diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e222898..720e278 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 # Severed Infra: Cloud-Native Home Lab
 
 This repository contains the Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) and manifest definitions for **Severed**, a modern blog and
-observability stack running on Kubernetes (K3d). It demonstrates how to decouple configuration from code, automate
-observability, and secure internal services—all running locally on your laptop.
+observability stack running on Kubernetes (K3d).
 
 ## Architecture
 
diff --git a/apps/severed-blog-config.yaml b/apps/severed-blog-config.yaml
index 4033445..c91a4ab 100644
--- a/apps/severed-blog-config.yaml
+++ b/apps/severed-blog-config.yaml
@@ -5,12 +5,19 @@ metadata:
   namespace: severed-apps
 data:
   default.conf: |
+    # 1. Define the custom log format
+    log_format observability    '$remote_addr - $remote_user [$time_local] "$request" '
+                                '$status $body_bytes_sent "$http_referer" '
+                                '"$http_user_agent" "$request_time"';
+
     server {
       listen           80;
       server_name      localhost;
       root             /usr/share/nginx/html;
       index            index.html index.htm;
-      access_log       /dev/stdout;
+    
+      # 2. Apply the format to stdout
+      access_log       /dev/stdout observability;
       error_log        /dev/stderr;
     
       # gzip compression
@@ -50,10 +57,10 @@ data:
       # metrics endpoint for Alloy/Prometheus
       location /metrics {
         stub_status on;
-        access_log off;
+        access_log off; # Keep noise out of our main logs
         allow 127.0.0.1;
-        allow 10.0.0.0/8; # Allow internal cluster pods
-        allow 172.16.0.0/12; # Allow K3d/Docker internal bridge network
+        allow 10.0.0.0/8;
+        allow 172.16.0.0/12;
         deny all;
       }
     }
diff --git a/apps/severed-blog-hpa.yaml b/apps/severed-blog-hpa.yaml
index c37a246..6559975 100644
--- a/apps/severed-blog-hpa.yaml
+++ b/apps/severed-blog-hpa.yaml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ spec:
           name: nginx_http_requests_total
         target:
           type: AverageValue
-          averageValue: "10k"         # Scale up if requests > 10K per second per pod
+          averageValue: "500"         # Scale up if requests > 500 per second per pod
   behavior:
     scaleDown:
       stabilizationWindowSeconds: 300 # Wait 5 minutes before removing a pod
diff --git a/infra/alloy-setup.yaml b/infra/alloy-setup.yaml
index ba8feb5..505ef57 100644
--- a/infra/alloy-setup.yaml
+++ b/infra/alloy-setup.yaml
@@ -11,12 +11,21 @@ kind: ClusterRole
 metadata:
   name: alloy-cluster-role
 rules:
+  # 1. Standard API Access
   - apiGroups: [ "" ]
     resources: [ "nodes", "nodes/proxy", "services", "endpoints", "pods" ]
     verbs: [ "get", "list", "watch" ]
+  # 2. ALLOW METRICS ACCESS (Crucial for cAdvisor/Kubelet)
+  - apiGroups: [ "" ]
+    resources: [ "nodes/stats", "nodes/metrics" ]
+    verbs: [ "get" ]
+  # 3. Log Access
   - apiGroups: [ "" ]
     resources: [ "pods/log" ]
     verbs: [ "get", "list", "watch" ]
+  # 4. Non-Resource URLs (Sometimes needed for /metrics endpoints)
+  - nonResourceURLs: ["/metrics"]
+    verbs: ["get"]
 
 ---
 apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
@@ -84,8 +93,6 @@ data:
       targets = discovery.relabel.blog_pods.output
       forward_to = [prometheus.remote_write.metrics_service.receiver]
       job_name   = "integrations/nginx"
-    
-      // Removed the restrictive metric_relabel to ensure data flows
     }
 
     // 4. Host Metrics (Unix Exporter)
@@ -118,6 +125,26 @@ data:
         url = sys.env("LOKI_URL")
       }
     }
+    
+    // 7. Kubelet Scraper (cAdvisor for Container Metrics)
+    discovery.kubernetes "k8s_nodes" {
+      role = "node"
+    }
+
+    prometheus.scrape "kubelet_cadvisor" {
+      targets = discovery.kubernetes.k8s_nodes.targets
+      scheme  = "https"
+      metrics_path = "/metrics/cadvisor"
+      job_name     = "integrations/kubernetes/cadvisor"
+
+      tls_config {
+        insecure_skip_verify = true
+      }
+      bearer_token_file = "/var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount/token"
+
+      forward_to = [prometheus.remote_write.metrics_service.receiver]
+    }
+
 ---
 # --- Agent Deployment (DaemonSet) ---
 apiVersion: apps/v1
@@ -144,6 +171,7 @@ spec:
           args:
             - run
             - --server.http.listen-addr=0.0.0.0:12345
+            - --storage.path=/var/lib/alloy/data
             - /etc/alloy/config.alloy
           envFrom:
             - configMapRef:
diff --git a/infra/observer/dashboard-json.yaml b/infra/observer/dashboard-json.yaml
index e06aaaf..b11bd28 100644
--- a/infra/observer/dashboard-json.yaml
+++ b/infra/observer/dashboard-json.yaml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ data:
       "editable": true,
       "fiscalYearStartMonth": 0,
       "graphTooltip": 0,
-      "id": 0,
+      "id": 1,
       "links": [],
       "panels": [
         {
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ data:
               },
               "editorMode": "code",
               "expr": "node_memory_MemTotal_bytes - node_memory_MemAvailable_bytes",
-              "legendFormat": "Used Memory",
+              "legendFormat": "{{instance}}",
               "range": true,
               "refId": "A"
             }
@@ -336,6 +336,151 @@ data:
             "type": "loki",
             "uid": "Loki"
           },
+          "fieldConfig": {
+            "defaults": {
+              "color": {
+                "fixedColor": "green",
+                "mode": "fixed",
+                "seriesBy": "last"
+              },
+              "custom": {
+                "axisBorderShow": false,
+                "axisCenteredZero": false,
+                "axisColorMode": "text",
+                "axisLabel": "",
+                "axisPlacement": "auto",
+                "barAlignment": 0,
+                "barWidthFactor": 0.6,
+                "drawStyle": "line",
+                "fillOpacity": 0,
+                "gradientMode": "none",
+                "hideFrom": {
+                  "legend": false,
+                  "tooltip": false,
+                  "viz": false
+                },
+                "insertNulls": false,
+                "lineInterpolation": "linear",
+                "lineWidth": 1,
+                "pointSize": 5,
+                "scaleDistribution": {
+                  "type": "linear"
+                },
+                "showPoints": "auto",
+                "showValues": false,
+                "spanNulls": false,
+                "stacking": {
+                  "group": "A",
+                  "mode": "none"
+                },
+                "thresholdsStyle": {
+                  "mode": "off"
+                }
+              },
+              "fieldMinMax": false,
+              "mappings": [],
+              "noValue": "0",
+              "thresholds": {
+                "mode": "absolute",
+                "steps": [
+                  {
+                    "color": "green",
+                    "value": 0
+                  },
+                  {
+                    "color": "red",
+                    "value": 80
+                  }
+                ]
+              }
+            },
+            "overrides": [
+              {
+                "matcher": {
+                  "id": "byRegexp",
+                  "options": "/^4\\d{2}$/"
+                },
+                "properties": [
+                  {
+                    "id": "color",
+                    "value": {
+                      "fixedColor": "red",
+                      "mode": "fixed"
+                    }
+                  }
+                ]
+              },
+              {
+                "matcher": {
+                  "id": "byRegexp",
+                  "options": "/^5\\d{2}$/"
+                },
+                "properties": [
+                  {
+                    "id": "color",
+                    "value": {
+                      "fixedColor": "purple",
+                      "mode": "fixed"
+                    }
+                  }
+                ]
+              },
+              {
+                "matcher": {
+                  "id": "byRegexp",
+                  "options": "/^3\\d{2}$/"
+                },
+                "properties": [
+                  {
+                    "id": "color",
+                    "value": {
+                      "fixedColor": "orange",
+                      "mode": "fixed"
+                    }
+                  }
+                ]
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "gridPos": {
+            "h": 8,
+            "w": 8,
+            "x": 8,
+            "y": 9
+          },
+          "id": 5,
+          "options": {
+            "legend": {
+              "calcs": [],
+              "displayMode": "list",
+              "placement": "bottom",
+              "showLegend": true
+            },
+            "tooltip": {
+              "hideZeros": false,
+              "mode": "single",
+              "sort": "none"
+            }
+          },
+          "pluginVersion": "12.3.1",
+          "targets": [
+            {
+              "direction": "backward",
+              "editorMode": "code",
+              "expr": "sum by (status) (\n  count_over_time({namespace=\"severed-apps\"} \n  | regexp `HTTP/1.1\" (?P<status>[12345]\\d{2})` [1m])\n)",
+              "legendFormat": "{{status}}",
+              "queryType": "range",
+              "refId": "A"
+            }
+          ],
+          "title": "HTTP Requests",
+          "type": "timeseries"
+        },
+        {
+          "datasource": {
+            "type": "prometheus",
+            "uid": "PBFA97CFB590B2093"
+          },
           "fieldConfig": {
             "defaults": {
               "color": {
@@ -376,6 +521,7 @@ data:
                 }
               },
               "mappings": [],
+              "noValue": "0",
               "thresholds": {
                 "mode": "absolute",
                 "steps": [
@@ -395,10 +541,10 @@ data:
           "gridPos": {
             "h": 8,
             "w": 8,
-            "x": 8,
+            "x": 16,
             "y": 9
           },
-          "id": 4,
+          "id": 9,
           "options": {
             "legend": {
               "calcs": [],
@@ -415,18 +561,24 @@ data:
           "pluginVersion": "12.3.1",
           "targets": [
             {
-              "expr": "sum(rate({app=\"severed-blog\"}[1m]))",
-              "legendFormat": "Requests/sec",
+              "datasource": {
+                "type": "prometheus",
+                "uid": "PBFA97CFB590B2093"
+              },
+              "editorMode": "code",
+              "expr": "sum(nginx_connections_active{namespace=\"severed-apps\"})",
+              "legendFormat": "Live Connections",
+              "range": true,
               "refId": "A"
             }
           ],
-          "title": "Web Traffic (RPS)",
+          "title": "Live User Count",
           "type": "timeseries"
         },
         {
           "datasource": {
-            "type": "loki",
-            "uid": "Loki"
+            "type": "prometheus",
+            "uid": "PBFA97CFB590B2093"
           },
           "fieldConfig": {
             "defaults": {
@@ -482,15 +634,28 @@ data:
                 ]
               }
             },
-            "overrides": []
+            "overrides": [
+              {
+                "matcher": {
+                  "id": "byName",
+                  "options": "Replicas (instant scale when 1 of the metrics >= 100% Saturation)"
+                },
+                "properties": [
+                  {
+                    "id": "custom.axisPlacement",
+                    "value": "right"
+                  }
+                ]
+              }
+            ]
           },
           "gridPos": {
-            "h": 8,
-            "w": 8,
-            "x": 16,
-            "y": 9
+            "h": 9,
+            "w": 14,
+            "x": 0,
+            "y": 17
           },
-          "id": 5,
+          "id": 8,
           "options": {
             "legend": {
               "calcs": [],
@@ -507,13 +672,287 @@ data:
           "pluginVersion": "12.3.1",
           "targets": [
             {
-              "expr": "sum by (status) (count_over_time({app=\"severed-blog\"} | regexp `HTTP/1.1\" (?P<status>[45]\\d{2})` [1m]))",
-              "legendFormat": "HTTP {{status}}",
+              "datasource": {
+                "type": "prometheus",
+                "uid": "PBFA97CFB590B2093"
+              },
+              "editorMode": "code",
+              "expr": "(sum(rate(nginx_http_requests_total{namespace=\"severed-apps\"}[1m])) / count(nginx_http_requests_total{namespace=\"severed-apps\"})) / 500 * 100",
+              "legendFormat": "Traffic Saturation (100% Saturation = 500RPS)",
+              "range": true,
+              "refId": "A"
+            },
+            {
+              "datasource": {
+                "type": "prometheus",
+                "uid": "PBFA97CFB590B2093"
+              },
+              "editorMode": "code",
+              "exemplar": false,
+              "expr": "sum(rate(container_cpu_usage_seconds_total{namespace=\"severed-apps\", pod=~\"severed-blog.*\", container!=\"\"}[1m])) / 0.1 * 100",
+              "hide": false,
+              "instant": false,
+              "legendFormat": "CPU Saturation (100% Saturation = 90% Usage)",
+              "range": true,
+              "refId": "B"
+            },
+            {
+              "datasource": {
+                "type": "prometheus",
+                "uid": "PBFA97CFB590B2093"
+              },
+              "editorMode": "code",
+              "expr": "sum(container_memory_working_set_bytes{namespace=\"severed-apps\", pod=~\"severed-blog.*\", container!=\"\"}) / (100 * 1024 * 1024) * 100",
+              "hide": false,
+              "instant": false,
+              "legendFormat": "Memory Saturation (100% Saturation = 80% Usage)",
+              "range": true,
+              "refId": "C"
+            },
+            {
+              "datasource": {
+                "type": "prometheus",
+                "uid": "PBFA97CFB590B2093"
+              },
+              "editorMode": "code",
+              "expr": "count(nginx_http_requests_total{job=\"integrations/nginx\"})",
+              "hide": false,
+              "instant": false,
+              "legendFormat": "Replicas (instant scale when 1 of the metrics >= 100% Saturation)",
+              "range": true,
+              "refId": "D"
+            }
+          ],
+          "title": "HPA Drivers: Saturation vs. Scaling",
+          "type": "timeseries"
+        },
+        {
+          "datasource": {
+            "type": "prometheus",
+            "uid": "PBFA97CFB590B2093"
+          },
+          "fieldConfig": {
+            "defaults": {
+              "color": {
+                "mode": "thresholds"
+              },
+              "custom": {
+                "align": "auto",
+                "cellOptions": {
+                  "type": "auto"
+                },
+                "footer": {
+                  "reducers": []
+                },
+                "inspect": false
+              },
+              "mappings": [],
+              "thresholds": {
+                "mode": "absolute",
+                "steps": [
+                  {
+                    "color": "green",
+                    "value": 0
+                  },
+                  {
+                    "color": "red",
+                    "value": 80
+                  }
+                ]
+              }
+            },
+            "overrides": [
+              {
+                "matcher": {
+                  "id": "byName",
+                  "options": "Status"
+                },
+                "properties": [
+                  {
+                    "id": "custom.width",
+                    "value": 97
+                  }
+                ]
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "gridPos": {
+            "h": 5,
+            "w": 10,
+            "x": 14,
+            "y": 17
+          },
+          "id": 10,
+          "options": {
+            "cellHeight": "sm",
+            "frameIndex": 0,
+            "showHeader": true,
+            "sortBy": [
+              {
+                "desc": false,
+                "displayName": "up"
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "pluginVersion": "12.3.1",
+          "targets": [
+            {
+              "datasource": {
+                "type": "prometheus",
+                "uid": "PBFA97CFB590B2093"
+              },
+              "editorMode": "code",
+              "exemplar": false,
+              "expr": "up{job=\"integrations/nginx\"} ",
+              "instant": true,
+              "range": false,
               "refId": "A"
             }
           ],
-          "title": "HTTP Errors (4xx/5xx)",
-          "type": "timeseries"
+          "title": "Pods Status",
+          "transformations": [
+            {
+              "id": "labelsToFields",
+              "options": {
+                "keepLabels": [
+                  "pod"
+                ]
+              }
+            },
+            {
+              "id": "merge",
+              "options": {}
+            },
+            {
+              "id": "organize",
+              "options": {
+                "excludeByName": {
+                  "Time": true
+                },
+                "includeByName": {},
+                "indexByName": {},
+                "renameByName": {
+                  "pod": "Pod Name",
+                  "up": "Status"
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          ],
+          "type": "table"
+        },
+        {
+          "datasource": {
+            "type": "loki",
+            "uid": "P8E80F9AEF21F6940"
+          },
+          "fieldConfig": {
+            "defaults": {
+              "color": {
+                "fixedColor": "green",
+                "mode": "fixed"
+              },
+              "custom": {
+                "hideFrom": {
+                  "legend": false,
+                  "tooltip": false,
+                  "viz": false
+                }
+              },
+              "mappings": []
+            },
+            "overrides": [
+              {
+                "matcher": {
+                  "id": "byRegexp",
+                  "options": "/^4\\d{2}$/"
+                },
+                "properties": [
+                  {
+                    "id": "color",
+                    "value": {
+                      "fixedColor": "red",
+                      "mode": "fixed"
+                    }
+                  }
+                ]
+              },
+              {
+                "matcher": {
+                  "id": "byRegexp",
+                  "options": "/^5\\d{2}$/"
+                },
+                "properties": [
+                  {
+                    "id": "color",
+                    "value": {
+                      "fixedColor": "purple",
+                      "mode": "fixed"
+                    }
+                  }
+                ]
+              },
+              {
+                "matcher": {
+                  "id": "byRegexp",
+                  "options": "/^3\\d{2}$/"
+                },
+                "properties": [
+                  {
+                    "id": "color",
+                    "value": {
+                      "fixedColor": "orange",
+                      "mode": "fixed"
+                    }
+                  }
+                ]
+              }
+            ]
+          },
+          "gridPos": {
+            "h": 6,
+            "w": 5,
+            "x": 0,
+            "y": 26
+          },
+          "id": 11,
+          "options": {
+            "legend": {
+              "displayMode": "list",
+              "placement": "bottom",
+              "showLegend": true
+            },
+            "pieType": "pie",
+            "reduceOptions": {
+              "calcs": [
+                "lastNotNull"
+              ],
+              "fields": "",
+              "values": false
+            },
+            "sort": "desc",
+            "tooltip": {
+              "hideZeros": false,
+              "mode": "single",
+              "sort": "none"
+            }
+          },
+          "pluginVersion": "12.3.1",
+          "targets": [
+            {
+              "datasource": {
+                "type": "loki",
+                "uid": "P8E80F9AEF21F6940"
+              },
+              "direction": "backward",
+              "editorMode": "code",
+              "expr": "sum by (status) (\n  count_over_time(\n    {namespace=\"severed-apps\"} |= \"HTTP/1.1\" | regexp `HTTP/1.1\" (?P<status>[12345]\\d{2})` [24h]\n  )\n)",
+              "legendFormat": "{{status}}",
+              "queryType": "range",
+              "refId": "A"
+            }
+          ],
+          "title": "Traffic Quality (24h)",
+          "type": "piechart"
         }
       ],
       "preload": false,
@@ -531,5 +970,5 @@ data:
       "timezone": "",
       "title": "Severed Cluster Health",
       "uid": "severed-health",
-      "version": 9
-    }
\ No newline at end of file
+      "version": 1
+    }
diff --git a/infra/observer/loki.yaml b/infra/observer/loki.yaml
index 61f2c47..c3a6609 100644
--- a/infra/observer/loki.yaml
+++ b/infra/observer/loki.yaml
@@ -29,8 +29,6 @@ data:
           index:
             prefix: index_
             period: 24h
-    limits_config:
-      allow_structured_metadata: true
 
 ---
 # --- Storage Service (Headless) ---
@@ -67,8 +65,6 @@ spec:
       labels:
         app: loki
     spec:
-      # securityContext:
-      #   fsGroup: 10001  # Often needed for Loki write permissions
       containers:
         - name: loki
           image: grafana/loki:latest
@@ -86,7 +82,7 @@ spec:
         - name: config
           configMap:
             name: loki-config
-  # Persistent Storage: Automatically creates a Volume for data retention
+  # Persistent Storage
   volumeClaimTemplates:
     - metadata:
         name: data
diff --git a/infra/observer/prometheus.yaml b/infra/observer/prometheus.yaml
index abc3500..f5e1a56 100644
--- a/infra/observer/prometheus.yaml
+++ b/infra/observer/prometheus.yaml
@@ -13,6 +13,18 @@ data:
       tsdb:
         out_of_order_time_window: 1m
 
+    scrape_configs:
+      # 1. Scrape Prometheus itself (Health Check)
+      - job_name: 'prometheus'
+        static_configs:
+          - targets: ['localhost:9090']
+
+      # 2. Scrape Kube State Metrics (KSM)
+      # We use the internal DNS: service-name.namespace.svc.cluster.local:port
+      - job_name: 'kube-state-metrics'
+        static_configs:
+          - targets: ['kube-state-metrics.monitoring.svc.cluster.local:8080']
+
 ---
 # Service
 apiVersion: v1
diff --git a/scripts/README.md b/scripts/README.md
index df2531e..f9b3281 100644
--- a/scripts/README.md
+++ b/scripts/README.md
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ kubectl logs -n monitoring -l name=alloy --tail=50
 [//]: # (kubectl rollout restart deployment severed-blog -n severed-apps)
 [//]: # (kubectl logs -n severed-apps -l app=severed-blog -f)
 
+[//]: # (kubectl logs loki-0 -n monitoring --tail=20)
+
 * **Internal Handshake:** Use your `access-hub.sh` script and visit `localhost:12345`.
 * Find the `prometheus.exporter.nginx.blog` component.
 * Ensure the health status is **Green/Up**.
diff --git a/scripts/deploy-all.sh b/scripts/deploy-all.sh
index 3251232..7f45f80 100644
--- a/scripts/deploy-all.sh
+++ b/scripts/deploy-all.sh
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ kubectl create secret generic grafana-secrets -n monitoring \
   --from-literal=admin-password=admin \
   --dry-run=client -o yaml | kubectl apply -f -
 
+# Kube State Metrics (KSM)
+echo "Installing kube-state-metrics..."
+helm repo add prometheus-community https://prometheus-community.github.io/helm-charts
+helm repo update
+helm upgrade --install kube-state-metrics prometheus-community/kube-state-metrics --namespace monitoring
+
 kubectl apply -f infra/observer/loki.yaml
 kubectl apply -f infra/observer/prometheus.yaml
 kubectl apply -f infra/alloy-env.yaml