{
  "docVersion": 1,
  "id": "blog-bp-3",
  "name": "Load shedding — when you can't say 'slow down', say 'no'",
  "purpose": "You can't backpressure the open internet. An admission controller drops excess at the edge — low-priority first — so the protected core serves the admitted requests well.",
  "nodes": {
    "flood": {
      "type": "users",
      "label": "1M clients",
      "x": 40,
      "y": 240,
      "w": 140,
      "h": 86,
      "runtime": "you don't control them"
    },
    "adm": {
      "type": "gateway",
      "label": "Admission control",
      "x": 340,
      "y": 240,
      "w": 180,
      "h": 86,
      "color": "blue",
      "notes": "At capacity, reject fast with 503 + Retry-After. Shedding the overflow keeps p99 healthy for everyone let in — 90% served well beats 100% served terribly."
    },
    "core": {
      "type": "k8s",
      "label": "Protected core",
      "x": 700,
      "y": 140,
      "w": 140,
      "h": 86,
      "color": "green",
      "runtime": "healthy · p99 held"
    },
    "shed": {
      "type": "dlq",
      "label": "shed → 503",
      "x": 700,
      "y": 380,
      "w": 140,
      "h": 86,
      "color": "red",
      "style": "dashed",
      "runtime": "fail fast, cheap"
    }
  },
  "edges": {
    "e1": {
      "from": "flood",
      "to": "adm",
      "fromSide": "right",
      "toSide": "left",
      "label": "flood of requests",
      "animated": true,
      "flowSpeed": "fast"
    },
    "e2": {
      "from": "adm",
      "to": "core",
      "fromSide": "right",
      "toSide": "left",
      "label": "admit — high priority + within capacity",
      "color": "green",
      "animated": true
    },
    "e3": {
      "from": "adm",
      "to": "shed",
      "fromSide": "right",
      "toSide": "left",
      "label": "drop — low priority / over budget",
      "color": "red",
      "style": "dashed"
    }
  },
  "boxes": {},
  "texts": {
    "t1": {
      "x": 40,
      "y": 400,
      "text": "shed the RIGHT things: low-priority before high, and 'doomed' requests that already\nblew their deadline (nobody's waiting for the answer). the alternative — accepting\neverything — is a slow queue that times out EVERY request instead of just the excess.",
      "color": "gray",
      "size": 12
    }
  },
  "meta": {
    "createdAt": "2026-07-23T09:00:00.000Z",
    "modifiedAt": "2026-07-23T09:00:00.000Z"
  }
}