PodResourceAutoscaler API reference

Choose exactly one target or selector and define the managed container/resource sides. Set bounds appropriate to the workload. CPU and memory resizing require supported Kubernetes resize behavior, feasible node capacity and permissions; status/events distinguish a decision from successful application.

API details

Group: keda.kedify.io. Kind: PodResourceAutoscaler. Scope: Namespaced.

Defaults below are schema defaults only. “Not specified” does not imply a controller default of zero or false. Required fields are required within their containing object. Runtime behavior can impose additional conditions described in the capability guide.

v1alpha1 fields

Served: true; storage: true.

spec

Field	Type	Required	Schema default	Meaning and validation
spec	object	No	Not specified	PodResourceAutoscalerSpec defines the desired state of PodResourceAutoscaler x-kubernetes-validations: [{“message”:“PodResourceAutoscaler must have either a pod selector or target specified”,“rule”:“has(self.target) != has(self.selector)”},{“message”:“Specify at least one of policy.cpu.requests, policy.cpu.limits, policy.memory.requests, policy.memory.limits”,“rule”:“(has(self.policy.cpu) && (has(self.policy.cpu.requests) || has(self.policy.cpu.limits))) || (has(self.policy.memory) && (has(self.policy.memory.requests) || has(self.policy.memory.limits)))”}]
spec.bounds	object	No	Not specified	Bounds defines optional bounds and step constraints for request/limit scaling
spec.bounds.cpu	object	No	Not specified	CPU defines bounds/steps for CPU requests and limits. x-kubernetes-validations: [{“message”:“Specify requests and/or limits bounds”,“rule”:“has(self.requests) || has(self.limits)”}]
spec.bounds.cpu.limits	object	No	Not specified	Limits defines optional bounds/steps for limits. If omitted, scaling for this side has no extra bounds from this section.
spec.bounds.cpu.limits.max	integer or string	No	Not specified	Max defines maximum allowed value for the resource pattern: ”^(\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))(([KMGTPE]i)|[numkMGTPE]|([eE](\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))))?$”
spec.bounds.cpu.limits.min	integer or string	No	Not specified	Min defines minimum allowed value for the resource pattern: ”^(\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))(([KMGTPE]i)|[numkMGTPE]|([eE](\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))))?$”
spec.bounds.cpu.limits.step	integer or string	No	Not specified	Step defines maximum absolute change per resize pattern: ”^(\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))(([KMGTPE]i)|[numkMGTPE]|([eE](\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))))?$”
spec.bounds.cpu.limits.stepPercent	integer	No	Not specified	StepPercent defines maximum percent change per resize (of current value) minimum: 1; maximum: 100
spec.bounds.cpu.requests	object	No	Not specified	Requests defines optional bounds/steps for requests. If omitted, scaling for this side has no extra bounds from this section.
spec.bounds.cpu.requests.max	integer or string	No	Not specified	Max defines maximum allowed value for the resource pattern: ”^(\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))(([KMGTPE]i)|[numkMGTPE]|([eE](\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))))?$”
spec.bounds.cpu.requests.min	integer or string	No	Not specified	Min defines minimum allowed value for the resource pattern: ”^(\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))(([KMGTPE]i)|[numkMGTPE]|([eE](\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))))?$”
spec.bounds.cpu.requests.step	integer or string	No	Not specified	Step defines maximum absolute change per resize pattern: ”^(\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))(([KMGTPE]i)|[numkMGTPE]|([eE](\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))))?$”
spec.bounds.cpu.requests.stepPercent	integer	No	Not specified	StepPercent defines maximum percent change per resize (of current value) minimum: 1; maximum: 100
spec.bounds.memory	object	No	Not specified	Memory defines bounds/steps for memory requests and limits. x-kubernetes-validations: [{“message”:“Specify requests and/or limits bounds”,“rule”:“has(self.requests) || has(self.limits)”}]
spec.bounds.memory.limits	object	No	Not specified	Limits defines optional bounds/steps for limits. If omitted, scaling for this side has no extra bounds from this section.
spec.bounds.memory.limits.max	integer or string	No	Not specified	Max defines maximum allowed value for the resource pattern: ”^(\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))(([KMGTPE]i)|[numkMGTPE]|([eE](\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))))?$”
spec.bounds.memory.limits.min	integer or string	No	Not specified	Min defines minimum allowed value for the resource pattern: ”^(\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))(([KMGTPE]i)|[numkMGTPE]|([eE](\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))))?$”
spec.bounds.memory.limits.step	integer or string	No	Not specified	Step defines maximum absolute change per resize pattern: ”^(\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))(([KMGTPE]i)|[numkMGTPE]|([eE](\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))))?$”
spec.bounds.memory.limits.stepPercent	integer	No	Not specified	StepPercent defines maximum percent change per resize (of current value) minimum: 1; maximum: 100
spec.bounds.memory.requests	object	No	Not specified	Requests defines optional bounds/steps for requests. If omitted, scaling for this side has no extra bounds from this section.
spec.bounds.memory.requests.max	integer or string	No	Not specified	Max defines maximum allowed value for the resource pattern: ”^(\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))(([KMGTPE]i)|[numkMGTPE]|([eE](\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))))?$”
spec.bounds.memory.requests.min	integer or string	No	Not specified	Min defines minimum allowed value for the resource pattern: ”^(\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))(([KMGTPE]i)|[numkMGTPE]|([eE](\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))))?$”
spec.bounds.memory.requests.step	integer or string	No	Not specified	Step defines maximum absolute change per resize pattern: ”^(\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))(([KMGTPE]i)|[numkMGTPE]|([eE](\+|-)?(([0-9]+(\.[0-9])?)|(\.[0-9]+))))?$”
spec.bounds.memory.requests.stepPercent	integer	No	Not specified	StepPercent defines maximum percent change per resize (of current value) minimum: 1; maximum: 100
spec.containerName	string	Yes	Not specified	ContainerName what container in the pod should be updated minLength: 1
spec.paused	boolean	No	false	Paused if set to true, can make the controller ignore this CR
spec.policy	object	Yes	Not specified	Policy defines how usage is evaluated and when scaling occurs
spec.policy.after	string	No	"containerReady"	After specifies the pod/container state required before a resize is applied enum: [“running”,“containerReady”,“podReady”]
spec.policy.consecutiveSamples	integer	Yes	Not specified	ConsecutiveSamples is the number of consecutive samples that must breach a threshold minimum: 1
spec.policy.cooldown	string	Yes	Not specified	Cooldown is the minimum time between resize actions for a pod example values: 1m, 2m30s, 5m minLength: 1
spec.policy.cpu	object	No	Not specified	CPU defines thresholds and target utilization for CPU x-kubernetes-validations: [{“message”:“Specify requests and/or limits policy”,“rule”:“has(self.requests) || has(self.limits)”}]
spec.policy.cpu.limits	object	No	Not specified	Limits defines utilization policy against container resource limits. If omitted, PRA does not scale this resource’s limits side. x-kubernetes-validations: [{“message”:“scaleUpThreshold must be greater than scaleDownThreshold”,“rule”:“self.scaleUpThreshold > self.scaleDownThreshold”},{“message”:“consecutiveSamples override must be >= 1”,“rule”:“!has(self.consecutiveSamples) || self.consecutiveSamples >= 1”}]
spec.policy.cpu.limits.consecutiveSamples	integer	No	Not specified	ConsecutiveSamples optionally overrides policy.consecutiveSamples for this resource
spec.policy.cpu.limits.cooldown	string	No	Not specified	Cooldown optionally overrides policy.cooldown for this resource example values: 30s, 1m, 2m30s minLength: 1
spec.policy.cpu.limits.scaleDownThreshold	integer	Yes	Not specified	ScaleDownThreshold triggers scale-down if utilization is <= this value (percent) minimum: 0; maximum: 100
spec.policy.cpu.limits.scaleUpThreshold	integer	Yes	Not specified	ScaleUpThreshold triggers scale-up if utilization is >= this value (percent) minimum: 1; maximum: 100
spec.policy.cpu.limits.targetUtilization	integer	Yes	Not specified	TargetUtilization is the desired utilization after resize (percent) minimum: 1; maximum: 100
spec.policy.cpu.requests	object	No	Not specified	Requests defines utilization policy against container resource requests. If omitted, PRA does not scale this resource’s requests side. x-kubernetes-validations: [{“message”:“scaleUpThreshold must be greater than scaleDownThreshold”,“rule”:“self.scaleUpThreshold > self.scaleDownThreshold”},{“message”:“consecutiveSamples override must be >= 1”,“rule”:“!has(self.consecutiveSamples) || self.consecutiveSamples >= 1”}]
spec.policy.cpu.requests.consecutiveSamples	integer	No	Not specified	ConsecutiveSamples optionally overrides policy.consecutiveSamples for this resource
spec.policy.cpu.requests.cooldown	string	No	Not specified	Cooldown optionally overrides policy.cooldown for this resource example values: 30s, 1m, 2m30s minLength: 1
spec.policy.cpu.requests.scaleDownThreshold	integer	Yes	Not specified	ScaleDownThreshold triggers scale-down if utilization is <= this value (percent) minimum: 0; maximum: 100
spec.policy.cpu.requests.scaleUpThreshold	integer	Yes	Not specified	ScaleUpThreshold triggers scale-up if utilization is >= this value (percent) minimum: 1; maximum: 100
spec.policy.cpu.requests.targetUtilization	integer	Yes	Not specified	TargetUtilization is the desired utilization after resize (percent) minimum: 1; maximum: 100
spec.policy.delay	string	No	"15s"	Delay is the wait duration after after becomes true before a resize is applied example values: 15s, 30s, 1m, 2m30s minLength: 1
spec.policy.memory	object	No	Not specified	Memory defines thresholds and target utilization for memory x-kubernetes-validations: [{“message”:“Specify requests and/or limits policy”,“rule”:“has(self.requests) || has(self.limits)”}]
spec.policy.memory.limits	object	No	Not specified	Limits defines utilization policy against container resource limits. If omitted, PRA does not scale this resource’s limits side. x-kubernetes-validations: [{“message”:“scaleUpThreshold must be greater than scaleDownThreshold”,“rule”:“self.scaleUpThreshold > self.scaleDownThreshold”},{“message”:“consecutiveSamples override must be >= 1”,“rule”:“!has(self.consecutiveSamples) || self.consecutiveSamples >= 1”}]
spec.policy.memory.limits.consecutiveSamples	integer	No	Not specified	ConsecutiveSamples optionally overrides policy.consecutiveSamples for this resource
spec.policy.memory.limits.cooldown	string	No	Not specified	Cooldown optionally overrides policy.cooldown for this resource example values: 30s, 1m, 2m30s minLength: 1
spec.policy.memory.limits.scaleDownThreshold	integer	Yes	Not specified	ScaleDownThreshold triggers scale-down if utilization is <= this value (percent) minimum: 0; maximum: 100
spec.policy.memory.limits.scaleUpThreshold	integer	Yes	Not specified	ScaleUpThreshold triggers scale-up if utilization is >= this value (percent) minimum: 1; maximum: 100
spec.policy.memory.limits.targetUtilization	integer	Yes	Not specified	TargetUtilization is the desired utilization after resize (percent) minimum: 1; maximum: 100
spec.policy.memory.requests	object	No	Not specified	Requests defines utilization policy against container resource requests. If omitted, PRA does not scale this resource’s requests side. x-kubernetes-validations: [{“message”:“scaleUpThreshold must be greater than scaleDownThreshold”,“rule”:“self.scaleUpThreshold > self.scaleDownThreshold”},{“message”:“consecutiveSamples override must be >= 1”,“rule”:“!has(self.consecutiveSamples) || self.consecutiveSamples >= 1”}]
spec.policy.memory.requests.consecutiveSamples	integer	No	Not specified	ConsecutiveSamples optionally overrides policy.consecutiveSamples for this resource
spec.policy.memory.requests.cooldown	string	No	Not specified	Cooldown optionally overrides policy.cooldown for this resource example values: 30s, 1m, 2m30s minLength: 1
spec.policy.memory.requests.scaleDownThreshold	integer	Yes	Not specified	ScaleDownThreshold triggers scale-down if utilization is <= this value (percent) minimum: 0; maximum: 100
spec.policy.memory.requests.scaleUpThreshold	integer	Yes	Not specified	ScaleUpThreshold triggers scale-up if utilization is >= this value (percent) minimum: 1; maximum: 100
spec.policy.memory.requests.targetUtilization	integer	Yes	Not specified	TargetUtilization is the desired utilization after resize (percent) minimum: 1; maximum: 100
spec.policy.pollInterval	string	Yes	Not specified	PollInterval is how often kubelet stats are polled per node example values: 5s, 10s, 30s, 1m minLength: 1
spec.priority	integer	No	0	Priority in case multiple (unpaused) PodResourceAutoscaler CRs matches, only the one with the highest priority will be applied. If not specified, it is 0 and if multiple PodResourceAutoscaler with the same priority matches the pod’s label selector, then the next one that’s closest to now() is chosen. Again if multiple match, then lexicographically smaller is picked (CR name).
spec.selector	object	No	Not specified	Selector is the general label selector spec that identifies one or multiple Pods if selector is specified, don’t use the target
spec.selector.matchExpressions	array	No	Not specified	matchExpressions is a list of label selector requirements. The requirements are ANDed.
spec.selector.matchExpressions[]	object	No	Not specified	A label selector requirement is a selector that contains values, a key, and an operator that relates the key and values.
spec.selector.matchExpressions[].key	string	Yes	Not specified	key is the label key that the selector applies to.
spec.selector.matchExpressions[].operator	string	Yes	Not specified	operator represents a key’s relationship to a set of values. Valid operators are In, NotIn, Exists and DoesNotExist.
spec.selector.matchExpressions[].values	array	No	Not specified	values is an array of string values. If the operator is In or NotIn, the values array must be non-empty. If the operator is Exists or DoesNotExist, the values array must be empty. This array is replaced during a strategic merge patch.
spec.selector.matchExpressions[].values[]	string	No	Not specified
spec.selector.matchLabels	object	No	Not specified	matchLabels is a map of {key,value} pairs. A single {key,value} in the matchLabels map is equivalent to an element of matchExpressions, whose key field is “key”, the operator is “In”, and the values array contains only “value”. The requirements are ANDed.
spec.selector.matchLabels.*	string	No	Not specified
spec.target	object	No	Not specified	Target is the reference to a workload whose pods should be modified if target is specified, don’t use the selector
spec.target.kind	string	Yes	Not specified	Kind specifies the target workload whose containers will be obtaining the resource updates The ‘rollout’ kind refers to an Argo Rollout in argoproj.io/v1alpha1. enum: [“deployment”,“daemonset”,“statefulset”,“rollout”]
spec.target.name	string	Yes	Not specified	minLength: 1

status

Field	Type	Required	Schema default	Meaning and validation
status	object	No	Not specified	PodResourceAutoscalerStatus defines the observed state of PodResourceAutoscaler
status.conditions	array	No	Not specified
status.conditions[]	object	No	Not specified	Condition contains details for one aspect of the current state of this API Resource.
status.conditions[].lastTransitionTime	string	Yes	Not specified	lastTransitionTime is the last time the condition transitioned from one status to another. This should be when the underlying condition changed. If that is not known, then using the time when the API field changed is acceptable.
status.conditions[].message	string	Yes	Not specified	message is a human readable message indicating details about the transition. This may be an empty string. maxLength: 32768
status.conditions[].observedGeneration	integer	No	Not specified	observedGeneration represents the .metadata.generation that the condition was set based upon. For instance, if .metadata.generation is currently 12, but the .status.conditions[x].observedGeneration is 9, the condition is out of date with respect to the current state of the instance. minimum: 0
status.conditions[].reason	string	Yes	Not specified	reason contains a programmatic identifier indicating the reason for the condition’s last transition. Producers of specific condition types may define expected values and meanings for this field, and whether the values are considered a guaranteed API. The value should be a CamelCase string. This field may not be empty. minLength: 1; maxLength: 1024; pattern: ”^[A-Za-z]([A-Za-z0-9_,:]*[A-Za-z0-9_])?$”
status.conditions[].status	string	Yes	Not specified	status of the condition, one of True, False, Unknown. enum: [“True”,“False”,“Unknown”]
status.conditions[].type	string	Yes	Not specified	type of condition in CamelCase or in foo.example.com/CamelCase. maxLength: 316; pattern: ”^([a-z0-9]([-a-z0-9][a-z0-9])?(\.[a-z0-9]([-a-z0-9][a-z0-9])?)/)?(([A-Za-z0-9][-A-Za-z0-9_.])?[A-Za-z0-9])$”
status.effectiveSelector	object	No	Not specified	A label selector is a label query over a set of resources. The result of matchLabels and matchExpressions are ANDed. An empty label selector matches all objects. A null label selector matches no objects.
status.effectiveSelector.matchExpressions	array	No	Not specified	matchExpressions is a list of label selector requirements. The requirements are ANDed.
status.effectiveSelector.matchExpressions[]	object	No	Not specified	A label selector requirement is a selector that contains values, a key, and an operator that relates the key and values.
status.effectiveSelector.matchExpressions[].key	string	Yes	Not specified	key is the label key that the selector applies to.
status.effectiveSelector.matchExpressions[].operator	string	Yes	Not specified	operator represents a key’s relationship to a set of values. Valid operators are In, NotIn, Exists and DoesNotExist.
status.effectiveSelector.matchExpressions[].values	array	No	Not specified	values is an array of string values. If the operator is In or NotIn, the values array must be non-empty. If the operator is Exists or DoesNotExist, the values array must be empty. This array is replaced during a strategic merge patch.
status.effectiveSelector.matchExpressions[].values[]	string	No	Not specified
status.effectiveSelector.matchLabels	object	No	Not specified	matchLabels is a map of {key,value} pairs. A single {key,value} in the matchLabels map is equivalent to an element of matchExpressions, whose key field is “key”, the operator is “In”, and the values array contains only “value”. The requirements are ANDed.
status.effectiveSelector.matchLabels.*	string	No	Not specified
status.lastScaleAction	string	No	Not specified
status.lastScaleResourceChange	string	No	Not specified	LastScaleResourceChange summarizes request/limit changes from the last scale action.
status.lastScaleTime	string	No	Not specified
status.observedGeneration	integer	No	Not specified
status.scaling	boolean	No	Not specified

Inspect the installed contract

kubectl get crd podresourceautoscalers.keda.kedify.io -o yaml
kubectl explain podresourceautoscaler.spec --recursive

Compare served/storage versions and schema before applying configuration. Inspect the resource’s status and events after changing its owning source; schema acceptance alone does not prove successful reconciliation.

Use, verify and diagnose

• Pod Resource Autoscaler (PRA)
• Test automatic rightsizing with PRA
• Pod resources do not resize as expected

Validation

CRD-level validation enforces:

• XOR target / selector
• at least one side among cpu.requests|cpu.limits|memory.requests|memory.limits
• scaleUpThreshold > scaleDownThreshold
• percent range checks (thresholds and stepPercent)
• consecutiveSamples >= 1
• bounds supports only cpu and memory keys

Runtime validation/guards include:

• parseable pollInterval, cooldown, and delay (if set)
• after must be one of running|containerReady|podReady
• selected container exists
• baseline resources exist and are non-zero for configured sides
• counter resets / missing samples are handled (skipped)

Resource Bounds and Step Control

.spec.bounds is optional. If bounds are omitted for a managed side, scaling still works without extra clamping or step caps.

Bounds are configured per resource and per side:

• bounds.cpu.requests / bounds.cpu.limits
• bounds.memory.requests / bounds.memory.limits

Each side supports:

• min
• max
• step (absolute max delta per action)
• stepPercent (relative max delta per action)

If both step and stepPercent are set, the smaller cap is applied.

Scaling Policy

Top-level policy fields:

• pollInterval: per-pod evaluation interval (node poll interval becomes the minimum interval among tracked pods on a node).
• consecutiveSamples: required, must be >= 1
• cooldown: required duration (minimum time between resize actions for the pod)
• after: optional apply gate, one of running|containerReady|podReady (default containerReady)
• delay: optional duration before apply (default 15s)

Resource policies are optional and can be configured per resource and per “side”:

• policy.cpu.requests / policy.cpu.limits
• policy.memory.requests / policy.memory.limits

Each utilization policy includes:

• scaleUpThreshold (percent)
• scaleDownThreshold (percent)
• targetUtilization (percent)
• consecutiveSamples (optional override)
• cooldown (optional override)

Notes:

• If you specify policy.cpu, you must configure requests and/or limits under it.
• If you specify policy.memory, you must configure requests and/or limits under it.
• scaleUpThreshold must be greater than scaleDownThreshold.

At least one of policy.cpu.requests|policy.cpu.limits|policy.memory.requests|policy.memory.limits must be set.

How scaling decisions work

• CPU usage is derived from kubelet cumulative counters (rate over time). Memory usage is derived from kubelet working set bytes.
• For each configured side, utilization is computed as usage / baseline * 100, where the baseline is the container’s request or limit for that side.
• Utilization is evaluated independently for each configured side.
• Scale up if any configured side requests scale up.
• Scale down only if no side requests scale up and at least one side requests scale down.
• Desired values are computed from targetUtilization and current usage (separately per side), using desired = usage / (targetUtilization / 100).
• requests <= limits is always enforced.
• Resize apply is gated by after and delay, and skipped while a pod resize is pending/in progress.

Additional details:

• CPU needs an initial warm-up sample before a first rate can be computed.

• Threshold checks are inclusive (>= for up, <= for down).

• CPU cores used are computed as:

  cores_used = ((cpu_ns_now - cpu_ns_prev) / 1e9) / dt_seconds

Addressing Pods

You can target pods in two mutually exclusive ways:

• .spec.selector
• .spec.target

Exactly one of these must be set.

Allowed target kinds:

• deployment
• statefulset
• daemonset
• rollout (Argo Rollouts need to be enabled)

When using .spec.selector, the selector uses the same shape as deployment.spec.selector.

If multiple PRAs match the same pod, the winner selection is deterministic:

• highest priority, then earliest next-eligible time, then lexicographic PRA name

Spec Overview

At a high level, a PRA describes:

• which pods to manage (.spec.selector or .spec.target)
• which container to resize (.spec.containerName)
• how to evaluate and apply resize actions (.spec.policy)
• optional bounds/step caps (.spec.bounds)

You must specify exactly one of .spec.selector or .spec.target.

Spec fields

• paused: optional bool (default false)
• priority: optional int (default 0)
• target: optional workload reference (XOR with selector)
• selector: optional label selector (XOR with target)
• containerName: required string; the single container per pod to resize
• policy: required; evaluation and sizing rules
• bounds: optional; per-resource bounds and step caps for requests and/or limits

Status fields

• conditions: Ready, Active, Scaling, Metrics
• observedGeneration
• effectiveSelector
• lastScaleTime
• lastScaleAction: scaleUp|scaleDown
• lastScaleResourceChange: compact before/after delta from the last scale action
• scaling: boolean derived from lastScaleTime + cooldown window (cleared after cooldown elapses by periodic runtime sync)