DEVOPS

Page on-call when preview build time spikes anomalously

On a schedule it pushes Vercel preview build durations to Datadog as metrics, queries Datadog for branches whose build time is anomalously high versus baseline.

CategoryDevOps
Enginesim
Difficultyadvanced
Triggerschedule
Steps6
Setup~25 min

How it runs

The automated pipeline, trigger to output.

  • TriggerHourly schedule
  • ActionGet Vercel build durations per branchVercelVercel
  • ActionSubmit build minutes as Datadog metricDatadogDatadog
  • ActionQuery Datadog anomaly monitorDatadogDatadog
  • LogicKeep confirmed build-time anomalies
  • OutputPage on-call via PagerDutyPagerDutyPagerDuty

What it does

This workflow turns preview build minutes into an observable signal. It records each branch's build duration as a Datadog metric, then uses Datadog's anomaly detection to spot branches whose builds have spiked far above their normal baseline, and pages on-call when a runaway build is detected.

When to use it

Use it when a fixed minute threshold is too blunt and you want to catch builds that suddenly balloon relative to their own history, for example a dependency change that 5x's a branch's build time. Best for teams already running Datadog who want preview-cost regressions treated as incidents.

How it works

  1. 1A schedule fires every hour.
  2. 2Vercel returns recent preview build durations per branch.
  3. 3A Datadog action submits each branch's build minutes as a tagged metric.
  4. 4A Datadog action queries the anomaly monitor for branches exceeding their baseline build time.
  5. 5A logic step keeps only confirmed anomalies above the sensitivity cutoff.
  6. 6A PagerDuty action opens an incident for each runaway build with branch and current build minutes.

Set it up

What you configure once, before turning it on.

  1. 1
    Connect VercelDeploys, runtime logs, analytics.
  2. 2
    Connect DatadogMetrics, traces, log search.
  3. 3
    Connect PagerDutyIncidents, on-call, escalations.
  4. 4
    Set each agent's modelWe leave models unset so you pick the tier — fast + cheap, or top-quality.
  5. 5
    Tune it to your dataEdit the prompts, filters, and field mappings so it matches how your team works.
  6. 6
    Test, then turn it onRun once against a sample, confirm the output, then enable the trigger.

Run this workflow in your colony.

14-day trial. No DevOps. No Sales call. Provisioned in under a minute.