Which task is a good candidate for the Instana REST API rather than manual work?

Producing the same monthly service-performance report across dozens of services, where manual collection is slow and error-prone, is the good candidate. Repeated, well-specified extraction across many objects is where automation pays: consistent output, no transcription errors, and no time cost per repetition. Investigating a single unexplained latency spike, which needs interactive exploration of traces, is a poor fit because open-ended investigation benefits from interactive navigation. Deciding which services should have alerts, which is a judgement about operational priorities, is not the API's job because deciding what matters is human, though applying the decision can be automated. Reviewing an infographic on a dashboard during an incident call is a live human activity. Exam: automate the repeatable and keep judgement with people.