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Section 2 · Enable auto-apply

Choose Coverage-first or Cost-first for a segment, and learn which rules and recommendations you still control after auto-apply is on.

Estimated time: 3 min

Choose a mode

When you turn on auto-apply for a segment, you choose a mode: Coverage-first or Cost-first. The mode decides which recommendations auto-apply applies.

Adaptive Metrics looks at how your metrics are used in dashboards, alerts, recording rules, and queries. For metrics you don’t fully use, it recommends an aggregation rule. An aggregation rule combines a metric’s series into fewer series, so Grafana Cloud stores less and the cost of that volume goes down. If a metric you already aggregated starts being queried again, it recommends updating its aggregation rule to add series back. Coverage-first applies both kinds. Cost-first applies the ones that reduce series, and adds series back only up to the number those reductions removed.

Which mode fits your segment?

If the segment is at or near its limit on aggregation rules, both modes might skip some or all recommendations. You can change the mode later on Segments.

ModeWhat it does
Coverage-firstApplies every recommendation, including ones expected to add series for new usage, so your costs can go up. Choose it when adapting to usage matters more than limiting estimated series growth.
Cost-firstApplies every recommendation expected to reduce or keep the estimated series count. It also applies recommendations that add series, smallest first, up to the number those reductions removed at the same time, so the estimated total doesn’t grow. For example, if reductions remove 20 series, increases can add up to 20. Choose it when limiting estimated series growth matters more than adapting to new usage.

Cost-first works from the series estimates in the latest Adaptive Metrics analysis, not your live series count, so your actual series count can still rise.

What you still control

Every rule in the following table is a kind of aggregation rule. Most combine a metric’s series into fewer series, and a drop rule discards the metric instead. After auto-apply is on for a segment, it handles each kind differently, and some recommendations still wait for you.

Rule or recommendationWhat stays in your control
Custom rulesA rule you created yourself. You can still add and edit custom rules after auto-apply is on. If a custom rule matches one exact metric name, auto-apply can later remove or replace it unless you exempt that metric.
Affix or drop rulesAn affix rule matches a prefix or suffix in the metric name. A drop rule discards the metric. Auto-apply leaves these rules as they are.
Exact-match rulesA rule for one metric name. Auto-apply can remove or replace it unless you exempted that metric.
Recommendations that add too many seriesIn Cost-first, auto-apply doesn’t apply an increase that would make the estimated total grow. It stays pending, and you can still apply it from the UI.