Autopilot Scheduler

Autopilot Scheduler allows you to apply different Autopilot configurations (called Autopilot Presets) at specific times using cron expressions. Use it for predictable traffic patterns like business hours, promotional events, or maintenance windows.

Overview

While Autopilot's ML handles dynamic scaling, Scheduler lets you:

• Switch between different Autopilot Presets at scheduled times
• Prepare for known traffic events (sales, launches, campaigns)
• Optimize costs during off-peak hours
• Apply different strategies for weekdays vs weekends

Example: Run "Optimize for Performance" preset during business hours, switch to "Optimize for Cost" preset overnight.

Accessing the Scheduler

1. Navigate to Deployments from the sidebar
2. Click the Schedules tab at the top of the page
3. The page displays:
   • Left side: Monthly calendar showing all scheduled events
   • Right side: List of schedules and available Autopilot Presets

Key Concepts

Schedules

Time-based rules that activate Autopilot Presets at specific times:

• Cron expressions: Define when the schedule activates (minute, hour, day, month, day of week, year)
• Duration: How long (in minutes) the preset remains active
• Pre-execution: Optional advance activation before the cron time (in minutes)
• Multiple Presets: Each schedule can apply different presets to different deployments

Example: A schedule might apply "Performance" preset to api-server and "Cost" preset to worker deployments, both running Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.

Autopilot Presets

Reusable Autopilot configurations that can be assigned to schedules:

• Created separately from schedules in the Autopilot Presets card
• Contains all Autopilot settings (strategy, thresholds, min/max replicas, etc.)
• One preset can be used by multiple schedules
• Each preset needs a descriptive title (e.g., "Business Hours Performance", "Weekend Cost Mode")

How They Work Together

1. Create Autopilot Presets with different configurations
2. Create a Schedule with a cron expression
3. In the schedule, add presets and select which deployments each preset applies to
4. When the cron time arrives, Wave applies the presets to their assigned deployments
5. After the duration ends, deployments return to their default configuration

Creating Your First Schedule

Step 1: Select Cluster

At the top of the Schedules tab, select which cluster you want to schedule for using the Cluster Selector dropdown.

Step 2: Create Autopilot Presets (if needed)

Before creating a schedule, you need Autopilot Presets. In the Autopilot Presets card on the right:

1. Click the "+" button in the card header
2. A modal opens with all Autopilot configuration options:
   • Title: Give it a descriptive name
   • Strategy: Performance or Cost
   • Application Type: CPU Intensive or Memory Intensive
   • Thresholds: CPU%, Memory%, Network, Request metrics
   • Min/Max Replicas: Scaling boundaries
   • Cooldown Periods: Stabilization times
   • And more (see Core Configuration for details)
3. Click Save

Create multiple presets for different scenarios (e.g., "Business Hours", "Off Hours", "Flash Sale").

Step 3: Create the Schedule

In the Schedules card on the right:

1. Click the "+" button in the card header
2. A drawer opens on the right side with the schedule form

Basic Information

• Schedule Name: Descriptive name (e.g., "Weekday Business Hours")
• Enabled: Toggle to activate/deactivate the schedule (defaults to enabled)

Cron Expression

Define when the schedule activates using 6 separate fields:

Common Patterns (Korea Time → UTC):

• Every weekday at 9 AM KST: 0 0 * * 2-6 * (midnight UTC)
• Every day at midnight KST: 0 15 * * * * (3 PM UTC previous day)
• First day of month at 2 AM KST: 0 17 1 * * * (5 PM UTC previous day)
• Sundays at 3 AM KST: 0 18 * * 7 * (6 PM UTC Saturday)

Timing Configuration

• Cron Pre-execution Minutes: Start the preset this many minutes before the cron time (optional, defaults to 0)
  • Example: With cron at 9:00 AM and pre-execution of 15, preset activates at 8:45 AM
• Duration (minutes): How long the preset stays active (required, minimum 1)
  • Example: Duration of 480 = 8 hours

The active window is pre-execution + duration, measured from the pre-execution start. With a 9:00 AM cron, 15 minutes of pre-execution, and a 480-minute duration, the preset is active from 8:45 AM to 4:45 PM — a total of 495 minutes.

Add Autopilot Presets

Now assign presets to deployments:

1. Click "+ Add Autopilot Preset"
2. A preset card appears with:
   • Config dropdown: Select which Autopilot Preset to use
   • Deployment selector: Tree-based transfer component showing:
     • Left panel: Tree of namespaces → deployments
     • Right panel: Selected deployments
3. Select deployments from the tree and move them to the right panel
4. Repeat to add more presets if you want different configurations for different deployments

Step 4: Save and Review

1. Click Save in the bottom right
2. Your schedule appears in the Schedules list with:
   • A colored left border (unique color per schedule)
   • Schedule title
   • Description showing the cron expression and duration
3. The schedule also appears on the calendar on the left side, showing when it will run

Understanding the Schedules Tab

Calendar View (Left Side)

The monthly calendar displays scheduled events:

• Colored dots: Each schedule has a unique color (generated from its ID)
• Event dates: Shows when each schedule will execute based on its cron expression
• Navigation: Use arrows to view different months
• Filtering: Calendar automatically filters to show only the visible date range

Schedules List (Right Side, Top Card)

All schedules for the selected cluster:

• Colored border: Visual indicator matching calendar events
• Title: Schedule name
• Description: Cron expression and duration summary
• Status: Disabled schedules appear with reduced opacity (30%)
• Count: Footer shows total number of schedules
• Click to edit: Click any schedule to open it in the drawer

Autopilot Presets List (Right Side, Bottom Card)

All available Autopilot Presets:

• List of preset configurations
• Click to edit the preset settings
• These presets can be assigned to schedules

Common Scheduling Patterns

Pattern 1: Business Hours vs Off-Hours

Use case: B2B SaaS with weekday traffic

Step 1 - Create Presets:

Create three Autopilot Presets:

1. "Business Hours Performance"
   • Strategy: Optimize for Performance
   • Min Replicas: 8, Max Replicas: 30
2. "Off Hours Cost Savings"
   • Strategy: Optimize for Cost
   • Min Replicas: 2, Max Replicas: 10
3. "Weekend Mode"
   • Strategy: Optimize for Cost
   • Min Replicas: 1, Max Replicas: 8

Step 2 - Create Schedules:

Schedule 1: "Weekday Business Hours"

Cron: 0 0 * * 2-6 *  (9 AM KST Monday-Friday = midnight UTC)
Duration: 540 minutes (9 hours, ends at 6 PM KST)
Preset: "Business Hours Performance" → api-server, web-app

Schedule 2: "Weekday Nights"

Cron: 0 9 * * 2-6 *  (6 PM KST Monday-Friday = 9 AM UTC)
Duration: 900 minutes (15 hours, ends at 9 AM KST next day)
Preset: "Off Hours Cost Savings" → api-server, web-app

Schedule 3: "Weekends"

Cron: 0 15 * * 6,7 *  (Midnight KST Sat & Sun = 3 PM UTC Fri & Sat)
Duration: 1440 minutes (24 hours)
Preset: "Weekend Mode" → api-server, web-app

Pattern 2: Flash Sale Event

Use case: E-commerce promotional sale

Preset: "Black Friday Sale"

• Strategy: Optimize for Performance
• Min Replicas: 25, Max Replicas: 100
• Predictive Scaling: Enabled

Schedule: "Black Friday 2025"

Cron: 0 23 27 11 * 2025  (Nov 28, 2025 8 AM KST = Nov 27 11 PM UTC)
Pre-execution: 30 minutes  (starts at 7:30 AM KST)
Duration: 720 minutes (12 hours, ends at 8 PM KST)
Preset: "Black Friday Sale" → checkout-service, product-api, payment-service

Why this works:

• Pre-execution starts scaling 30 minutes early
• High capacity maintained throughout sale hours
• Specific date in 2025 makes it a one-time event

Pattern 3: Weekly Maintenance Window

Use case: Scheduled maintenance every Sunday morning

Preset: "Maintenance Mode"

• Strategy: Optimize for Performance
• Min Replicas: 10, Max Replicas: 10 (frozen)
• Gradual Scaling: 300s (very conservative)

Schedule: "Sunday Maintenance"

Cron: 0 17 * * 7 *  (2 AM KST Sunday = 5 PM UTC Saturday)
Duration: 120 minutes (2 hours)
Preset: "Maintenance Mode" → backend-api

Why: Maintains stable replica count (10) during deployments, no scaling up or down.

Pattern 4: Multi-Service Tiered Scaling

Use case: Different services need different configurations during peak hours

Presets:

1. "Peak Performance" - Min: 20, Max: 80
2. "Peak Moderate" - Min: 10, Max: 40
3. "Peak Light" - Min: 5, Max: 20

Schedule: "Weekday Peak Hours"

Cron: 0 1 * * 2-6 *  (10 AM KST weekdays = 1 AM UTC)
Duration: 420 minutes (7 hours, ends at 5 PM KST)

Preset Mappings:
- "Peak Performance" → checkout-api, payment-service (critical services)
- "Peak Moderate" → product-api, user-service (medium load)
- "Peak Light" → analytics-worker, email-service (background jobs)

Why: Single schedule applies different configurations to different service tiers.

How Schedules Work

Execution Flow

1. Cron Trigger: When the cron expression matches the current time
2. Pre-execution (if set): Activates earlier than cron time
3. Preset Application: Each preset is applied to its assigned deployments
4. Active Duration: Presets remain active for the configured minutes
5. Return to Default: After duration ends, deployments use their default configuration

Calendar Display

The calendar shows all future execution dates calculated from the cron expression:

• Dynamically generated based on the cron
• Shows approximately the next 10-20 executions
• Updates automatically when you change the visible month
• Colored dots match the schedule's unique color

Cron Expression Tips

Every weekday 9 AM KST:    0 0 * * 2-6 *     (midnight UTC)
Every day midnight KST:    0 15 * * * *      (3 PM UTC prev day)
Monday mornings 8 AM KST:  0 23 * * 1 *      (11 PM UTC Sunday)
First of month 2 AM KST:   0 17 1 * * *      (5 PM UTC prev day)
Every 6 hours from 0 KST:  0 15,21,3,9 * * * * (6-hour intervals in UTC)
Weekend mornings 10 AM KST: 0 1 * * 1,7 *    (1 AM UTC Sat & Sun)
Specific date/time:        0 5 25 12 * 2025  (Dec 25, 2025 2 PM KST = 5 AM UTC)

Troubleshooting

Related Documentation

• Getting Started: Basic Autopilot setup and default configuration
• Core Configuration: All settings available in Autopilot Presets
• Predictive Scaling: Combine with schedules for optimal results
• Timing Controls: Configure transitions between scheduled configs