Scorecard rule exemptions

In some instances, a Scorecard rule might not apply to an entity. For example, a rule rule may be linked to an Initiative your team is actively working on and the failure notification may be irrelevant or noisy to developers. Or, in rarer cases, the Scorecard rule may not make sense for a given component, depending on the nature of that entity. In either case, rule exemptions allow you to filter out components that shouldn’t be evaluated by a specific rule.

With rule exemptions, entities are not marked as passing or failing — the rule simply does not apply to those entities.

For any given failing rule, you’ll see the option to request exemption under more options (...). You can do this from an entity's details page, within the Scorecard, or anywhere else the rule appears.

This will open a modal where you can enter information about your exemption. You can request a temporary exemption for a certain number of days, or you can request a permanent exemption.

You’ll use a permanent exemption when there’s no expectation an entity will pass a rule, whereas a time-bound exemption makes more sense when an entity is expected to be in compliance with a given rule by a certain time.

In many cases, a time-bound exemption will be related to an ongoing Initiative. For example, entities might be required to have an on-call rotation set up by the end of the quarter. In this case, a developer may request an exemption that ends a few weeks before the quarter concnludes — this can serve as a backup reminder if on-call isn’t set up at that point, and in the meantime, the failing rule won’t add any noise to the developer’s workflow.

When the time period for a temporary exemption elapses, any entities that are not in compliance with the rule would display as failing, while those in compliance would display as passing.

Cortex strongly recommends including a reason when you submit an exemption request. Requests will be reviewed by admins (the only role that can approve or deny exemptions) so a clear explanation will help them determine whether an exemption makes sense.

You can find an entity’s exempted rules by navigating into its details. Each service has three potential states for rules: Failing rules, Passing rules, and Exempt rules. Time-bound rules will appear with the number of remaining days until the exemption ends.

Exempted rules will not contribute to an entity's score within the Scorecard. If you use point-based rules instead of levels, the exempted rule will not be included in the average for a component’s percentage score. If you use levels, an exempt rule allows an entity to progress to the next level.

You can find all exempted rules for a Scorecard under the Rule Exemptions tab. Admins can view exemption requests, approve or deny the request, and revoke exemptions from this page.