Resources and limits

The question "how much CPU does this application have?" has four answers, and showing only one hides why it is what it is. The console shows all four side by side.

This page is about the size of each instance. How many instances exist is a different question, and lives in Scale and availability — on the same console screen, just above.

Answer	What it is
Platform default	What applies when nobody declared anything
Declared	What you asked for
Applied	What the active version actually applied
Current usage	The most recent sample measured, with its age

The vocabulary

Term	Meaning
Reserved	What the service is guaranteed, always
Maximum	The ceiling it may reach at peaks
Current usage	How much it is consuming right now

Reserving too much wastes capacity; reserving too little makes the application compete for resources exactly when it needs them most. Observed usage is what lets you calibrate without guessing.

Declaring

1. Open the project and go to Scale and availability.
2. Choose the service.
3. Enter CPU and memory — reserved and maximum.
4. Save.

Values outside what the platform accepts are refused immediately, with the valid range in the message.

Saving is not applying

With an active version, saving redeploys the service — same image, new configuration — and the screen follows the operation to its outcome.

Saying "applied" because the form accepted it would be lying about the half that matters: the change only holds once the new version is live.

When nothing is declared

The service uses the platform default, and the screen says so explicitly rather than showing a number with no origin. A service running on the default is not a misconfigured service — it is a service that has not needed tuning yet.

Reading observed usage

Usage comes from periodic samples. Two readings matter:

• The sample's age. A number from two hours ago does not describe now, and the screen shows the age instead of pretending it is live.
• Absence is not zero. With no measurement, the screen says "not measured" — not "0%". A dashboard that answers zero when it measured nothing is indistinguishable from one that answers zero because everything is quiet.

Common errors

Symptom	Likely cause	What to do
The application restarts on its own under load	Maximum memory too low	Raise the maximum and watch usage
Slow responses at peaks	Reserved CPU too low	Raise the reservation
I saved and nothing changed	The redeployment has not finished	Follow the operation on the same screen
"Not measured" under usage	Collection has not produced a sample yet	See What exists today

Next steps

• Services in the console
• Observability
• Deploy