Scorecard rule exemptions

In some instances, a Scorecard rule might not apply to an entity. For example, a 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. 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.

Any user can request a rule exemption, and Admins or users with the Configure Scorecard exemptions permission can approve, deny or revoke a rule exemption. Users with the View Scorecard exemptions permission can view exemptions in Scorecards that have been requested by any user; without that permission, a user can only see their own requested exemptions.

How to request a rule exemption

Any user can request an exemption. This can be done via the API, or via the Cortex UI.

While viewing a Scorecard in the Cortex UI:

1. Click into an entity on which you want to request a rule exemption.

   • A side panel will open, showing each rule applied to that entity.

2. Next to the rule you want to request an exemption for, click the 3 dots icon, then click Request exemption.

   
3. In the Request rule exemption side panel, configure the details: Choose whether you want to request a permanent exemption or enter how many days you want to exempt the entity from this rule, and optionally include a reason.

   • We recommend including a reason when you submit an exemption request. Requests will be reviewed by admins, and a clear explanation will help them determine whether an exemption makes sense.

   • Learn more about permanent vs. time-bound exemptions below.

4. Click Submit request.

If the Scorecard has the Enable auto-approval for exemptions option enabled, then the exemption will automatically be approved. If not, an admin will be notified and can choose whether to approve or deny the exemption.

Permanent or time-bound exemptions

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 concludes — 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.

How to approve, deny, or revoke a rule exemption

To approve or deny rule exemptions, you must be an Admin, or you must have a custom role that contains the Configure Scorecard exemptions permission.

Admins are able to view all rule exemptions in Settings, in addition to seeing them in Scorecards.

Auto-approval

If your Scorecard is configured to enable auto-approval for exemptions, then you do not need to take any action to approve the exemption.

After the user submits an exemption request, the exemption will appear in the Scorecard's Exemptions tab as Exempt, with the option to revoke the exemption appearing on the right side of the rule:

Also note that if you are an admin user and you request an exemption, it will automatically approve.

Manual approval

If you have notifications enabled for rule exemption requests, then you will receive a notification when a user requests an exemption. The notification includes the name of the requestor, the rule name and its Scorecard, the entity that the exemption applies to, the reason and timeframe provided by the requestor, and a direct link to approve or deny the request in Cortex.

If you do not have notifications enabled, you can view the exemption requests in Cortex (in Scorecard's Exemptions tab or under Settings > Scorecards > Rule exemptions) and then accept, reject, or revoke from there.

API

You can approve, deny, or revoke a Scorecard rule exemption via the API.

View exempted rules

Admins, or users with the Configure Scorecard exemptions permission, can view exemption requests, approve or deny the request, and revoke exemptions.

View exemptions in a Scorecard

When viewing a Scorecard, click into the Exemptions tab to view requests for exemptions and rules that have already been exempted:

View all exemptions

In Settings > Scorecards > Rule exemptions, admins can view a list of all requested exemptions: