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This guide covers terminating a Tencent Cloud Virtual Machine (CVM) instance. Tencent Cloud has two billing modes that affect how termination works:
  • Pay-as-you-go instances are terminated and released immediately.
  • Prepaid (subscription) instances are moved to the recycle bin first. They are held for 7 days by default, then permanently deleted. You can manually purge them from the recycle bin to release resources immediately.
Complete the pre-termination checklist before proceeding. Termination is irreversible once the instance leaves the recycle bin.

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Option 1: Tencent Cloud Console

1

Open the CVM console

Sign in to the Tencent Cloud CVM Console and navigate to Cloud Virtual Machine → Instances.
2

Select the correct region

Use the region dropdown at the top of the page to select the region where your instance is running.
3

Select your instance

Check the box next to the CVM instance running OpenClaw. Confirm the correct instance by checking its public IP address against what appeared on the watchboard.
4

Terminate the instance

Click More → Instance Status → Terminate/Return. Review the warning dialog and confirm.
  • Pay-as-you-go: The instance moves to Terminated state immediately.
  • Prepaid: The instance moves to the Recycle Bin. To permanently delete it, go to Recycle Bin, select it, and click Purge.
Official Tencent Cloud documentation: Terminating/Returning Instances

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Option 2: Tencent Cloud CLI (TCCLI)

If you have TCCLI installed:
For prepaid instances, termination moves them to the recycle bin. Use ReturnNormalInstances to initiate return of a prepaid instance:
Official Tencent Cloud API reference: TerminateInstances

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Post-termination cleanup

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Purge from recycle bin (prepaid instances)

Prepaid instances moved to the Recycle Bin still hold resources. In the console, go to Recycle Bin → Cloud Virtual Machines, select the instance, and click Purge.

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Release Elastic IPs (EIPs)

Elastic IPs continue to incur charges when unassociated after instance termination. In the console, navigate to Virtual Private Cloud → IP and ENI → Elastic IPs, select the EIP, and click Release.

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Delete CBS (Cloud Block Storage) data disks

Data disks attached to the instance are not deleted automatically on termination (the system disk is deleted). In the console, navigate to Cloud Block Storage, filter by Status = “Available” to find unattached disks, and delete them.

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Delete custom images and snapshots

If you created any images or snapshots from this instance, navigate to Images or Snapshots in the CVM console and delete them.

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Rotate credentials

After termination, rotate everything the agent had access to. See the post-termination checklist for the full list.