---
title: "Creating an Optimization Policy"
slug: "creating-an-optimization-policy"
updated: 2025-06-23T15:56:20Z
published: 2025-06-23T15:56:20Z
canonical: "resources.realtheory.io/creating-an-optimization-policy"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://resources.realtheory.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Creating an Optimization Policy

Optimization policies enable organizations to automatically apply the appropriate non-default optimization profile to each cluster at scale. This reduces the need for manual oversight while ensuring that right-sizing recommendations reflect the intent of each workload. By using label-based matching, optimization policies make it easy to manage large, dynamic environments with consistent and accurate profile assignment.

See [Optimization Policies Explained](/v1/docs/optimization-policies-explained) for more information about optimization policies.

## Prerequisite

To manage rate card policies, you must have one of the following roles assigned to your user account:

- *sys_admin*
- *optimizatiion_admin*

## Procedure

1. As a user with the sys_admin or optimization_admin role, navigate to **Settings** > **Optimization** > **Optimization Policies**.
2. If no optimization policies have been previously configured, you will see only the default policy, which reflects the optimization profile that is currently set as the default.
3. If optimization policies have been previously configured, each policy will be listed above the default rate card in the order they are processed and applied.
4. If an optimization policy that applies the appropriate profile to the appropriate clusters does not exist, click **Add optimization policy**.
5. Provide a unique name for the policy.
6. Add a description that will help you remember the purpose and scope of the new policy.
7. Provide the conditions that will determine which clusters this policy applies to; conditions are cluster or node equality-based and set-based label selectors.  

See [How to Use Label Selectors to Identify Resources](https://resources.realtheory.io/docs/how-to-use-label-selectors-to-identify-resources).
8. To verify that the specified Conditions target the correct clusters, click **Evaluate** and review the results.
9. Click **Next**.
10. Select the profile that applies to the clusters identified by the conditions specified in Step 7.  

**Note:** If you do not see the appropriate profile in the list, click **Optimization Profile view** to open the **Optimization Profiles** view, where you can create the profile you need.
11. Click **Save**.  

The new policy will be added to the list of policies directly above the Default policy. If this is not the appropriate location, you can drag the new policy to the correct location in the list.  

**Note:** The default policy will always be the last policy in the list.

**See Also** [How to Leverage RealTheory Labels For Scalability and Automation](https://resources.realtheory.io/docs/how-to-leverage-realtheory-labels-for-scalability-and-automation) [How to Use Label Selectors to Identify Resources](https://resources.realtheory.io/docs/how-to-use-label-selectors-to-identify-resources) [Optimization Policies Explained](/v1/docs/optimization-policies-explained)