Authored By: @Chinmayi Panicker

Co-authored by: @Sunjit Tara, @jerin johnykutty

In our previous blog , we explored the integration of Kubecost with Instana, diving deep into various configuration scenarios for both free and enterprise environments.

This blog will focus on the events and alerts generated through the Instana–Kubecost integration. It will examine how Instana leverages Kubecost data to trigger intelligent alerts, monitor cost-related anomalies, and provide actionable insights — empowering teams to proactively manage and optimize Kubernetes spending.

To begin with, Instana is capable of detecting connection issues with Kubecost and promptly alerts the user. Let’s see them in detail.

Scenario 1: Invalid cluster ID: 

If you’ve specified a cluster ID in the configuration that is not currently being monitored by Kubecost, Instana will generate an alert indicating that the cluster ID is invalid.

You can view this message in the Instana agent monitoring dashboard, where an error similar to the following one will be displayed. To access the Instana agent monitoring dashboard, click on Infrastructure from the left-hand navigation panel, go to the stack view in your cluster, and select the desired agent name.

Resolution:

Ensure that the cluster ID provided in your Instana configuration matches one of the active clusters monitored by Kubecost. Update the configuration with a valid and currently active cluster ID.

Example of an incorrect configuration:

In this case, the cluster ID contains a typo. The correct cluster ID should be kc-demo-openshift.

Corrected configuration is as follows:

Scenario 2: Unable to authenticate 

If your Kubecost deployment has authentication or security enabled, Instana requires a valid API key to access cost metrics.

If the API key is missing or not provided in the configuration, Instana will display an alert such as:

Generate a valid API key from your Kubecost setup and include it in Instana’s configuration file. This ensures secure access to cost data. 

The generated API Key should be provided in the field api_key as shown in the following configuration.yaml.

Scenario 3: Unreachable URL

If the URL specified for the Kubecost endpoint is incorrect, unavailable, or the service is temporarily down, Instana will raise an alert such as:

Resolution:

Verify that the Kubecost endpoint URL is correct and accessible from the Instana agent. Ensure network connectivity and service availability.

Scenario 4: Malformed URL

Sometimes, a simple typo or formatting error in the Kubecost URL can cause Instana to raise an alert indicating a malformed URL:

Double-check the URL format in your configuration. Ensure the yaml is formatted correctly and check for valid syntax.

Instana Alerts for free tier vCPU limits in Kubecost

When using Kubecost’s free tier, users can monitor clusters with up to 250 vCPUs. Instana helps ensure you stay within this limit by proactively alerting you at two critical thresholds:

Event 1: Approaching the free tier limit (near 200 vCPUs)

As your cluster usage nears 200 vCPUs, Instana will trigger a warning alert to let you know that you are approaching the free tier limit. You can see an event in the Instana’s Events page as seen in the following example

Event 2: Free tier limit exceeded (above 250 vCPUs)

If your usage crosses 250 vCPUs, Instana will generate a critical alert, indicating that you have exceeded the free tier limit.

These notifications give your team time to:

• Review workloads
• Scale down unused resources, or
• Plan for an upgrade to Kubecost Enterprise

Conclusion

Instana’s integration with Kubecost goes beyond cost visualization — it provides proactive monitoring and alerting to ensure users stay within usage boundaries and maintain optimal performance. From identifying misconfigurations and connectivity issues to alerting users as they approach or exceed free tier limits, Instana empowers engineering teams to act early, avoid disruptions, and make informed scaling or upgrade decisions. This seamless collaboration between observability and cost intelligence helps organizations maximize value while maintaining control over their Kubernetes infrastructure.

 

#Kubernetes