Max instance cap reached
A surprise viral moment drives 8x normal traffic to your storefront API. The autoscaler ramps quickly and then flatlines: the fleet is pinned at its configured maximum of 100 instances, every instance is at ~95% CPU, and excess requests queue and time out. The scaling event log shows repeated 'desired exceeds max, capped at 100' messages. This is real, legitimate traffic — no retry storm, no misconfig. How do you triage and keep the store usable through the surge?
What a strong answer looks like
Stop the bleeding first (mitigate), then form hypotheses from real signals. Separate root cause from symptom, communicate status as you go, and close with what prevents a repeat.
0:00 of about 24 min
Which questions mattered is sealed until you submit. Telling you now would just be handing over the edge cases.
Run or narrate your approach, then ask the coach.