Set a reliability target and alert before it is missed
A stated reliability target for one service, with an alert that fires when the service is failing too often to meet it.
The ticket
Define a reliability objective for one service and add the burn-rate alert that defends it.
Acceptance criteria
- The objective states a target, a window, and what counts as a failed request
- A burn-rate alert fires against a replayed window that breached it
- The alert distinguishes a fast burn from a slow one
- The objective is written where the team will see it
What lands as proof
The alert replayed against a real breach window, firing, which is the difference between a target and a wish.
Why teams defer it
- Choosing the number is a business decision that nobody wants to make on the record.
- Without one, every latency conversation restarts from opinion.
Questions
- What does the agent actually change?
- The ticket is scoped to one outcome: define a reliability objective for one service and add the burn-rate alert that defends it. Work that serves that outcome is in scope, and anything outside it is left for a separate ticket, so the pull request stays reviewable.
- How do I know the work is done?
- The pull request carries the evidence, not only the diff. Here that means alert fires against a replayed window that breached it, so a reviewer can confirm the result without reproducing the work locally.
- How much oversight does this need?
- The run stops once the plan is written. Somebody reads the approach and approves it before any code exists, which is the cheapest moment to redirect the work.