Infra Scaling

Langfuse Infra Scaling

Use this skill for Langfuse web-ingestion, web, and web-iso autoscaling work in langfuse/infrastructure.

Goal

Optimize the cost/performance tradeoff: run the smallest reliable container footprint that preserves acceptable latency, error rate, CPU/memory headroom, event-loop health, and burst capacity. Treat both idle overprovisioning and insufficient headroom as problems. Recommendations should say which side of the tradeoff they optimize and why.

Core Rules

• Read the current branch and files first. Do not rely on remembered values.
• Do not optimize only for cost or only for latency. Prefer changes that reduce waste when health is green, and preserve or add headroom when snappy routes, errors, CPU/memory, event-loop delay, or autoscaler load show risk.
• Keep web_ingestion_cpu = 2048 unless the user explicitly overrides it. These Node.js containers reserve one CPU for the event loop and one for background work.
• Treat web_ingestion_instances as the autoscaler minimum. In terraform/modules/ecs_service/resources.tf, the autoscaler target uses min_capacity = var.instances.
• For prod web-ingestion, keep the minimum container count at 3.
• Preserve burst capacity when lowering the minimum: max_capacity = web_ingestion_instances * web_ingestion_autoscaler_max_capacity_multiplier.
• Distinguish cost levers: if a service usually sits at its minimum task count, raising RPM targets will not save money; lower the minimum after validating HA/compliance floors, and raise the max-capacity multiplier if needed to preserve burst ceiling.
• Update dashboard markers whenever RPM target or boundary changes.
• Use exact OpenTofu math for markers. Do not mental-math ceil(target * boundary) because Terraform float behavior can produce off-by-one results.
• For web and web-iso, do not reduce RPM per container solely because service latency is high. First inspect full APM traces, including ClickHouse spans, to distinguish container saturation from database-bound requests.
• If slow web-iso traces are dominated by ClickHouse child spans, do not lower RPM targets as the primary fix. Lowering RPM changes web-container scaling and request distribution, but it does not reduce ClickHouse query cost, total query workload, or an individual long-running query duration.
• If scaling should be adjusted, create or update a GitHub PR. For the Linear follow-up, comment the evidence onto a ticket that already exists and label it; a new ticket has no parent, so show it and file it once that is approved, and never assign it. Step 8 has the detail.

Files

Service scaling values live in:

terraform/environments/services/env-prod-us.tfvars
terraform/environments/services/env-prod-eu.tfvars
terraform/environments/services/env-prod-hipaa.tfvars
terraform/environments/services/env-prod-jp.tfvars

Dashboard marker values live in:

terraform/environments/monitoring/env-prod-us.tfvars
terraform/environments/monitoring/env-prod-eu.tfvars
terraform/environments/monitoring/env-prod-hipaa.tfvars
terraform/environments/monitoring/env-prod-jp.tfvars

Autoscaler implementation:

terraform/environments/services/web_ingestion.tf
terraform/environments/services/web.tf
terraform/environments/services/web_isolated.tf
terraform/modules/ecs_service/resources.tf
terraform/modules/ecs_autoscaler/resources.tf

Important implementation facts:

• RPM scale-up threshold is rpm_target + ceil(rpm_target * rpm_boundary).
• RPM scale-down threshold is rpm_target - ceil(rpm_target * rpm_boundary).
• Web ingestion uses autoscaler_up_eval_periods = 1, autoscaler_step_size = 2, and the default scale-down evaluation periods of 5.
• Scale-down removes 1 task per step; scale-up adds 2.
• web-iso uses autoscaler_up_eval_periods = 1 and autoscaler_step_size = 2.
• web and web-iso RPM autoscalers do not use processed-bytes weighting; web-ingestion does.
• Use autoscaler-aligned ALB target group filters. For web-ingestion, use exact targetgroup:targetgroup/${env}-web-ingestion/*. For web, use exact targetgroup:targetgroup/${env}-web/*. For web-iso, use targetgroup:targetgroup/${env}-web-iso*/*. Avoid broad web-* filters because they can mix web, web-iso, and web-ingestion.

Workflow

1. Inspect local context:

git status --short --branch
rg -n "web_ingestion_instances|web_ingestion_autoscaler_rpm_target|web_ingestion_autoscaler_rpm_boundary|web_ingestion_autoscaler_max_capacity_multiplier" terraform/environments/services/*.tfvars

2. Gather current production evidence before changing thresholds. Load the Datadog metrics skill before querying Datadog.

Use Datadog US for prod-us and prod-hipaa; use Datadog EU for prod-eu and prod-jp.

Useful 7-day queries:

avg:aws.ecs.cpuutilization{servicename:prod-us-web-ingestion,environment:prod-us}.rollup(avg,60)
max:aws.ecs.cpuutilization{servicename:prod-us-web-ingestion,environment:prod-us}.rollup(max,60)
max:aws.ecs.service.running{servicename:prod-us-web-ingestion,environment:prod-us}.rollup(avg,60)
sum:aws.applicationelb.request_count_per_target{environment:prod-us,targetgroup:targetgroup/prod-us-web-ingestion/*}.as_count().rollup(sum,60)
sum:aws.applicationelb.processed_bytes{environment:prod-us}.as_count().rollup(sum,60)

Use this formula for the autoscaler's weighted per-container load:

(request_count_per_target + (processed_bytes * 0.000005)) / running_tasks

Also check latency and errors before raising per-container load:

p95:trace.http.server{resource_name:post_/api/public/ingestion,service:web-ingestion,env:prod-us}.rollup(avg,300)
p99:trace.http.server{resource_name:post_/api/public/ingestion,service:web-ingestion,env:prod-us}.rollup(avg,300)
sum:trace.http.server.errors{resource_name:post_/api/public/ingestion,service:web-ingestion,env:prod-us}.as_count().rollup(sum,300)

Change prod-us to the target environment.

For web and web-iso, also check event-loop metrics and full trace shape before changing RPM:

max:aws.ecs.service.running{servicename:prod-us-web,environment:prod-us}.rollup(avg,60)
sum:aws.applicationelb.request_count_per_target{environment:prod-us,targetgroup:targetgroup/prod-us-web/*}.as_count().rollup(sum,60)
avg:runtime.node.event_loop.delay.max{env:prod-us,service:web}.rollup(avg,60)
max:runtime.node.event_loop.delay.max{env:prod-us,service:web}.rollup(max,60)
max:runtime.node.event_loop.delay.count{env:prod-us,service:web}.as_count().rollup(sum,60)

max:aws.ecs.service.running{servicename:prod-us-web-iso,environment:prod-us}.rollup(avg,60)
sum:aws.applicationelb.request_count_per_target{environment:prod-us,targetgroup:targetgroup/prod-us-web-iso*/*}.as_count().rollup(sum,60)
avg:runtime.node.event_loop.delay.max{env:prod-us,service:web-iso}.rollup(avg,60)
max:runtime.node.event_loop.delay.max{env:prod-us,service:web-iso}.rollup(max,60)
max:runtime.node.event_loop.delay.count{env:prod-us,service:web-iso}.as_count().rollup(sum,60)

For web and web-iso, compare request count per target to running tasks to determine whether the service is above its minimum or floor-bound. If floor-bound, changing RPM target or boundary will not reduce task count.

Use route-level latency for snappy paths instead of broad service p99:

p95:trace.http.server{(resource_name:get_/api/auth* OR resource_name:post_/api/auth*) AND service:web AND env:prod-us}.rollup(avg,300)
p99:trace.http.server{env:prod-us AND service:web AND resource_name:get_/api/trpc/dashboard*}.rollup(avg,300)

Load the Datadog traces skill and inspect slow web/web-iso traces when latency looks bad:

search spans: env:prod-us service:web-iso @duration:>5000000000
get trace: include db.*, ch.*, http.*, peer.*, langfuse.* fields
aggregate: env:prod-us service:web-iso resource_name:"clickhouse - query" with @duration percentiles

Trace interpretation rules:

• If the root span is slow and ClickHouse child spans account for most of the time, treat it as DB-bound. Do not lower RPM per container as the main change.
• If Redis/auth spans are sub-ms and ClickHouse spans are multi-second, changing web-container count or RPM targets is unlikely to fix latency unless there is separate evidence of container-local saturation, queueing, or event-loop delay.
• If snappy API routes are slow without dominant DB spans and event-loop delay/CPU rises with per-container RPM, then reducing the RPM target or increasing min capacity can make sense.
• Service-wide web or web-iso p99 can be misleading because public traces/observations routes may be intentionally heavy or DB-bound. Prefer route-specific and trace-backed evidence.

3. Choose the scaling adjustment:

• If CPU is low and latency/errors look healthy, prefer increasing web_ingestion_autoscaler_rpm_target or narrowing web_ingestion_autoscaler_rpm_boundary.
• For web and web-iso, optimize cost when snappy routes, errors, CPU, memory, and event-loop delay are healthy. If the service is floor-bound, reduce web_instances or web_iso_instances; if it regularly scales above the floor, increase the RPM target or widen/narrow boundaries based on churn.
• Before lowering web_instances or web_iso_instances, check whether the current minimum is an intentional HA, isolation, enterprise, or compliance floor. If it is not intentional, lower the minimum conservatively and preserve the old maximum by adjusting *_autoscaler_max_capacity_multiplier.
• When no higher HA/compliance floor is needed, 3 is an acceptable prod minimum for web and web-iso.
• ClickHouse-bound p99 latency should not automatically block a cost-floor reduction when container-local health is green. Document it separately as a database/query-path risk and keep route-level/event-loop monitoring in the rollout notes.
• Prefer 0.3 boundaries when container fluctuation is a concern. Use 0.2 only when data shows scale-down is too slow or the user explicitly wants tighter tracking.
• Avoid 0.1 in prod unless the user explicitly asks and data shows low churn risk.
• Widening from 0.2 to 0.3 lowers the scale-down threshold and raises the scale-up threshold, reducing churn at the cost of more hysteresis.
• Be conservative in prod-jp: normal traffic may sit at the HA floor, but spikes can be sharp.
• For web-iso, only reduce RPM targets when the evidence points to container-local saturation. Keep the current target when slow spans are ClickHouse-dominated.

Known settings from the May 10, 2026 tuning pass are point-in-time snapshots only. Always supersede these values with the live file reads from step 1 before making recommendations or edits:

prod-us:    min 3, cpu 2048, target 2000, boundary 0.3, markers down 1400 / up 2600, max 90
prod-eu:    min 3, cpu 2048, target 1700, boundary 0.3, markers down 1189 / up 2211, max 42
prod-hipaa: min 3, cpu 2048, target 1300, boundary 0.3, markers down 909  / up 1691, max 42
prod-jp:    min 3, cpu 2048, target 490,  boundary 0.3, markers down 343  / up 637,  max 42

Known web/web-iso learning from the May 10, 2026 trace pass:

• A follow-up draft PR lowered prod-us and prod-eu web_iso_autoscaler_rpm_target, then was reversed and closed after full trace inspection.
• Representative slow prod-us web-iso trace: root GET /api/public/traces/index was about 11.3s, and the main clickhouse - query was also about 11.3s, reading about 2.75M rows / 5.6GB.
• Representative slow prod-eu web-iso trace: public traces request was about 10s while an expanded handler had a clickhouse - query around 16.0s, reading about 15.9M rows / 28.6GB.
• Conclusion: keep web-iso RPM settings unchanged when public traces/observations latency is ClickHouse-bound; investigate query shape or ClickHouse capacity instead.
• Cost tradeoff learning: ClickHouse-bound latency is not a reason by itself to lower RPM targets, but it also should not prevent reducing accidental idle floors if snappy routes and container-local health are green.
• Churn learning: if 0.2 RPM boundaries cause too much container fluctuation, move them back to 0.3 and update dashboard markers with exact OpenTofu math. Normalize narrower accidental prod boundaries, such as 0.1, to 0.3 when the stated goal is less fluctuation.
• prod-hipaa example: web_instances was an accidental floor at 20 with multiplier 1; reduce to 3 and set multiplier 7 to keep at least the old max (21). web_iso_instances was an accidental floor at 40 with multiplier 1; reduce to 3 and set multiplier 14 to keep at least the old max (42).

4. Compute markers exactly:

tmpdir=$(mktemp -d)
cd "$tmpdir"
printf '2000 + ceil(2000 * 0.3)\n2000 - ceil(2000 * 0.3)\n' | tofu console

Use the output values in the matching monitoring tfvars. Repeat for each target/boundary pair.

5. Edit only the relevant service and monitoring tfvars. Keep unrelated scale settings untouched.

6. Validate:

tofu fmt -check <changed .tfvars files>
git diff --check
git diff main..HEAD --stat

Run a full plan only when credentials and workspace setup are available or the user requests it. Otherwise rely on Atlantis to plan the PR.

7. Summarize the outcome:

• List final target, boundary, scale-down marker, scale-up marker, min, max, and CPU for each changed region.
• Always include a Markdown recommendation table with one row per reviewed region/container, not only changed rows. Use columns: Region, Container, Recommended change, and Reasoning. In Recommended change, say exactly what to change or No change. In Reasoning, cite the deciding evidence, such as CPU/load, latency/errors, event-loop metrics, and whether slow traces were ClickHouse-bound. Also state the cost/performance tradeoff, such as saves idle floor cost while preserving burst max, keeps extra headroom because event-loop risk is elevated, or no cost lever because already at HA floor.
• Mention Datadog evidence used.
• Mention checks run and whether a full plan was not run.
• Return valid Markdown. Use valid headings, lists, links, tables, and code fences; include spaces after list markers; close every link, parenthesis, and code fence; and check for malformed tables before returning.

8. Create a GitHub PR and record the Linear follow-up when scaling should be adjusted:

• Trigger this when the recommendation table contains at least one concrete scaling change, or when Terraform scaling settings were edited. Do not create a ticket for an all-No change review unless the user explicitly asks.
• Ensure there is a GitHub PR for the scaling change. If no PR exists yet, create one. Include the recommendation summary, validation, and rollout risks in the PR body.
• Only three write shapes are permitted and each must be labelled and marked as agent-written. linear-agent-writes is the authority; read it before your first write. For this skill: evidence on an existing ticket and a new parentless ticket both need a yes — show the comment / description block or the new title and body in the table, take one go-ahead for the set (or named rows), then write and label (AI commented, AI edited, or AI created).
• Report what you wrote and what still needs a human:

• One ticket for the scaling adjustment, not one per region, unless the user requests separate tickets. Never leave an awaiting your go-ahead row without the full body — that text is what is being approved.
• Do not assign an owner, move state, close, or re-prioritise — those stay with a human. Surface them as suggestions, and never propose an assignee the user did not name.
• Include the full skill output in the ticket description: recommendation table, measured evidence, trace interpretation, proposed or applied Terraform changes, marker math, validation results, plan status, PR URL, and known rollout risks.
• Put the PR URL in the Linear ticket. Do not put the ticket identifier or its URL in the PR body or a PR comment — this repo keeps those out of published artifacts; the branch name carries the link.
• If the GitHub PR cannot be created, or Linear is unreachable in this environment, report that blocker and provide the exact PR body or ticket title and body that should be created manually. Do not skip the step silently.

PR Handling

When working on an existing PR branch:

• Commit with a conventional commit message.
• Push the branch if the user is asking you to update the PR.
• If sandboxing blocks git add, git commit, or git push, request escalation instead of working around it.