RobustaDev

Comprehensive guide for Robusta - the SRE agent that transforms Kubernetes alerts into actionable insights using playbooks, AI investigation, and automated remediation.

Quick Reference

Component Purpose

Playbooks Rules engine defining alert responses

Triggers Events that activate playbook execution

Actions Remediation steps and enrichments

Sinks Notification destinations (Slack, Teams, PagerDuty, etc.)

Workflow Routing

Workflow Trigger File

Install "install robusta", "deploy robusta" Workflows/Install.md

ConfigurePlaybooks "create playbook", "configure playbook" Workflows/ConfigurePlaybooks.md

ConfigureSinks "setup slack", "configure notifications" Workflows/ConfigureSinks.md

Troubleshoot "robusta not working", "alerts not firing" Workflows/Troubleshoot.md

Installation Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Kubernetes cluster

• Helm 3.x installed

• kubectl configured

All-in-One Installation (Robusta + Prometheus)

Generate configuration

pipx run robusta-cli gen-config --enable-prometheus-stack

Or using Docker

curl -fsSL -o robusta https://docs.robusta.dev/master/_static/robusta chmod +x robusta ./robusta gen-config --enable-prometheus-stack

Install via Helm

helm repo add robusta https://robusta-charts.storage.googleapis.com helm repo update helm install robusta robusta/robusta
-f ./generated_values.yaml
--set clusterName=<YOUR_CLUSTER_NAME>

Verify installation

kubectl get pods -A | grep robusta

Standalone Installation (Existing Prometheus)

pipx run robusta-cli gen-config helm install robusta robusta/robusta -f ./generated_values.yaml

Playbook Structure

Example playbook in generated_values.yaml

customPlaybooks:

• triggers:
  • on_prometheus_alert: alert_name: KubePodCrashLooping actions:
  • logs_enricher: {}
  • pod_events_enricher: {} sinks:
  • slack

Trigger Types

Trigger Description

on_prometheus_alert

Fires on Prometheus/AlertManager alerts

on_pod_create

When pod is created

on_pod_update

When pod is updated

on_deployment_update

When deployment changes

on_schedule

Cron-based scheduled execution

on_kubernetes_warning_event

On K8s warning events

Common Actions

Action Purpose

logs_enricher

Add pod logs to alert

pod_events_enricher

Add K8s events

node_cpu_enricher

Add CPU metrics

node_memory_enricher

Add memory metrics

deployment_status_enricher

Add deployment info

delete_pod

Auto-remediate by deleting pod

node_bash_enricher

Run bash commands on node

Sink Configuration

Slack

sinksConfig:

• slack_sink: name: main_slack slack_channel: alerts api_key: xoxb-your-token

Microsoft Teams

sinksConfig:

• ms_teams_sink: name: teams_alerts webhook_url: https://outlook.office.com/webhook/...

PagerDuty

sinksConfig:

• pagerduty_sink: name: pagerduty api_key: your-integration-key

Webhook (Generic)

sinksConfig:

• webhook_sink: name: custom_webhook url: https://your-endpoint.com/alerts

Examples

Example 1: Install Robusta with Prometheus

User: "Install Robusta on my AKS cluster" -> Generate config with gen-config --enable-prometheus-stack -> Add Helm repo and install with cluster name -> Verify pods are running

Example 2: Create crash loop enrichment playbook

User: "Add pod logs to CrashLoopBackOff alerts" -> Create playbook with on_prometheus_alert trigger -> Add logs_enricher and pod_events_enricher actions -> Configure Slack sink for notifications

Example 3: Configure Slack notifications

User: "Send Robusta alerts to #k8s-alerts Slack channel" -> Add slack_sink to sinksConfig -> Set channel name and API key -> Optionally filter by severity or namespace

Example 4: Debug missing alerts

User: "Robusta isn't sending alerts to Slack" -> Check robusta-runner pod logs -> Verify sink configuration in generated_values.yaml -> Test with manual trigger: robusta playbooks trigger

Key Concepts

Alert Flow

Prometheus Alert -> AlertManager -> Robusta -> Playbook -> Actions -> Sinks

Playbook Components

• Triggers - What events activate the playbook

• Actions - What to do when triggered (enrich, remediate)

• Sinks - Where to send the result

Smart Grouping

Robusta groups related alerts using Slack threads to reduce notification spam.

AI Investigation (HolmesGPT)

Optional AI-powered root cause analysis available with Robusta Pro or self-hosted HolmesGPT.

Reference Documentation

• references/Installation.md

• Detailed installation guide

• references/Playbooks.md

• Complete playbook reference

• references/Triggers.md

• All trigger types

• references/Actions.md

• Available actions

• references/Sinks.md

• Sink configuration

• references/Troubleshooting.md

• Common issues and fixes

External Resources

• Official Docs

• GitHub

• Robusta Platform (SaaS UI)