HTTP REST API for metrics

This endpoint allows you to send a single metric or a list of metrics. The events can be encoded in JSON or preferably in a more efficient MessagePack.

You can use these metrics to build Dashboards using the built-in metrics value, rate, series_id, and tags. Please note that not all sources support sending metrics.

Unauthorized

Couldn't parse JSON content.

payload reached size limit

Examples

Single metric

Send a single metric using cURL:

curl -X POST https://in.logs.betterstack.com/metrics \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOURCE_TOKEN" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"name":"test_metric","gauge":{"value":123}}'

curl -X POST https://in.logs.betterstack.com/metrics \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOURCE_TOKEN" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/x-ndjson" \
     -d '{"name":"test_metric","gauge":{"value":123}}'

# Python is required to prepare the binary data in this example
python3 -c 'import msgpack; \
     print(msgpack.packb( \
          {"name":"test_metric","gauge":{"value":123}} \
     ).hex())' \
     | xxd -r -p \
     | curl -X POST https://in.logs.betterstack.com/metrics \
          -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOURCE_TOKEN" \
          -H "Content-Type: application/msgpack" \
          --data-binary @-

Multiple metrics

Send multiple metrics using cURL:

curl -X POST https://in.logs.betterstack.com/metrics \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOURCE_TOKEN" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '[{"name":"metric_a","gauge":{"value":3.14}},{"name":"metric_b","counter":{"value":42}}]'

curl -X POST https://in.logs.betterstack.com/metrics \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOURCE_TOKEN" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/x-ndjson" \
     -d $'{"name":"metric_a","gauge":{"value":3.14}}\n{"name":"metric_b","counter":{"value":42}}'

# Python is required to prepare the binary data
python3 -c 'import msgpack; \
     print(msgpack.packb( \
          [{"name":"metric_a","gauge":{"value":3.14}},{"name":"metric_b","counter":{"value":42}}] \
     ).hex())' \
     | xxd -r -p \
     | curl -X POST https://in.logs.betterstack.com/metrics \
          -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOURCE_TOKEN" \
          -H "Content-Type: application/msgpack" \
          --data-binary @-

Sending timestamps

By default, the time of the metric will be the time of receiving it. You can override this by including a field dt containing the event time either as:

• UNIX time in whole seconds, milliseconds, or nanoseconds.
  1672490759, 1672490759123, 1672490759123456000
• String formatted according to RFC 3339.
  2022-12-31T13:45:59.123456Z, 2022-12-31 13:45:59.123456+02:00

Alternatively, you can use ISO 8601, as it will most likely use a format compatible with RFC 3339. In MessagePack, you can also use the timestamp extension type.

In case the timestamp can't be parsed, we save it as a string, but revert to using the reception time as the event time.

Events can be send with a time that is up to 15 minutes in the past.

curl -X POST https://in.logs.betterstack.com \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOURCE_TOKEN" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"name":"test_metric","gauge":{"value":123},"dt":"2023-08-09 07:03:30+00:00"}'

Metric types

Gauges

A gauge represents a single numerical value that can go up or down. Common use cases include tracking temperature, current memory usage, or system load. Gauges reflect the current state or level at the time of reporting. For example, memory usage might fluctuate, and each time you send a gauge, you're reporting the latest value.

{
  "name": "node_cpu_temperature_celsius",
  "gauge": {
    "value": 63.5
  }
}

Counters

A counter is a metric type used for tracking monotonically increasing values, like the number of requests served or errors encountered. Unlike gauges, counters only increase or reset to zero, they never decrease. They're ideal for counting discrete events over time.

{
  "name": "http_requests_total",
  "counter": {
    "value": 42
  }
}

Histograms

A histogram samples observations (such as request durations or response sizes) and counts them in configurable buckets. It also provides the sum of all observed values. Histograms are useful for measuring the distribution of values, allowing you to understand the frequency of observations within specific ranges.

The fields dt, name, histogram.count, histogram.sum, histogram.buckets.*.count, and histogram.buckets.*.upper_limit are required for histograms.

{
  "name": "http_request_duration_seconds",
  "histogram": {
    "count": 140,
    "sum": 75.5,
    "buckets": [
      {
        "upper_limit": 0.1,
        "count": 15
      },
      {
        "upper_limit": 0.2,
        "count": 30
      },
      {
        "upper_limit": 0.5,
        "count": 45
      },
      {
        "upper_limit": 1.0,
        "count": 50
      }
    ]
  }
}

Summaries

A summary also samples observations and provides a total count and sum of all observed values, similar to a histogram. Additionally, it calculates configurable quantiles (e.g., median, 90th percentile). Summaries are useful when you need to track the distribution of values and compute specific statistical measures over time.

The fields dt, name, summary.count, summary.sum, summary.quantiles.*.value, and summary.quantiles.*.quantile are required for summaries.

{
  "name": "http_response_size_bytes",
  "summary": {
    "count": 100,
    "sum": 25000,
    "quantiles": [
      {
        "quantile": 0.5,
        "value": 200
      },
      {
        "quantile": 0.9,
        "value": 450
      },
      {
        "quantile": 0.99,
        "value": 600
      }
    ]
  }
}

Tagging metrics

You can use any string labels in the tags field of your metric to provide metadata for grouping and filtering of your data.

{
  "name": "node_cpu_temperature_celsius",
  "gauge": {
    "value": 63.5
  },
  "tags": {
    "host": "server_1",
    "region": "us-east",
    "environment": "production"
  }
}

Request limits

The HTTP REST API is limited to 500 requests per minute from a single IP.

The maximum allowed size of a single request is 20 MiB.