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Platformatic Platformatic Intelligent Command Center (ICC)

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

Section titled “General Questions”

What is the Intelligent Command Center?

Section titled “What is the Intelligent Command Center?”

The Intelligent Command Center (ICC) is an enterprise-grade control plane for managing, monitoring, and optimizing cloud-native applications deployed in Kubernetes environments. It provides intelligent autoscaling, performance optimization, and comprehensive observability features.

Is ICC open source?

Section titled “Is ICC open source?”

Yes! ICC is open source and licensed under the Apache License 2.0. You can find the source code on GitHub.

What are the main benefits of using ICC?

Section titled “What are the main benefits of using ICC?”
  • Intelligent Autoscaling: Machine learning-based predictive scaling
  • Performance Optimization: Automatic caching and route optimization
  • Unified Dashboard: Single pane of glass for all your applications
  • Cost Optimization: Resource utilization recommendations
  • Compliance Monitoring: Built-in policy enforcement

Installation & Setup

Section titled “Installation & Setup”

What are the system requirements?

Section titled “What are the system requirements?”

Minimum Requirements:

  • Kubernetes 1.24 or higher
  • PostgreSQL 14 or higher
  • 4 CPU cores and 8GB RAM for ICC services
  • Node.js 20.x or 22.x for applications

Recommended for Production:

  • Kubernetes 1.28+
  • PostgreSQL 15+ with replication
  • 8 CPU cores and 16GB RAM for ICC services
  • Dedicated Valkey/Redis cluster for caching

Can I run ICC without Kubernetes?

Section titled “Can I run ICC without Kubernetes?”

No, ICC is designed specifically for Kubernetes environments. It relies on Kubernetes APIs for cluster management, pod monitoring, and deployment operations.

How do I handle database setup?

Section titled “How do I handle database setup?”

ICC requires multiple PostgreSQL databases. You can either:

  1. Use a single PostgreSQL instance with multiple databases
  2. Use separate PostgreSQL instances for better isolation
  3. Use managed database services (RDS, Cloud SQL, etc.)

See the Database Setup guide for detailed instructions.

What’s the difference between Valkey and Elasticache?

Section titled “What’s the difference between Valkey and Elasticache?”
  • Valkey: Open source Redis-compatible caching solution, self-hosted
  • Elasticache: AWS managed caching service

Both are supported. Use Valkey for on-premises or multi-cloud deployments, and Elasticache for AWS-native deployments.

Application Integration

Section titled “Application Integration”

How do I connect my application to ICC?

Section titled “How do I connect my application to ICC?”

Applications connect to ICC by:

  1. Adding @platformatic/wattpro as a dependency
  2. Setting the PLT_ICC_URL environment variable
  3. Deploying to your Kubernetes cluster

See the Getting Started guide for details.

What languages/frameworks are supported?

Section titled “What languages/frameworks are supported?”

Currently, ICC fully supports Node.js applications through the WattPro runtime. Support for other languages is on the roadmap.

Do I need to modify my application code?

Section titled “Do I need to modify my application code?”

Minimal changes are required. You mainly need to:

  • Add the WattPro dependency
  • Ensure your application exposes standard health endpoints
  • Configure environment variables

Operations

Section titled “Operations”

How does autoscaling work?

Section titled “How does autoscaling work?”

ICC provides two autoscaling modes:

  1. Reactive: Scales based on current metrics (CPU, memory, custom metrics)
  2. Predictive: Uses machine learning to predict future load and scale proactively

Both can work together for optimal performance.

Can I use my existing Prometheus setup?

Section titled “Can I use my existing Prometheus setup?”

Yes! ICC integrates with existing Prometheus deployments. Just configure the PLT_METRICS_PROMETHEUS_URL to point to your Prometheus server.

How do I handle secrets?

Section titled “How do I handle secrets?”

ICC uses Kubernetes secrets for sensitive data. You can:

  • Use Kubernetes native secrets
  • Integrate with external secret managers (Vault, AWS Secrets Manager)
  • Use sealed secrets for GitOps workflows

What about disaster recovery?

Section titled “What about disaster recovery?”

For disaster recovery:

  1. Regularly backup PostgreSQL databases
  2. Export ICC configuration using the Import/Export feature
  3. Use multi-region deployments for high availability
  4. Implement database replication

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”

ICC pods are not starting

Section titled “ICC pods are not starting”

Check:

  1. Database connectivity - ensure all database URLs are correct
  2. Valkey/Redis connectivity - verify cache is accessible
  3. Kubernetes permissions - ICC needs specific RBAC permissions
  4. Resource limits - ensure sufficient CPU/memory

Applications not appearing in ICC

Section titled “Applications not appearing in ICC”

Verify:

  1. PLT_ICC_URL environment variable is set correctly
  2. Application has @platformatic/wattpro dependency
  3. Network policies allow communication between app and ICC
  4. Application pods are running and healthy

High memory usage

Section titled “High memory usage”

This could be due to:

  • Large number of applications being monitored
  • Extensive metrics retention
  • Cache size configuration
  • Memory leaks (report on GitHub)

Authentication issues

Section titled “Authentication issues”

Common causes:

  • OAuth provider misconfiguration
  • Session secret mismatch after upgrade
  • Incorrect PLT_MAIN_URL configuration
  • Browser cookie issues

Performance

Section titled “Performance”

How many applications can ICC handle?

Section titled “How many applications can ICC handle?”

ICC is designed to handle hundreds of applications with thousands of pods. Actual capacity depends on:

  • Cluster resources
  • Metrics collection frequency
  • Number of active users
  • Database performance

What’s the overhead of using ICC?

Section titled “What’s the overhead of using ICC?”

The WattPro runtime adds minimal overhead:

  • ~20-30MB memory per application
  • <1% CPU overhead
  • ~10ms latency for metrics collection

Can I adjust metrics collection frequency?

Section titled “Can I adjust metrics collection frequency?”

Yes, you can configure:

  • Prometheus scrape intervals
  • ICC polling intervals
  • Metrics retention periods

See Configuration References for details.

Security

Section titled “Security”

Is ICC secure for production use?

Section titled “Is ICC secure for production use?”

ICC includes:

  • OAuth2/OIDC authentication
  • Role-based access control (RBAC)
  • TLS encryption for all communications
  • Audit logging
  • Secret management

Always follow security best practices for your environment.

How do I report security vulnerabilities?

Section titled “How do I report security vulnerabilities?”

Please report security vulnerabilities to [email protected]. Do not create public GitHub issues for security problems.

Support & Community

Section titled “Support & Community”

Where can I get help?

Section titled “Where can I get help?”

Is commercial support available?

Section titled “Is commercial support available?”

Yes, Platformatic offers commercial support packages including:

  • Priority support
  • Custom feature development
  • Training and consulting
  • SLA guarantees

Contact [email protected] for more information.