Enable reporting to admins on throttled apps
Sometimes due to overuse, an app gets throttled in Podio. This can have unwanted side effects such as Podio Workflow Automation flows not getting triggered or behaving unpredictably. When this happens, there are no error logs in PWA to report that the app is throttled, nor a log to show that the flow is not running.
Please could (org/workspace) admins be given sight of a report containing any app in their environment(s) that are currently throttled, why it is throttled (e.g. X API calls in Y time period; repeated email-to-app suspected misuse; Z records created in a short time period etc etc), and how/if the throttle can be lifted to restore normal service.
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Official comment
Dear Users,
Thanks for sharing this feedback and absolutely agree that this is a current gap. We need to have a better mode of visibility / notification / alert in place so that users / admins know when they are being throttled. We will take these proposed solutions back to our product engineering teams for evaluation. While we investigate on this, will aim to set up brainstorming sessions with some partners and customers to discuss our ways to mitigate this gap. Till then, please drop in any more related suggestions or observations you have on this thread that could help us better drive towards a solution.
Best,
//Pallabi - Podio Product ManagerComment actions -
Please please let the throttle warning be sent as a webhook or using the error email address so we can use either PWA or third party webhook catchers to raise the alarm.
As Pete mentions - throttling can have devastating effects on the outcome of flows where they trigger actions in other apps then back again. It might be the case that data becomes completely inaccurate, which in turn might trigger other flows whose job it is to correct inaccurate data, thus exacerbating the issue.
Finally, the only way to determine a throttle is if a user comments/admin notices slow behaviour or bad values, then an admin has to physically check PWA. For something as critical as an app being throttled it seems odd that the only way to detect it is 'a feeling something is wrong'. Often, by the time it is noticed it is too late to do something to help - you see that there are 300 queued actions but, 8000 have occurred in the previous hour that we did not know about until 'someone had a feeling something is wrong'. If a notification is sent, it can be escalated, and then we can do something about it.
As a bonus, it would help detect run-away or looping flows before some eats up their entire month's limit and help stabilise the bad neighbour effect. On any day of the week, I wonder how many apps PWA has in throttling mode AND how many Admins know it has happened at all!! I wonder if some less experienced SMEs even know about throttling?!
Soooooo many benefits to adding one simple feature. App Throttle == True ? 'Send email / webhook' : null -
Throttling with no notification and no way to detect said notification is a system flaw that needs to be fixed.
Ultimately the Admin of the workspace need to be notified.
It also would be good to support the many partners who support clients with the type of flows that might cause a throttling event with a webhook and an API call we can make to see all throttled Accounts, Apps & Users.
PWA makes this information available but will show nothing if the throttle is not related to a given PWA Flow.
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