Reviews with sloctl

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You can set a review status for an SLO using sloctl.

Review schedules

Enterprise

The SLO review feature is available only in the Nobl9 Enterprise Edition.

🧪sloctl version requirements

Update sloctl to version 0.18.0 or higher to manage SLO review statuses.

To set a review status for an SLO, run the following command:

sloctl review set-status reviewed cpu-usage

Where reviewed is the target status, and cpu-usage refers to the SLO name.

The following subcommands (statuses) are accepted:

Status	Description	SLO review status after
`not-started`	Discard the SLO's previous review status Available only for SLOs from services without a review schedule	`notStarted`
`to-review`	The SLO is waiting for a scheduled review Available only for SLOs from services with a scheduled review	`toReview`
`reviewed`	Mark the SLO as reviewed Available for any SLO, regardless of the service review schedule	`reviewed`
`skipped`	Indicate that a scheduled SLO review is intentionally skipped Available only for SLOs with a scheduled review	`skipped`
`overdue`	Indicate that a scheduled SLO review was not completed on time Available only for SLOs with a scheduled review	`overdue`

With every status transition, Nobl9 generates an annotation. The annotation contains the status transition details and a Review note. To modify the review note, use the optional --note flag when setting the review status. This flag is available when transitioning the SLO to the reviewed and skipped statuses.

To specify the project, use the --project or -p flag. When no project is provided, sloctl searches for the SLO in your default project, as set in your sloctl configuration.

Example

Skip the review
Mark SLO as reviewed

sloctl review set-status skipped cpu-usage -p customer-facing-applications -n "Insufficient data for this period"

Set the Skipped review status
For the CPU usage SLO
From the Customer-facing applications project, which is not the default project
Modify the review note for this status transition. Once the command is executed, Insufficient data for this period appears in the Review note field of the generated annotation.

sloctl review set-status reviewed cpu-usage

Set the Reviewed status
For the CPU usage SLO
From the default project

Status transitions in a nutshell

An SLO's review status can change either manually or automatically, based on the following:

The existence of a review schedule enables automatic transitions
The current status of the SLO determines which transitions are possible
Certain statuses, like Reviewed and Skipped, can only be set manually

Manual status transitions
Automatic status transitions

Manual status transitions depend on two factors: whether a review is scheduled for the SLO's service, and the current status of the SLO.

The table below outlines the manual status transitions that are permitted, based on whether a review is scheduled. It is possible to change the status more than once within a single review cycle.

Table: Allowed manual status transitions

Is review scheduled?	From	To
No	Not started / `notStarted`	Reviewed / `reviewed`
Yes	To review / `toReview`	Reviewed / `reviewed`
Yes	To review / `toReview`	Skipped / `skipped`
Yes	Skipped / `skipped`	Reviewed / `reviewed`
Yes	Overdue / `overdue`	Reviewed / `reviewed`
Yes	Overdue / `overdue`	Skipped / `skipped`

Manual status transition based on review schedule and status

When no review is scheduled for a service, its not reviewed SLOs have the Not started (notStarted) status.

Once the review is scheduled, Nobl9 automatically updates the review status of SLOs according to the review schedule cadence:

Not started, Skipped, Reviewed -> To review
- On the schedule start date, all SLOs become To review (toReview). For new schedules: the due date is set to the first occurrence of the schedule pattern.
- For subsequent cycles, all Reviewed (reviewed) and Skipped (skipped) SLOs from the completed cycle automatically become To review at the start of the new cycle (the next due date).
To review -> Overdue
- Any To review SLOs not reviewed by the due date become Overdue (overdue).
- The Overdue status indicates a scheduled review was missed.
- An Overdue SLO falls out of the automatic transition logic. It will not change status automatically in subsequent cycles until a user manually transitions it to Reviewed or Skipped.

Status transition reference

Table: Example of a biweekly review cycle with the start date on November 18

Starting status	Status on November 18 (auto)	During the cycle (manual)	Status on December 2 (auto)	During the cycle (manual)	Status on December 16 (auto)
Not started, Skipped, Reviewed	To review	Status updated to Skipped or Reviewed	To review	Not reviewed, nor skipped	Overdue
To review	Overdue	Not reviewed, nor skipped	Overdue	Status updated to Skipped or Reviewed	To review

Table: Possible review status transitions

Status before	Scenario	Status after	Transition type
Not started	Add a review schedule; start date is now or earlier	To review	Auto
Not started	Review an SLO without the schedule	Reviewed	Manual
To review, Skipped, Overdue	Review an SLO	Reviewed	Manual
To review, Overdue	Skip an SLO review	Skipped	Manual
To review	Move an SLO to a service without a review schedule	Not started	Auto
To review, Overdue	New review cycle starts; SLO hasn't been reviewed	Overdue	Auto
Skipped	New review cycle starts	To review	Auto
Reviewed	New review cycle starts	To review	Auto

Table: Scenarios not resulting in status transition

Status	Scenario
Not started	Set a review schedule with the start date in the future
All statuses	• Move an SLO to a service with a review due date in the future • Defer a review due date
Reviewed	• Discard a review schedule • Move an SLO to a service without a scheduled review
Overdue	• New review cycle starts • Modify a review schedule