agentsop-selfhost-decision

Self-host vs Managed-cloud Decision — A Project-Kickoff Rubric

Overlay, not a deep dive. This skill answers where to run (self-host vs managed), not which engine ([[agentsop-llm-engine-selection]]) or how to build the app ([[agentsop-dify]]). It fires first, at kickoff, and hands off to those once the side is chosen.

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1. 何时激活 (When to Activate)

1.1 直接信号 (Direct triggers)

• At kickoff you must decide where an LLM or LLM platform runs: a managed API/cloud (OpenAI / Anthropic / Bedrock / Dify Cloud) vs your own GPUs / your own Docker (vLLM, self-hosted Dify).
• Cost pressure: monthly managed spend is climbing; someone says "should we just run our own and stop paying per token?"
• Compliance pressure: a data-residency / air-gap / regulated-data requirement (finance, medical, gov, GDPR region-lock) appears and the managed path is suddenly in question.
• You're comparing a self-hostable platform's tiers — e.g. Dify Cloud Pro ($59) vs self-deployed Docker [architjn.com/blog/dify-cloud-pricing-plans], or managed-vLLM-as-a-service vs your own H100s.

1.2 反向信号 (Skip this rubric when)

• The decision is already self-host, and the open question is which engine → go to [[agentsop-llm-engine-selection]] (vLLM vs TGI vs SGLang vs TensorRT-LLM vs llama.cpp).
• The decision is already self-host Dify, and the open question is how to build/operate it → go to [[agentsop-dify]].
• Single user / hobby / one stream — the answer is "just call the managed API"; no rubric needed.
• Training / fine-tuning siting — different cost structure (burst GPU, spot, not steady-state serving).

1.3 心智门槛 (Mental check)

This rubric exists because the loud reflex — "running our own is cheaper / more serious" — is true only above a volume crossover, and only if you have the ops capacity, and only if compliance hasn't already forced your hand. The job is to evaluate the gate before the slider, and to cost the ops burden, not just the GPU.