---
name: plan-capacity
locale: caveman-lite
source_locale: en
source_commit: 82c77053
translator: "Julius Brussee homage — caveman"
translation_date: "2026-04-19"
description: >
  Perform capacity planning using historical metrics and growth models. Use
  predict_linear for forecasting, identify resource constraints, calculate
  headroom, and recommend scaling actions before saturation. Use before
  seasonal traffic spikes or product launches, during quarterly capacity
  reviews, when resource utilization trends upward, or before budget planning
  cycles.
license: MIT
allowed-tools: Read Write Edit Bash Grep Glob
metadata:
  author: Philipp Thoss
  version: "1.0"
  domain: observability
  complexity: intermediate
  language: multi
  tags: capacity-planning, forecasting, predict-linear, growth, headroom
---

# Plan Capacity

Forecast resource needs and prevent saturation through data-driven capacity planning.

## When to Use

- Before seasonal traffic spikes (holidays, sales events)
- When planning new feature launches
- During quarterly capacity reviews
- When resource utilization trends upward
- Before budget planning cycles

## Inputs

- **Required**: Historical metrics (CPU, memory, disk, network, requests/sec)
- **Required**: Time range for trend analysis (minimum 4 weeks)
- **Optional**: Business growth projections (expected user growth, feature launches)
- **Optional**: Budget constraints

## Procedure

### Step 1: Collect Historical Metrics

Query Prometheus for key resource metrics:

```promql
# CPU usage trend over 8 weeks
avg(rate(node_cpu_seconds_total{mode!="idle"}[5m])) by (instance)

# Memory usage trend
avg(node_memory_MemTotal_bytes - node_memory_MemAvailable_bytes) by (instance)

# Disk usage growth
avg(node_filesystem_size_bytes - node_filesystem_free_bytes) by (instance, device)

# Request rate growth
sum(rate(http_requests_total[5m])) by (service)

# Database connection pool usage
avg(db_connection_pool_used / db_connection_pool_max) by (instance)
```

Export to analyze:

```bash
# Export 8 weeks of CPU data
curl -G 'http://prometheus:9090/api/v1/query_range' \
  --data-urlencode 'query=avg(rate(node_cpu_seconds_total{mode!="idle"}[5m])) by (instance)' \
  --data-urlencode 'start=2024-12-15T00:00:00Z' \
  --data-urlencode 'end=2025-02-09T00:00:00Z' \
  --data-urlencode 'step=1h' | jq '.data.result' > cpu_8weeks.json
```

**Got:** Clean time series data for each resource with no large gaps.

**If fail:** Missing data reduces forecast accuracy. Check metric retention and scrape intervals.

### Step 2: Calculate Growth Rates with predict_linear

Use Prometheus's `predict_linear()` to forecast saturation:

```promql
# Predict when CPU will hit 80% (4 weeks ahead)
predict_linear(
  avg(rate(node_cpu_seconds_total{mode!="idle"}[5m]))[8w:],
  4*7*24*3600  # 4 weeks in seconds
) > 0.80

# Predict disk full date (8 weeks ahead)
predict_linear(
  avg(node_filesystem_size_bytes - node_filesystem_free_bytes)[8w:],
  8*7*24*3600
) > 0.95 * avg(node_filesystem_size_bytes)

# Predict memory pressure (2 weeks ahead)
predict_linear(
  avg(node_memory_MemTotal_bytes - node_memory_MemAvailable_bytes)[8w:],
  2*7*24*3600
) / avg(node_memory_MemTotal_bytes) > 0.90

# Predict request rate capacity breach (4 weeks ahead)
predict_linear(
  sum(rate(http_requests_total[5m]))[8w:],
  4*7*24*3600
) > 10000  # known capacity limit
```

Create a forecasting dashboard:

```json
{
  "dashboard": {
    "title": "Capacity Forecast",
    "panels": [
      {
        "title": "CPU Saturation Forecast (4 weeks)",
        "targets": [
          {
            "expr": "predict_linear(avg(rate(node_cpu_seconds_total{mode!=\"idle\"}[5m]))[8w:], 4*7*24*3600)",
            "legendFormat": "Predicted CPU"
          },
          {
            "expr": "0.80",
            "legendFormat": "Target Threshold (80%)"
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "title": "Disk Full Date",
        "targets": [
          {
            "expr": "(avg(node_filesystem_size_bytes) - predict_linear(avg(node_filesystem_free_bytes)[8w:], 8*7*24*3600)) / avg(node_filesystem_size_bytes)",
            "legendFormat": "Predicted Usage %"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}
```

**Got:** Clear visualization showing when resources will breach thresholds.

**If fail:** If predictions look wrong (negative values, wild swings), check for:
- Insufficient history (need minimum 4 weeks)
- Step spikes (deployments, migrations) distorting trend
- Seasonal patterns not captured by linear model

### Step 3: Calculate Current Headroom

Determine safety margin before saturation:

```promql
# CPU headroom (percentage remaining before 80% threshold)
(0.80 - avg(rate(node_cpu_seconds_total{mode!="idle"}[5m]))) / 0.80 * 100

# Memory headroom (bytes remaining before 90% usage)
avg(node_memory_MemAvailable_bytes) - (avg(node_memory_MemTotal_bytes) * 0.10)

# Request rate headroom (requests/sec before saturation)
10000 - sum(rate(http_requests_total[5m]))

# Time until saturation (weeks until CPU hits 80%)
(0.80 - avg(rate(node_cpu_seconds_total{mode!="idle"}[5m]))) /
  deriv(avg(rate(node_cpu_seconds_total{mode!="idle"}[5m]))[8w:]) /
  (7*24*3600)
```

Create a headroom summary report:

```bash
cat > capacity_headroom.md <<'EOF'
# Capacity Headroom Report (2025-02-09)

## Current Utilization
- **CPU**: 45% average (target: <80%)
- **Memory**: 62% (target: <90%)
- **Disk**: 71% (target: <95%)
- **Request Rate**: 4,200 req/s (capacity: 10,000)

## Headroom Analysis
- **CPU**: 35% headroom → ~12 weeks until saturation
- **Memory**: 28% headroom → ~16 weeks until saturation
- **Disk**: 24% headroom → ~8 weeks until full
- **Request Rate**: 5,800 req/s headroom → ~20 weeks until capacity

## Priority Actions
1. **Disk**: Implement log rotation or expand volume within 4 weeks
2. **CPU**: Plan horizontal scaling in next quarter
3. **Memory**: Monitor but no immediate action needed
EOF
```

**Got:** Quantified headroom for each resource with time-to-saturation estimates.

**If fail:** If headroom is already negative, you're in reactive mode. Immediate scaling needed.

### Step 4: Model Growth Scenarios

Factor in business projections:

```python
# Example Python script for scenario modeling
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np

# Load historical data
df = pd.read_json('cpu_8weeks.json')

# Calculate weekly growth rate
growth_rate_weekly = df['value'].pct_change(periods=7).mean()

# Scenario 1: Current trend
weeks_ahead = 12
current_trend = df['value'].iloc[-1] * (1 + growth_rate_weekly) ** weeks_ahead

# Scenario 2: 2x user growth (marketing campaign)
accelerated_trend = df['value'].iloc[-1] * (1 + growth_rate_weekly * 2) ** weeks_ahead

# Scenario 3: New feature launch (+30% baseline)
feature_launch = (df['value'].iloc[-1] * 1.30) * (1 + growth_rate_weekly) ** weeks_ahead

print(f"Current Trend (12 weeks): {current_trend:.1%} CPU")
print(f"2x Growth Scenario: {accelerated_trend:.1%} CPU")
print(f"Feature Launch Scenario: {feature_launch:.1%} CPU")
print(f"Threshold: 80%")
```

**Got:** Multiple scenarios showing impact of business changes on capacity.

**If fail:** If scenarios exceed capacity, prioritize scaling before the event.

### Step 5: Generate Scaling Recommendations

Create actionable recommendations:

```markdown
## Capacity Scaling Plan

### Immediate Actions (Next 4 Weeks)
1. **Disk Expansion** [Priority: HIGH]
   - Current: 500GB, 71% used
   - Projected full date: 2025-04-01 (8 weeks)
   - Action: Expand to 1TB by 2025-03-15
   - Cost: $50/month additional
   - Justification: 5 weeks lead time needed

2. **Log Rotation Policy** [Priority: MEDIUM]
   - Current: Logs retained 90 days
   - Action: Reduce to 30 days, archive to S3
   - Savings: ~150GB disk space
   - Cost: $5/month S3 storage

### Near-Term Actions (Next Quarter)
3. **Horizontal Scaling - API Tier** [Priority: MEDIUM]
   - Current: 4 instances, 45% CPU
   - Projected: 65% CPU by 2025-05-01
   - Action: Add 2 instances (to 6 total)
   - Cost: $400/month
   - Trigger: When CPU avg exceeds 60% for 7 days

4. **Database Connection Pool** [Priority: LOW]
   - Current: 50 max connections, 40% used
   - Projected: 55% by Q3
   - Action: Increase to 75 in Q2
   - Cost: None (configuration change)

### Long-Term Planning (Next 6 Months)
5. **Migration to Auto-Scaling** [Priority: MEDIUM]
   - Current: Manual scaling
   - Action: Implement Kubernetes HPA (Horizontal Pod Autoscaler)
   - Timeline: Q3 2025
   - Benefit: Automatic response to load spikes
```

**Got:** Prioritized list with costs, timelines, and trigger conditions.

**If fail:** If recommendations are rejected due to cost, revisit thresholds or accept risk.

### Step 6: Set Up Capacity Alerts

Create alerts for low headroom:

```yaml
# capacity_alerts.yml
groups:
  - name: capacity
    interval: 1h
    rules:
      - alert: CPUCapacityLow
        expr: |
          (0.80 - avg(rate(node_cpu_seconds_total{mode!="idle"}[5m]))) / 0.80 < 0.20
        for: 24h
        labels:
          severity: warning
        annotations:
          summary: "CPU headroom below 20%"
          description: "Current CPU headroom: {{ $value | humanizePercentage }}. Scaling needed within 4 weeks."

      - alert: DiskFillForecast
        expr: |
          predict_linear(avg(node_filesystem_free_bytes)[8w:], 4*7*24*3600) < 0.10 * avg(node_filesystem_size_bytes)
        for: 1h
        labels:
          severity: warning
        annotations:
          summary: "Disk projected to fill within 4 weeks"
          description: "Expand disk volume soon."

      - alert: MemoryCapacityLow
        expr: |
          avg(node_memory_MemAvailable_bytes) < 0.15 * avg(node_memory_MemTotal_bytes)
        for: 6h
        labels:
          severity: warning
        annotations:
          summary: "Memory headroom below 15%"
```

**Got:** Alerts fire before saturation, giving time to scale proactively.

**If fail:** Tune thresholds if alerts fire too often (alert fatigue) or too late (reactive scrambling).

## Validation

- [ ] Historical metrics cover at least 8 weeks
- [ ] `predict_linear()` queries return sensible forecasts (no negative values)
- [ ] Headroom calculated for all critical resources
- [ ] Growth scenarios include business projections
- [ ] Scaling recommendations have costs and timelines
- [ ] Capacity alerts configured and tested
- [ ] Report reviewed with engineering leadership and finance

## Pitfalls

- **Insufficient history**: Linear predictions need 4+ weeks of data. Less than that, forecasts are unreliable.
- **Ignoring step changes**: Deployments, migrations, or feature launches create spikes that distort trends. Filter or annotate.
- **Linear assumption**: Not all growth is linear. Exponential growth (viral products) needs different models.
- **Forgetting lead time**: Cloud provisioning is fast, but procurement, budgets, and migrations take weeks. Plan early.
- **No budget alignment**: Capacity planning without budget buy-in leads to last-minute scrambles. Involve finance early.

## Related Skills

- `setup-prometheus-monitoring` - collect the metrics used for capacity planning
- `build-grafana-dashboards` - visualize forecasts and headroom
- `optimize-cloud-costs` - balance capacity planning with cost optimization