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Cost Control

Configure budgets and spending limits to protect your infrastructure costs.

Budget Configuration

Project Budgets

Set monthly budgets per GCP project:

  1. Navigate to Settings → Projects
  2. Select a project
  3. Configure Monthly Budget (USD)
  4. SmartSRE uses this as the baseline for cost guardrails

Virtual Baselines

When no budget is configured, SmartSRE uses a virtual baseline (default: $100/month):

  • Catches step-function cost increases
  • Allows routine small changes
  • Shown in UI as "virtual baseline"

Cost Guardrails

Cost limits that trigger approval or blocking:

ThresholdDefaultEffect
max_cost_impact_auto_percent5%Auto-execute limit
max_cost_impact_approval_percent25%Approval limit (blocking above)

See Risk Guardrails for full configuration.

Cost Analytics

Track cost impact across your tenant:

  • Monthly Trends — Savings vs increases over time
  • Per-Service Breakdown — Cost impact by GCP service
  • ROI Tracking — SmartSRE subscription vs savings generated

Access via Analytics → Cost.

Best Practices

  1. Set project budgets — More accurate guardrails
  2. Review cost analytics monthly — Track ROI
  3. Start with conservative thresholds — Increase as confidence grows

Next Steps