ops(kind): skip Substrate's observability stack by default (930 MiB of 2.3 GB); opt in with OUSAST_KIND_OBSERVABILITY=1

A lean overlay omits otel-collector, prometheus and jaeger and disables the
exporters; on an existing cluster up.sh scales them to 0. Verified live: render
has no otel-system resources, up.sh idempotent (54 s second run), smoke Run
done, kind node 2.66 -> 1.82 GiB. Docs say server VM. Implemented with Codex.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <[email protected]>

docs/deployment.md

@@ -17,6 +17,21 @@ This page uses two words strictly:
 been made.** Section B is guidance, not a record. (kind runs a Kubernetes cluster inside Docker
 containers on one machine.)
 
+The kind profile runs on a 7.7 GB server VM. Observability is off by default
+(`kind_observability = false` in `ops/k8s/profiles/kind.toml`). This saves the measured
+930 MiB used by `otel-system`, about 40% of the cluster's 2.3 GB. The smoke Run still
+completes with those deployments stopped. To enable the stack, run
+`OUSAST_KIND_OBSERVABILITY=1 ops/ax/up.sh` or set `kind_observability = true` in the profile.
+
+`up.sh` stages copied Substrate manifests in a temporary checkout view and installs through
+`hack/install-ate-kind.sh`. The local `ops/ax/substrate-kind-lean/` overlay removes the collector,
+Prometheus, Jaeger and their supporting resources before installation. This preserves the
+installer's secret, CRD and image setup. The upstream checkout is unchanged. The shared
+`ate-otel-config` disables trace, metric and log export and the OTEL SDK; it removes the old
+collector endpoint and metric timing keys. On an existing cluster, `up.sh` scales the three
+observability deployments to zero, replaces the ConfigMap data and rolls its consumers when
+the configuration changes. Opting in restores the upstream ConfigMap and observability manifests.
+
 ## What runs where today (implemented)
 
 ```mermaid
@@ -357,7 +372,7 @@ This section answers the maintainer's questions from the code and the upstream c
 
 The decisions of 2026-10-02 set the target: **two profiles of one code base**.
 
-- `kind` is this laptop. It stays a first-class local execution mode. Every change is proven here first.
+- `kind` is this server VM. It stays a first-class local execution mode. Every change is proven here first.
 - `k3s` is production. (k3s is a small Kubernetes distribution.)
 
 Everything marked **planned** is not built. The rest is what runs on this host today.
@@ -368,7 +383,7 @@ flowchart LR
         hook["ousast pre-push: local, 30 s deadline"]
         cli["ousast plane run, remote mode (planned)"]
     end
-    subgraph k3s ["k3s cluster (the kind profile is the same picture on one laptop)"]
+    subgraph k3s ["k3s cluster (the kind profile is the same picture on one server VM)"]
         subgraph axns ["Namespace ax-system"]
             axs["ax-server Deployment + Redis"]
         end
@@ -403,7 +418,7 @@ This picture has no inbound path:
 - the tasks push their artifacts to the store through the egress gateway;
 - the CLI reads the store.
 
-Today's EndpointSlice back to a laptop (`ops/ax/receiver-service.yaml.tmpl`) belongs to the kind
+Today's EndpointSlice back to the server VM (`ops/ax/receiver-service.yaml.tmpl`) belongs to the kind
 profile only. It does not appear in production.
 
 ### ax, Kubernetes and Agent Substrate in three sentences

docs/plane.md

@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ flowchart LR
 ax is a Kubernetes application over Agent Substrate. Every Task runs the one runner image as an actor. Each actor
 occupies a whole worker. This code base targets two profiles:
 
-- `kind` on a laptop (today).
+- `kind` on a server VM (today).
 - `k3s` in production (planned). There the same CLI submits Runs remotely, and the tasks deliver to the S3 store.
 
 [Production topology: ax on a Kubernetes cluster](deployment.md#production-topology-ax-on-a-kubernetes-cluster)

ops/ax/README.md

@@ -17,6 +17,21 @@ in `~/.cache/ousast/ax-src/`. The cluster's context, registry and pool sizes com
 (`ops/k8s/profiles/kind-images.json`), which the templates are re-pinned from and which is committed with them.
 `up.sh` and `smoke-run.sh` run the checkout's code with `OUSAST_PYTHON` (default `.venv/bin/python`).
 
+The kind profile runs on a 7.7 GB server VM. Observability is off by default
+(`kind_observability = false` in `ops/k8s/profiles/kind.toml`). This saves the measured
+930 MiB used by `otel-system`, about 40% of the cluster's 2.3 GB. The smoke Run still
+completes with those deployments stopped. To enable the stack, run
+`OUSAST_KIND_OBSERVABILITY=1 ops/ax/up.sh` or set `kind_observability = true` in the profile.
+
+`up.sh` stages copied Substrate manifests in a temporary checkout view and installs through
+`hack/install-ate-kind.sh`. The local `ops/ax/substrate-kind-lean/` overlay removes the collector,
+Prometheus, Jaeger and their supporting resources before installation. This preserves the
+installer's secret, CRD and image setup. The upstream checkout is unchanged. The shared
+`ate-otel-config` disables trace, metric and log export and the OTEL SDK; it removes the old
+collector endpoint and metric timing keys. On an existing cluster, `up.sh` scales the three
+observability deployments to zero, replaces the ConfigMap data and rolls its consumers when
+the configuration changes. Opting in restores the upstream ConfigMap and observability manifests.
+
 ## How a Run executes
 
 A Run (`plane/runs/*.yaml`, kind `openultrasast.io/v1alpha1 Run`) is a DAG of steps; each step names an ax Task
@@ -191,7 +206,7 @@ configure the bucket.
 No deployment outside this host's kind cluster has been made. The step-by-step guidance, with what is implemented
 and what is planned, is `docs/deployment.md` (the site page "Deployment"). The Model and Workspace manifests under
 `plane/` move as they are and the Task templates need their image reference re-pinned to your registry; these parts
-assume this laptop and must change first (checked 2026-10-02):
+assume this server VM and must change first (checked 2026-10-02):
 
 | Assumption | Where | Needed in a real cluster |
 |---|---|---|

ops/ax/prepare-substrate.py

@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Stage an installer checkout with lean kind manifests; never modify the source checkout.
+
+Usage: python ops/ax/prepare-substrate.py SOURCE EMPTY_DESTINATION
+The destination lives only for an install/render. Source/build inputs are symlinked;
+manifests are copied because the installer uses fixed paths (including the OTEL ConfigMap).
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import shutil
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import yaml
+
+
+def prepare(source: Path, destination: Path) -> None:
+    source = source.resolve()
+    destination.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    if any(destination.iterdir()):
+        raise ValueError(f"staging directory must be empty: {destination}")
+    for entry in source.iterdir():
+        if entry.name != "manifests":
+            (destination / entry.name).symlink_to(entry, target_is_directory=entry.is_dir())
+    shutil.copytree(source / "manifests", destination / "manifests")
+    install = destination / "manifests/ate-install"
+    shutil.copytree(install / "kind", install / "kind-upstream")
+    overlay = Path(__file__).resolve().parent / "substrate-kind-lean"
+    shutil.copytree(overlay, install / "kind", dirs_exist_ok=True)
+    # The installer applies this file directly before it renders the bundle.
+    # Keep the strategic-merge directive only in the overlay's patch file.
+    config = yaml.safe_load((overlay / "ate-otel-config.yaml").read_text())
+    config["data"].pop("$patch")
+    (install / "kind/disabled-otel-config.yaml").write_text(yaml.safe_dump(config))
+    (install / "kind/ate-otel-config.yaml").rename(install / "kind/otel-config-patch.yaml")
+    (install / "kind/disabled-otel-config.yaml").rename(install / "kind/ate-otel-config.yaml")
+    kustomization = install / "kind/kustomization.yaml"
+    kustomization.write_text(kustomization.read_text().replace("path: ate-otel-config.yaml", "path: otel-config-patch.yaml"))
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    prepare(Path(sys.argv[1]), Path(sys.argv[2]))

ops/ax/substrate-kind-lean/ate-otel-config.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: ate-otel-config
+  namespace: ate-system
+data:
+  $patch: replace
+  OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER: none
+  OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER: none
+  OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER: none
+  OTEL_SDK_DISABLED: "true"

ops/ax/substrate-kind-lean/kustomization.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
+kind: Kustomization
+# prepare-substrate.py stages the upstream kind overlay beside this directory.
+resources:
+  - ../kind-upstream
+patches:
+  - target:
+      namespace: otel-system
+    patch: |-
+      $patch: delete
+      apiVersion: v1
+      kind: ConfigMap
+      metadata:
+        name: unused
+  - target:
+      kind: Namespace
+      name: otel-system
+    patch: |-
+      $patch: delete
+      apiVersion: v1
+      kind: Namespace
+      metadata:
+        name: otel-system
+  - target:
+      kind: ClusterRole
+      name: ate-prometheus
+    patch: |-
+      $patch: delete
+      apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
+      kind: ClusterRole
+      metadata:
+        name: ate-prometheus
+  - target:
+      kind: RoleBinding
+      name: ate-prometheus
+      namespace: ate-system
+    patch: |-
+      $patch: delete
+      apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
+      kind: RoleBinding
+      metadata:
+        name: ate-prometheus
+        namespace: ate-system
+  - path: ate-otel-config.yaml

ops/ax/up.sh

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ profile() { PYTHONPATH="$REPO_ROOT/src" "$PY" -m openultrasast.plane.profile --p
 CTX="$(profile kube_context)"                       # kind names its context kind-<cluster>
 export KIND_CLUSTER_NAME="${CTX#kind-}"
 export KO_DOCKER_REPO="${KO_DOCKER_REPO:-$(profile registry)}"
+OBSERVABILITY="$(profile kind_observability)"
 IMAGES_FILE="$(profile images)"                     # the digest pins the reconciler and the templates read
 SRC="${OUSAST_AX_SRC:-$HOME/.cache/ousast/ax-src}"
 
@@ -37,9 +38,68 @@ else
 fi
 
 step "agent substrate (ate-system)"
+# The upstream installer has fixed manifest paths and also creates secrets/CRDs.
+# Give it a temporary checkout view so it never installs the observability resources.
+install_substrate() (
+  if [ "$OBSERVABILITY" = true ]; then
+    cd "$SRC/substrate"
+  else
+    # Symlinked build inputs must not make the staged view a different binary version.
+    export VERSION="${VERSION:-$(git -C "$SRC/substrate" describe --tags --always --dirty)}"
+    staged="$(mktemp -d)"
+    trap 'rm -rf "$staged"' EXIT
+    "$PY" "$REPO_ROOT/ops/ax/prepare-substrate.py" "$SRC/substrate" "$staged"
+    cd "$staged"
+  fi
+  KUBECTL_CONTEXT="$CTX" hack/install-ate-kind.sh --deploy-ate-system
+)
 if ready ate-system; then echo "substrate ready; kept"; else
-  (cd "$SRC/substrate" && hack/install-ate-kind.sh --deploy-ate-system)
+  install_substrate
 fi
+# Reconcile the choice even when the existing control plane is already ready.
+if [ "$OBSERVABILITY" = true ]; then
+  for manifest in otel-collector prometheus; do
+    kubectl --context "$CTX" apply -f "$SRC/substrate/manifests/ate-install/kind/$manifest.yaml"
+  done
+  otel_config="$SRC/substrate/manifests/ate-install/kind/ate-otel-config.yaml"
+else
+  otel_config="$REPO_ROOT/ops/ax/substrate-kind-lean/ate-otel-config.yaml"
+  for deployment in opentelemetry-collector prometheus jaeger; do
+    existing="$(kubectl --context "$CTX" -n otel-system get deployment "$deployment" --ignore-not-found -o name)"
+    if [ -n "$existing" ]; then
+      kubectl --context "$CTX" -n otel-system scale "$existing" --replicas=0
+    fi
+  done
+  echo "kind observability off: existing otel-system deployments scaled to 0; opt in with OUSAST_KIND_OBSERVABILITY=1 ops/ax/up.sh"
+fi
+# Replace data to remove stale exporter/endpoint keys in either direction. ConfigMap
+# envFrom is read at pod start; a content annotation triggers only changed rollouts.
+otel_data="$("$PY" - "$otel_config" <<'PYCONFIG'
+import json
+import sys
+import yaml
+config = yaml.safe_load(open(sys.argv[1]))
+config["data"].pop("$patch", None)
+print(json.dumps(config["data"], sort_keys=True))
+PYCONFIG
+)"
+kubectl --context "$CTX" -n ate-system patch configmap ate-otel-config --type=json \
+  -p "[{\"op\":\"replace\",\"path\":\"/data\",\"value\":$otel_data}]"
+otel_hash="$(printf '%s' "$otel_data" | sha256sum | cut -d ' ' -f1)"
+otel_workloads="$(kubectl --context "$CTX" -n ate-system get deployments,daemonsets -o json | "$PY" -c '
+import json, sys
+for item in json.load(sys.stdin)["items"]:
+    spec = item["spec"]["template"]["spec"]
+    containers = spec.get("containers", []) + spec.get("initContainers", [])
+    if any(env.get("configMapRef", {}).get("name") == "ate-otel-config"
+           for container in containers for env in container.get("envFrom", [])):
+        print(item["kind"].lower() + "/" + item["metadata"]["name"])
+')"
+for workload in $otel_workloads; do
+  kubectl --context "$CTX" -n ate-system patch "$workload" --type=merge \
+    -p "{\"spec\":{\"template\":{\"metadata\":{\"annotations\":{\"ousast.io/otel-config\":\"$otel_hash\"}}}}}"
+  kubectl --context "$CTX" -n ate-system rollout status "$workload" --timeout=300s
+done
 kubectl --context "$CTX" -n ate-system get pods
 
 step "egress gateway (atenet-egress, agentgateway variant: one prebuilt image, nothing built)"

ops/k8s/profiles/kind-images.json

@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 {
-  "runner": "localhost:5001/ousast-runner@sha256:d2a55293999cc34581ef1f02a1ffb0c2dd8fc0cbe001ac952df81600e868f019"
+  "runner": "localhost:5001/ousast-runner@sha256:784bc6afc869c679c4966d04d3f9653a8d379726b899809590cc83327f4038e3"
 }

ops/k8s/profiles/kind.toml

@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-# The kind profile: the plane on this laptop's single-node kind cluster, which ops/ax/up.sh creates and which is
+# The kind profile: the plane on this server VM's single-node kind cluster, which ops/ax/up.sh creates and which is
 # the development default (plane-on-kubernetes design section 1). Values only; a credential never goes here
 # (keys stay in the environment or .env). Every field is overridable by OUSAST_<FIELD> in the environment, a pool
 # by OUSAST_POOL_<NAME>_<FIELD>. This file may name the kind cluster; the code must not (tests/test_plane_literals.py).
 
+kind_observability = false      # opt in with OUSAST_KIND_OBSERVABILITY=1
 exec = "local"                   # the reconciler runs on this host against the cluster below
 kube_context = "kind-ousast"     # kind's context for KIND_CLUSTER_NAME=ousast
 registry = "localhost:5001"      # the kind-local registry up.sh creates (Substrate rewrites it for the node)

src/openultrasast/plane/profile.py

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 """The plane's configuration surface: one ``PlaneProfile`` per cluster (plane-on-kubernetes design section 1).
 
-A profile is a TOML file under ``ops/k8s/profiles/`` (``kind.toml`` for the laptop's kind cluster, ``k3s.toml`` for
+A profile is a TOML file under ``ops/k8s/profiles/`` (``kind.toml`` for the server VM's kind cluster, ``k3s.toml`` for
 the production cluster) holding every value that differs between clusters: the execution mode, the kube context,
 the registry and the digest-pinned images file, the router and ax-server addresses (empty: tunnel through the
 Kubernetes API), the memory store, the atespace, ax's snapshot bucket, the worker pools and the image pull secret.
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ class PlaneProfile:
     name: str
     path: Path
     exec: str = "local"
+    kind_observability: bool = False
     kube_context: str = ""
     registry: str = ""
     images: Path = Path("images.json")
@@ -135,6 +136,10 @@ def _reject_secret(where: str, key: str, value: object, declared: bool = False)
 
 
 def _coerce(where: str, key: str, value: object, kind: str) -> Any:
+    if kind == "bool":
+        if not isinstance(value, bool):
+            raise ProfileError(f"{where}: {key} must be a boolean, got {value!r}")
+        return value
     if kind == "int":
         if isinstance(value, bool) or not isinstance(value, int):
             raise ProfileError(f"{where}: {key} must be an integer, got {value!r}")
@@ -172,6 +177,10 @@ def _env_overrides(environ: Mapping[str, str], where: str, values: dict[str, Any
         raw = environ.get(_ENV_PREFIX + name.upper())
         if raw is not None and raw != "":
             value: Any = raw
+            if kind == "bool":
+                if raw.lower() not in ("true", "false", "1", "0"):
+                    raise ProfileError(f"{where}: {_ENV_PREFIX}{name.upper()} must be true/false or 1/0, got {raw!r}")
+                value = raw.lower() in ("true", "1")
             if kind == "int":
                 try:
                     value = int(raw)
@@ -241,7 +250,8 @@ def _lookup(profile: PlaneProfile, dotted: str) -> str:
         return str(getattr(profile.pools[pool_name], key))
     if head not in _SCALARS or rest:
         raise ProfileError(f"{profile.path}: no such field {dotted!r}")
-    return str(getattr(profile, head))
+    value = getattr(profile, head)
+    return str(value).lower() if isinstance(value, bool) else str(value)
 
 
 def main(argv: list[str] | None = None) -> int:

tests/test_ax_lean.py

@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+"""Offline overlay contract and installer staging; no Kubernetes executable needed."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import runpy
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+import yaml
+
+ROOT = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[1]
+OVERLAY = ROOT / "ops/ax/substrate-kind-lean"
+DISABLED = {
+    "OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER": "none",
+    "OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER": "none",
+    "OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER": "none",
+    "OTEL_SDK_DISABLED": "true",
+}
+
+
+def test_ax_lean_overlay_removes_observability_and_replaces_export_config() -> None:
+    overlay = yaml.safe_load((OVERLAY / "kustomization.yaml").read_text())
+    assert overlay["resources"] == ["../kind-upstream"]
+    deletes = [p for p in overlay["patches"] if "target" in p]
+    assert [p["target"] for p in deletes] == [
+        {"namespace": "otel-system"},
+        {"kind": "Namespace", "name": "otel-system"},
+        {"kind": "ClusterRole", "name": "ate-prometheus"},
+        {"kind": "RoleBinding", "name": "ate-prometheus", "namespace": "ate-system"},
+    ]
+    assert all(yaml.safe_load(p["patch"])["$patch"] == "delete" for p in deletes)
+    config = yaml.safe_load((OVERLAY / overlay["patches"][-1]["path"]).read_text())
+    assert config["metadata"] == {"name": "ate-otel-config", "namespace": "ate-system"}
+    # Whole-data replacement drops the upstream endpoint, interval and timeout,
+    # including any future keys that would otherwise survive a merge.
+    assert config["data"] == {"$patch": "replace", **DISABLED}
+
+
+def test_ax_staging_preserves_upstream_and_installer_prerequisites(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    prepare = runpy.run_path(str(ROOT / "ops/ax/prepare-substrate.py"))["prepare"]
+    source = tmp_path / "source"
+    kind = source / "manifests/ate-install/kind"
+    kind.mkdir(parents=True)
+    original = "resources: [otel-collector.yaml, prometheus.yaml, ate-otel-config.yaml]\n"
+    (kind / "kustomization.yaml").write_text(original)
+    (kind / "ate-otel-config.yaml").write_text("upstream config")
+    (kind / "postgres").mkdir()
+    (kind / "postgres/kustomization.yaml").write_text("resources: [../../postgres]\n")
+    (source / "go.mod").write_text("module test\n")
+    (source / "hack").mkdir()
+    (source / "hack/install-ate-kind.sh").write_text("upstream installer")
+    stage = tmp_path / "stage"
+    prepare(source, stage)
+    install = stage / "manifests/ate-install"
+    assert (install / "kind-upstream/kustomization.yaml").read_text() == original
+    assert (install / "kind/postgres/kustomization.yaml").read_text() == "resources: [../../postgres]\n"
+    assert (kind / "kustomization.yaml").read_text() == original
+    assert (kind / "ate-otel-config.yaml").read_text() == "upstream config"
+    assert (stage / "hack/install-ate-kind.sh").read_text() == "upstream installer"
+    assert (stage / "go.mod").is_symlink()
+    config = yaml.safe_load((install / "kind/ate-otel-config.yaml").read_text())
+    assert config["data"] == DISABLED  # direct installer apply must not contain $patch
+    overlay = yaml.safe_load((install / "kind/kustomization.yaml").read_text())
+    patch = yaml.safe_load((install / "kind" / overlay["patches"][-1]["path"]).read_text())
+    assert patch["data"] == {"$patch": "replace", **DISABLED}
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="must be empty"):
+        prepare(source, stage)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("enabled", [False, True])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("existing", [False, True])
+def test_ax_reconciles_observability_on_ready_clusters(tmp_path: Path, enabled: bool, existing: bool) -> None:
+    """Execute the reconciliation shell with a function double, never real kubectl."""
+    import json
+    import os
+    import subprocess
+    import sys
+
+    script = (ROOT / "ops/ax/up.sh").read_text()
+    section = script.split("# Reconcile the choice", 1)[1].split('kubectl --context "$CTX" -n ate-system get pods', 1)[0]
+    section = "# Reconcile the choice" + section
+    source = tmp_path / "substrate/manifests/ate-install/kind"
+    source.mkdir(parents=True)
+    upstream_data = {"OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT": "http://collector:4317", "OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER": "otlp"}
+    (source / "ate-otel-config.yaml").write_text(yaml.safe_dump({"data": upstream_data}))
+    log = tmp_path / "calls"
+    consumer = {
+        "kind": "Deployment",
+        "metadata": {"name": "ate-controller"},
+        "spec": {"template": {"spec": {"containers": [{"envFrom": [{"configMapRef": {"name": "ate-otel-config"}}]}]}}},
+    }
+    nonconsumer = {"kind": "Deployment", "metadata": {"name": "unrelated"}, "spec": {"template": {"spec": {"containers": []}}}}
+    mock = """
+set -euo pipefail
+kubectl() {
+  printf '%s\\t' "$@" >> "$CALL_LOG"
+  printf '\\n' >> "$CALL_LOG"
+  case " $* " in
+    *" get deployment "*)
+      if [ "$EXISTING" = 1 ]; then printf 'deployment.apps/%s\\n' "$7"; fi ;;
+    *" get deployments,daemonsets "*) printf '%s' "$WORKLOADS" ;;
+  esac
+  return 0
+}
+"""
+    env = {
+        **os.environ,
+        "OBSERVABILITY": str(enabled).lower(),
+        "EXISTING": str(int(existing)),
+        "PY": sys.executable,
+        "CTX": "test-context",
+        "SRC": str(tmp_path),
+        "REPO_ROOT": str(ROOT),
+        "CALL_LOG": str(log),
+        "WORKLOADS": json.dumps({"items": [consumer, nonconsumer]}),
+    }
+    result = subprocess.run(["bash", "-c", mock + section], env=env, text=True, capture_output=True)
+    assert result.returncode == 0, result.stderr
+    calls = [line.rstrip("\t").split("\t") for line in log.read_text().splitlines()]
+    scales = [call for call in calls if "scale" in call]
+    assert len(scales) == (3 if existing and not enabled else 0)
+    assert all(call[-1] == "--replicas=0" for call in scales)
+    applies = [call for call in calls if "apply" in call]
+    assert len(applies) == (2 if enabled else 0)
+    config_patch = next(call[-1] for call in calls if "configmap" in call)
+    assert json.loads(config_patch) == [{"op": "replace", "path": "/data", "value": upstream_data if enabled else DISABLED}]
+    assert not any("deployment/unrelated" in call for call in calls)
+    assert any("deployment/ate-controller" in call for call in calls)
+    if not enabled:
+        assert "OUSAST_KIND_OBSERVABILITY=1" in result.stdout

tests/test_plane_profile.py

@@ -156,3 +156,27 @@ def test_profile_is_frozen_and_typed() -> None:
     assert isinstance(loaded, PlaneProfile)
     with pytest.raises(AttributeError):
         loaded.exec = "remote"  # type: ignore[misc]
+
+
+def test_kind_observability_defaults_off() -> None:
+    assert load_profile("kind", environ={}).kind_observability is False
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(("raw", "expected"), [("1", True), ("true", True), ("0", False), ("FALSE", False)])
+def test_kind_observability_environment_override(tmp_path: Path, raw: str, expected: bool) -> None:
+    path = write_profile(tmp_path, MINIMAL + f"kind_observability = {str(not expected).lower()}\n")
+    assert load_profile(str(path), environ={"OUSAST_KIND_OBSERVABILITY": raw}).kind_observability is expected
+
+
+def test_kind_observability_validation_and_print(
+    tmp_path: Path, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch, capsys: pytest.CaptureFixture[str]
+) -> None:
+    path = write_profile(tmp_path, MINIMAL + 'kind_observability = "false"\n')
+    with pytest.raises(ProfileError, match="kind_observability must be a boolean"):
+        load_profile(str(path), environ={})
+    path = write_profile(tmp_path)
+    with pytest.raises(ProfileError, match="OUSAST_KIND_OBSERVABILITY must be"):
+        load_profile(str(path), environ={"OUSAST_KIND_OBSERVABILITY": "maybe"})
+    monkeypatch.setenv("OUSAST_KIND_OBSERVABILITY", "1")
+    assert profile_module.main(["--profile", str(path), "--print", "kind_observability"]) == 0
+    assert capsys.readouterr().out == "true\n"