RobustaDev

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

Quick Reference

Workflow Routing

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

Common Actions

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

1. Triggers – What events activate the playbook
2. Actions – What to do when triggered (enrich, remediate)
3. 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)