Today we released flyctl 0.0479, which defaults to using https://api.machines.dev whenever it needs to work with the Machines API. This improves performance and reliability when working with Machines and Apps V2 apps.
Previously, flyctl used user-mode wireguard to work with the internal Machines API. This works great in a lot of cases. User-mode networking does have some performance implications relative to system networking.
In cursory testing of this change we saw 300-1000ms+ improvements in flyctl command runtime with using api.machines.dev. Some of that is time saved from establishing the wireguard connection, and some is the overhead of using user-mode networking. The difference is probably not noticeable for longer running commands like fly deploy. For other commands like fly status or fly machine list it will be.
api.machines.dev is our public proxy to the internal Machines API that runs in every region. Developers connecting to regions that do not have wireguard gateways may see additional performance improvements.
The user-mode wireguard access to the internal Machines API is still available! Set the environment variable FLY_FLAPS_BASE_URL=peer to continue using the internal Machines API over user-mode wireguard. For example, FLY_FLAPS_BASE_URL=peer fly machines list will establish a wireguard connection and use the internal Machines API to get the list of machines.
Let us know if you notice any performance changes or if you run into issues!
