul 31, 2026

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Draft. Three related Pipecat Cloud doc gaps found while working Daily support ticket T-3090 ("unexpected memory growth", a customer running min-agents 1 whose warm instance served sessions back to back for days).

1. Correction: the health checks page overpromised a recycle

This one is a fix to a page that currently says something the product does not do. The subtitle promised "recycle instances on your own schedule", and the body read as if returning False from readyz() was a supported way to recycle an instance.

It is not. Reporting not-ready does stop new sessions being routed to that instance (that part of the page was right and is unchanged), but nothing then replaces the instance, so readyz() on its own never gets you a fresh process.

Changes:

  • Subtitle no longer promises a recycle.
  • New "What readiness does not do" section states the limitation plainly, and says there is no per-instance recycle setting today.

2. New: a reused warm instance is the same container and the same process

Nothing public said this, and it is the single most useful missing fact for anyone debugging memory on Pipecat Cloud. The scaling page said an instance "is returned to the pool and can immediately serve another session" without saying that reuse means the same container and the same Python process, so whatever a session does not release stays for the next one.

Changes:

  • New "Instance reuse and memory" section on the scaling page, with what to check when memory climbs session after session.
  • Note on the logging page that reported CPU and memory figures are for the whole instance, not one session, so a reused instance can start with a high memory figure.

3. Scope fix: the cooldown sentence read as universal

The capacity planning page said an unused instance is terminated after the 5-minute cooldown. That does not hold at or below the reserved floor set by min-agents, which is exactly the case the T-3090 customer was in. Scoped the sentence to instances above the reserved count and added a line saying reserved agents are not cycled away by the cooldown.

Files

  • pipecat-cloud/fundamentals/health-checks.mdx
  • pipecat-cloud/fundamentals/scaling.mdx
  • pipecat-cloud/fundamentals/logging.mdx
  • pipecat-cloud/guides/capacity-planning.mdx

No roadmap language anywhere: the missing recycle is stated as a current limitation only.

…reuse

Three related fixes found while working Daily support ticket T-3090
(unexpected memory growth on a warm Pipecat Cloud instance).

1. Health checks page. The subtitle promised "recycle instances on your
   own schedule", and the page read as if returning False from readyz()
   was a supported way to recycle an instance. It is not. Reporting
   not-ready does stop new sessions being routed to that instance, but
   nothing replaces the instance, so its process keeps running. New
   section says that plainly, and the subtitle no longer promises a
   recycle.
2. Nothing public said that a reused warm instance is the same container
   and the same Python process, so state a session does not release
   carries into the next session. New "Instance reuse and memory"
   section on the scaling page, plus a note on the logging page that
   reported CPU and memory figures are for the whole instance, not one
   session.
3. Capacity planning. The 5-minute cooldown sentence read as universal.
   Scoped it to instances above the reserved count, and said reserved
   agents are not cycled away by the cooldown.
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🔍 Mintlify preview for this branch: https://daily-docs-pcc-instance-reuse-and-readyz-t3090.mintlify.site

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