---
title: "lizard pause"
description: "lizard pause stops an app or database without deleting it, keeping its URL, password and data, and lizard resume starts it again. Project and workspace forms pause everything at once."
url: https://lizard.build/docs/cli/pause/
updated: 2026-10-21
---

# lizard pause

Pause a service (an app or a database) without deleting it, and resume it later. `lizard project pause` and `lizard workspace pause` pause everything in a project or workspace at once.

## Usage

```bash
lizard pause [service] [flags]
lizard resume [service] [flags]
lizard project pause [project]
lizard project resume [project]
lizard workspace pause <name-or-id>
lizard workspace resume <name-or-id>
```

Without a `service` argument, `pause` and `resume` use the service linked to the folder.

## Flags

`lizard pause` and `lizard resume` take:

| Flag | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `-s, --service <name>` | Service name or ID (same as the `service` argument) |
| `-p, --project <id>` | Project name, slug, or ID |

`project pause` and `project resume` take a project name, slug, or ID. Without one, they use the project linked to the folder or, in an unlinked folder, your account's default project. `workspace pause` and `workspace resume` take a workspace name, slug, or ID.

## What pausing keeps

A paused service runs no containers. It keeps its URL, host, port, password, variables, settings and volumes. While it is paused:

- its URL answers `503`, and a database refuses connections;
- Lizard refuses deploys and restarts;
- Lizard saves a new replica count from [`lizard scale`](https://lizard.build/docs/cli/scale.md) and new [secrets](https://lizard.build/docs/cli/secrets.md), and applies them when it resumes.

`resume` starts it again from the image it last ran, with its current variables and its data. Memory is not kept: the app starts fresh. To keep memory and wake on the next request instead, use [`lizard sleep`](https://lizard.build/docs/cli/sleep.md).

You can pause an app that is running or crashed, and a Managed Postgres or Managed Redis database that is running. Wait until a deploy or other operation on the service finishes. You can't pause Managed Object Storage.

## Billing

A paused service uses no CPU or memory, so its compute charges stop. Lizard can still bill the data it keeps as storage; see [Billing](https://lizard.build/docs/platform/billing.md).

Lizard also pauses apps and databases itself when trial usage runs out or a payment fails. They start again once billing is in order; `resume` does not start them sooner.

## Pause a whole project

`lizard project pause` pauses every app and database in the project. It also pauses the project's running sandboxes, saving their memory and files as [`lizard sandbox pause`](https://lizard.build/docs/cli/sandbox.md) does. It lists the services it can't pause, with the reason.

`lizard project resume` resumes every app and database in the project that someone paused by hand, and the sandboxes that `project pause` paused. Sandboxes you paused yourself stay paused. A sandbox resumes only while your [sandbox limits](https://lizard.build/docs/platform/limits.md#sandbox-account-limits) leave room.

`lizard workspace pause` and `lizard workspace resume` do the same for every project in a workspace. They skip sandboxes outside a project.

## Who can pause

- Any member of a project can pause and resume its services, or the whole project.
- Only the workspace owner can pause or resume a whole workspace.
- Resume starts compute again, so it needs an active plan and room under the workspace's limits ([`lizard workspace limits`](https://lizard.build/docs/cli/workspace.md)).

## JSON output

With `--json`, `pause` and `resume` print `id`, `name`, `kind` (`app` or `addon`) and `status` (`paused` or `running`).

The project and workspace forms print `id`, `done` and `skipped`. Each entry has `kind` (`app`, `database` or `sandbox`), `id` and `name`; skipped entries add a `reason`.

## Examples

### Pause and resume an app

```bash
lizard pause api
lizard resume api
```

### Pause a database in another project

```bash
lizard pause --service my-db --project my-project
```

### Pause everything in a project

```bash
lizard project pause my-project --json
lizard project resume my-project
```

### Pause a workspace

```bash
lizard workspace pause my-team
lizard workspace resume my-team
```

## See also

- [lizard sleep](https://lizard.build/docs/cli/sleep.md) — sleep when idle and wake on the next request
- [lizard project](https://lizard.build/docs/cli/project.md) — list, create, and delete projects
- [lizard workspace](https://lizard.build/docs/cli/workspace.md) — workspace limits and other workspace commands
- [Billing](https://lizard.build/docs/platform/billing.md) — rates for compute and storage