Kubernetes Admission Controllers Block Oversized Pods Before They Drain Your Budget

Short summary

Kubernetes admission controllers (OPA Gatekeeper, Kyverno) enforce cost governance by blocking oversized pods, requiring cost attribution labels, and preventing untagged images at the API server level. Implement in three phased rollout modes—audit, warn, enforce—to prevent misconfigured workloads from consuming 40-60% of unattributed cloud spend. A single incident without resource limits cost $14,000; these policies achieve ROI in weeks.

• •Admission controllers block cost-draining misconfigurations at deployment time
• •Three policies: resource limit ceilings, required cost labels, no :latest images
• •Phased rollout (audit → warn → enforce) reduces P1 incidents and reveals true blast radius

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