A device and method for automatically allocating computing resources is disclosed herein. The method includes receiving a task from a client, the task including a plurality of instances and a resource description manifest representing resource needs of the plurality of instances; determining an initial computing resource allocation of a cluster of machines based on the resource description manifest, wherein the initial computing resource allocation is determined based on the resource needs included in the resource description manifest; determining that the resource description manifest indicates a request to utilize an actual computing resource allocation in excess of the initial computing resource allocation; configuring a plurality of actual computing resources to process the plurality of instances, wherein the plurality of actual computing resources are configured to utilize resources in excess of the initial computing resource allocation; and executing the plurality of instances using the plurality of actual computing resources.