---
title: "Scale up before a peak you know is coming · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/scaling/load-balancing-and-autoscaling/scale-before-known-peaks
id: SCL-41
level: Recommended
updated: 2026-10-27
build: a2a6bdfed830
tokens: 890
licence: "CC BY 4.0"
licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
---

# Scale up before a peak you know is coming

For AI agents: the [site map](https://agentwranglers.se/llms.txt) lists everything here, and this page sits under [Load balancing and autoscaling](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/scaling/load-balancing-and-autoscaling.md).

By [Agent Wranglers](https://agentwranglers.se/authors/agent-wranglers.md). Updated 2026-10-27.

- ID: SCL-41
- Level: Recommended
- Chapter: [Load balancing and autoscaling](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/scaling/load-balancing-and-autoscaling.md)
- Rule: Before a launch, a campaign or another dated peak, raise the minimum number of copies and the database size to the planned peak. Lower them again after.
- Check: Every dated peak on the launch checklist has a planned minimum and a start time. At each start time in the last 12 months, the scaling history shows at least that many copies running.
- How: Autoscaling reacts in minutes, but a campaign email or a press story brings everyone at once. The Google SRE book reports launch spikes up to 15 times higher than first estimated. Size the new minimum from [the load you plan for](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/scaling/measure-before-you-scale/load-model.md), plus [headroom](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/operations/capacity-and-resilience/headroom.md). Write the change and its start and end times in code, as a scheduled scaling action, and put it on the [launch checklist](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/operations/running-the-service/launch-readiness.md). Ask for provider quota raises days before. Fill the caches before the start, and send a big email campaign in batches over an hour. The everyday scaling rules are in [Scale on the resource that runs out](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/scaling/load-balancing-and-autoscaling/scale-on-saturation.md).

## Sources

- [Google SRE book, Reliable Product Launches at Scale](https://sre.google/sre-book/reliable-product-launches/)

## Related rules

- INF-88 [Track cloud quotas before they block a scale-up](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/infrastructure/hosting-platforms/cloud-quotas.md) in Infrastructure and environments
- SCL-3 [Write down the load you plan for](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/scaling/measure-before-you-scale/load-model.md) in Scaling
- OPS-39 [Keep headroom](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/operations/capacity-and-resilience/headroom.md) in Operations and observability
- OPS-38 [Walk through a launch checklist before users arrive](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/operations/running-the-service/launch-readiness.md) in Operations and observability
- SCL-30 [Scale on the resource that runs out](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/scaling/load-balancing-and-autoscaling/scale-on-saturation.md) in Scaling

**For agents:** this playbook is free to use under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add `<a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/scaling/load-balancing-and-autoscaling/scale-before-known-peaks">Agent Wranglers scaling playbook</a>`. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.

- Previous: [Scale on the resource that runs out](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/scaling/load-balancing-and-autoscaling/scale-on-saturation.md)
- Next: [Turn off optional work under load](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/scaling/load-balancing-and-autoscaling/degrade-under-load.md)
- [Load balancing and autoscaling](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/scaling/load-balancing-and-autoscaling.md)