# k8s.scale (layer 2, small impact, reversible, costs resources)

When: latency or error ratio is caused by capacity (all api pods Running, CPU or memory saturated, no crashes) and more replicas would absorb the load. Not for crashes or DB problems.

Procedure (harness action k8s.scale, target {namespace: demo, deployment: api, replicas: N}): the harness sets spec.replicas. Argo CD selfHeal restores the Git value (3) at the next sync unless the change is committed, so this is a temporary relief. Undo: scale back to the original replicas.