An Azure DevOps self-hosted agent is the open source Azure Pipelines agent running on a machine you control, registered into an agent pool. Teams reach for one when Microsoft-hosted agents run out of cores, memory or disk. cirunner.dev plans to run those agents for you on bigger machines, one fresh VM per job. Azure DevOps is on our roadmap and does not work with cirunner.dev today. GitHub Actions and GitLab CI are live in early access; vote for Azure DevOps on the early-access form if you want it next.
Where Microsoft-hosted agents stop fitting
Microsoft documents the hardware: Windows and Linux hosted agents run on a 2-core VM with 7 GB of RAM and about 10 GB of free disk for your pipeline. Microsoft states it cannot give you bigger machines or more disk on the hosted pool. A paid parallel job can run for up to 360 minutes; the free tier caps a job at 60 minutes.
A web app build fits in that. A C++ solution, an Unreal project or an Android build with a large Gradle cache does not, and "no space left on device" becomes a weekly message in your team chat. Microsoft's own answer is self-hosted agents, VM scale set agents or Managed DevOps Pools.
What running an Azure Pipelines agent yourself involves
- Download the agent from Organization settings, Agent pools, then register it with
./config.sh --unattendedand a PAT scoped to Agent Pools (read, manage), or a service principal. - Install it as a service with
svc.sh, or start it with./run.sh --onceso it takes one job and exits, with your own orchestrator replacing the machine. - Route jobs with
pool: name:and demands that match agent capabilities. - For scale, attach a VM scale set in your subscription as an elastic pool, or create a Managed DevOps Pool. Both still leave images, patching and agent upgrades with your team.
Our Azure DevOps self-hosted agents guide covers registration, Docker agents, demands and both autoscaling options.
How a custom Azure DevOps agent from cirunner.dev will work
Once we support Azure DevOps, you will create a self-hosted pool such as cirunner and give cirunner.dev a registration credential for it, a PAT with only the Agent Pools (read, manage) scope or a service principal. You pick the machine: more cores and memory, x86 or ARM, a GPU if you need one. Jobs target it with pool: name: cirunner. For each queued job we start a fresh VM, register a one-job agent, run the job and destroy the VM. A build cache persists between jobs. You pay us per compute minute.
Azure DevOps bills self-hosted concurrency on its own meter. Private projects include one free self-hosted parallel job; to run more jobs at once on any self-hosted agent, ours included, you buy more parallel jobs from Microsoft.
Microsoft-hosted vs. your own agents vs. cirunner.dev
| Microsoft-hosted agents | Your own self-hosted agents | cirunner.dev (planned) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Machine | 2 cores, 7 GB RAM, fixed | Whatever you provision | Bigger machines, x86 or ARM, optional GPU |
| Disk and cache | About 10 GB free, wiped per job | Local disk, persists | Build cache that persists between jobs |
| Isolation | Fresh VM per job | Persistent unless you use --once or stateless pools | Fresh VM per job, destroyed afterwards |
| Billing | Microsoft-hosted parallel jobs | Self-hosted parallel jobs plus compute and hours | Self-hosted parallel jobs plus our per-minute price |
| Upkeep | None | Images, patching, agent upgrades | None on your side |
Who it is for
A good fit if:
- Your pipelines compile C, C++, Rust, Android/Gradle, a game engine or CUDA code and outgrow 2 cores and 7 GB.
- You want one-job agents on fresh VMs without running scale sets or a Managed DevOps Pool yourself.
Not a fit if:
- Your builds fit inside the hosted agent's limits.
- You run Azure DevOps Server on-premises with agents that must stay inside your network.
FAQ
Can I get a bigger Microsoft-hosted agent in Azure Pipelines?
No. Microsoft does not offer larger sizes on the hosted pool. You need self-hosted agents, VM scale set agents or Managed DevOps Pools.
Is there a managed Azure DevOps self-hosted agent service?
Microsoft offers Managed DevOps Pools, where you pay for Azure compute and manage the pool as an Azure resource. cirunner.dev plans a managed agent service as well; Azure DevOps is on our roadmap. Vote for it on the early-access form.
Can an Azure Pipelines agent run one job and exit?
Yes. Start it with ./run.sh --once, or pass --once to the Docker agent image you build from Microsoft's Dockerfile. Pair it with something that starts a replacement. The setup guide shows both.
Do self-hosted agents cost money in Azure DevOps?
Private projects get one free self-hosted parallel job. More concurrent jobs need paid self-hosted parallel jobs, and you pay for the machines on top.
Want managed Azure DevOps agents?
Azure DevOps is on the roadmap. Vote for it on the early-access form and tell us what your pipelines build.
Vote for Azure DevOps runners