log INFO spam of "message":"unknown field \"status.nodes\"

[Fran-Rg]

Description

Observed Behavior:
After installing, the karpenters main controller is logging the following line for each node pool every 5seconds:

{
  "level": "INFO",
  "time": "2026-01-10T12:56:36.750Z",
  "logger": "controller",
  "message": "unknown field \"status.nodes\"",
  "commit": "c9c3a48",
  "controller": "nodepool.counter",
  "controllerGroup": "karpenter.sh",
  "controllerKind": "NodePool",
  "NodePool": {
    "name": "default"
  },
  "namespace": "",
  "name": "default",
  "reconcileID": "b1798a11-dea6-4ce3-bc3d-b0b97f4d955d"
}

Expected Behavior:
I don't think this is an issue as everything is running smoothly. Should this be DEBUG level or handled a bit more nicely?

Reproduction Steps (Please include YAML):
Deploy one node class + node pool:
Node class:

spec:
  amiSelectorTerms:
  - alias: al2023@latest
  metadataOptions:
    httpEndpoint: enabled
    httpProtocolIPv6: disabled
    httpPutResponseHopLimit: 1
    httpTokens: required
  role: X
  securityGroupSelectorTerms:
  - id: X
  subnetSelectorTerms:
  - id: X
  - id: X
  - id: X
  tags:
    Name: X
    environment: X

Node pool:

weight: 100
template:
  spec:
    requirements:
      - key: kubernetes.io/arch
        operator: In
        values: ["amd64"]
      - key: kubernetes.io/os
        operator: In
        values: ["linux"]
      - key: karpenter.sh/capacity-type
        operator: In
        values: ["on-demand"]
      - key: karpenter.k8s.aws/instance-category
        operator: In
        values: ["t"]
      - key: karpenter.k8s.aws/instance-generation
        operator: Gt
        values: ["2"]
    nodeClassRef:
      group: karpenter.k8s.aws
      kind: EC2NodeClass
      name: default
    expireAfter: 168h
    terminationGracePeriod: 24h
disruption:
  consolidateAfter: 300s
  consolidationPolicy: WhenEmptyOrUnderutilized

Then check the karpenter pod leader logs.

Versions:

• Chart Version: 1.8.3
• Kubernetes Version (kubectl version): v1.34.1-eks-3025e55

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