Stop Your Codespace

GitHub Free personal accounts currently include 120 core-hours per month. On the default 2-core course machine, that is about 60 hours of active runtime.

The Analogy: Think of a Codespace like a Taxi.

• Working: When you are coding, the meter is running.
• The Trap: If you just close your browser tab, it is like getting out of the taxi but asking the driver to “wait here.” The meter keeps running.
• The Fix: You must explicitly “end the ride” (Stop the Codespace).

Correct shutdown

1. Go to the Codespace Dashboard: https://github.com/codespaces
   • This is your command center.
2. Find your active Codespace
   • Look for the green text that says “Active”.
3. Click ... (The “Meatball” Menu)
   • It is located on the far right side of the Codespace box.
4. Click Stop Codespace
   • Stop: This stops compute usage while keeping saved files and the installed environment available for the next restart. Running programs and in-memory R or Python objects stop. (Recommended)
   • Delete: This destroys the computer. You will have to wait 2-3 minutes for the “Boot Up” phase next time you start.

Critical Warning: Closing the browser tab is NOT enough.

• By default, GitHub keeps the machine running until 30 minutes of inactivity have passed after you close the tab. Students can change this idle-timeout setting, so stop the Codespace explicitly rather than waiting.

• The Cost: If you just close the tab every day, you will waste ~15 hours of your monthly quota on empty time.