Use when working with Gcp Alloydb — google AlloyDB cluster management, instance analysis, query insights, maintenance window configuration, and performance diagnostics via gcloud CLI.
Manage and analyze Google AlloyDB for PostgreSQL using gcloud alloydb commands.
ALWAYS discover before acting. Never assume cluster names, instance names, regions, or backup names.
# Discover AlloyDB clusters
gcloud alloydb clusters list --format=json \
| jq '[.[] | {name: .name | split("/") | last, state: .state, databaseVersion: .databaseVersion, network: .network, location: .name | split("/") | .[3], continuousBackupEnabled: .continuousBackupConfig.enabled}]'
ALL independent operations MUST run in parallel using background jobs (&) and wait.
for cluster in $(gcloud alloydb clusters list --format="value(name)" | xargs -I{} basename {}); do
{
gcloud alloydb clusters describe "$cluster" --region="$REGION" --format=json
} &
done
wait
# Get cluster details
get_cluster_details() {
local cluster="$1" region="$2"
gcloud alloydb clusters describe "$cluster" --region="$region" --format=json \
| jq '{name: .name | split("/") | last, state: .state, databaseVersion: .databaseVersion, network: .network, encryptionConfig: .encryptionConfig, continuousBackup: .continuousBackupConfig, automatedBackup: .automatedBackupPolicy, initialUser: .initialUser.user}'
}
# List instances in a cluster
list_instances() {
local cluster="$1" region="$2"
gcloud alloydb instances list --cluster="$cluster" --region="$region" --format=json \
| jq '[.[] | {name: .name | split("/") | last, instanceType: .instanceType, state: .state, machineConfig: .machineConfig, availabilityType: .availabilityType, ipAddress: .ipAddress, readPoolConfig: .readPoolConfig, queryInsights: .queryInsightsConfig}]'
}
# List backups
list_backups() {
local region="$1"
gcloud alloydb backups list --region="$region" --format=json \
| jq '[.[] | {name: .name | split("/") | last, state: .state, type: .type, cluster: .clusterName | split("/") | last, createTime: .createTime, sizeBytes: .sizeBytes}]'
}
# Get instance metrics
get_instance_metrics() {
local instance="$1" cluster="$2"
gcloud monitoring time-series list \
--filter="metric.type=starts_with(\"alloydb.googleapis.com/\") AND resource.labels.instance_id=\"$instance\"" \
--interval-start-time="$(date -u -v-1H +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ 2>/dev/null || date -u -d '1 hour ago' +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" \
--format=json --limit=50
}
clusters=$(gcloud alloydb clusters list --format=json \
| jq -c '[.[] | {name: .name | split("/") | last, region: .name | split("/") | .[3]}]')
for c in $(echo "$clusters" | jq -c '.[]'); do
{
name=$(echo "$c" | jq -r '.name')
region=$(echo "$c" | jq -r '.region')
echo "=== Cluster: $name ==="
get_cluster_details "$name" "$region"
list_instances "$name" "$region"
} &
done
wait
# Primary and read pool instances
gcloud alloydb instances list --cluster="$CLUSTER" --region="$REGION" --format=json \
| jq '[.[] | {name: .name | split("/") | last, type: .instanceType, state: .state, cpu: .machineConfig.cpuCount, availabilityType: .availabilityType, readPoolNodeCount: .readPoolConfig.nodeCount, gceZone: .gceZone}]'
# Check Query Insights configuration
gcloud alloydb instances describe "$INSTANCE" --cluster="$CLUSTER" --region="$REGION" --format=json \
| jq '{queryInsights: .queryInsightsConfig}'
# CPU utilization per instance
gcloud monitoring time-series list \
--filter="metric.type=\"alloydb.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization\" AND resource.labels.instance_id=\"$INSTANCE\"" \
--interval-start-time="$(date -u -v-1H +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ 2>/dev/null || date -u -d '1 hour ago' +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" \
--format=json
# Database connections
gcloud monitoring time-series list \
--filter="metric.type=\"alloydb.googleapis.com/instance/postgresql/backends\" AND resource.labels.instance_id=\"$INSTANCE\"" \
--interval-start-time="$(date -u -v-1H +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ 2>/dev/null || date -u -d '1 hour ago' +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" \
--format=json
# Replication lag (for read pool instances)
gcloud monitoring time-series list \
--filter="metric.type=\"alloydb.googleapis.com/instance/postgresql/replication/replica_byte_lag\" AND resource.labels.instance_id=\"$INSTANCE\"" \
--interval-start-time="$(date -u -v-1H +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ 2>/dev/null || date -u -d '1 hour ago' +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" \
--format=json
# List all backups
list_backups "$REGION"
# Continuous backup config
gcloud alloydb clusters describe "$CLUSTER" --region="$REGION" --format=json \
| jq '{continuousBackup: .continuousBackupConfig, automatedBackup: .automatedBackupPolicy}'
# Check point-in-time recovery window
gcloud alloydb clusters describe "$CLUSTER" --region="$REGION" --format=json \
| jq '{continuousBackupInfo: .continuousBackupInfo}'
# Check maintenance window
gcloud alloydb clusters describe "$CLUSTER" --region="$REGION" --format=json \
| jq '{maintenanceUpdatePolicy: .maintenanceUpdatePolicy, maintenanceSchedule: .maintenanceSchedule}'
# Recent operations (maintenance, updates)
gcloud alloydb operations list --region="$REGION" --format=json --limit=10 \
| jq '[.[] | {name: .name | split("/") | last, type: .metadata."@type", done: .done, startTime: .metadata.createTime}]'
Present results as a structured report:
Gcp Alloydb Report
══════════════════
Resources discovered: [count]
Resource Status Key Metric Issues
──────────────────────────────────────────────
[name] [ok/warn] [value] [findings]
Summary: [total] resources | [ok] healthy | [warn] warnings | [crit] critical
Action Items: [list of prioritized findings]
Target ≤50 lines of output. Use tables for multi-resource comparisons.
--help output.| Shortcut | Counter | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "I'll skip discovery and check known resources" | Always run Phase 1 discovery first | Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors |
| "The user only asked for a quick check" | Follow the full discovery → analysis flow | Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures |
| "Default configuration is probably fine" | Audit configuration explicitly | Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled |
| "Metrics aren't needed for this" | Always check relevant metrics when available | API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues |
| "I don't have access to that" | Try the command and report the actual error | Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative |
queryInsightsConfig.queryInsightsEnabled.