Using timestamp from api as timestamp in promehteous metric

[mostafashr]

Is there a way to use timestamp from the api data as timestamp in output result? in promehteous documentation in instrumentation part there is :

metric_name [
  "{" label_name "=" `"` label_value `"` { "," label_name "=" `"` label_value `"` } [ "," ] "}"
] value [ timestamp ]

I have this data from my api:

{
  "data": {
    "object1": {
      "label": "test1",
      "value": 25551.671688,
      "timestamp": 1613115501
    },
    "object2": {
      "label": "test1"
      "value": 20630.985927,
      "timestamp": 1613115603
    }
}

is it possible to get output like this?

example_metrics{label="test1"}   20630.985927   1613115603
example_metrics{label="test1"}   25551.671688   1613115501

[SuperQ]

It's possible, but usually not what you want. Timestamps are meant for TSDB federation. They disable staleness handling and can break monitoring if you're not careful.

[mostafashr]

I couldn't find an example config to make it happen. would you please help me?
my example config is :

---
metrics:
- name: example
  path: "{ .data }"
  help: Example 
  labels:
    label: '{.label}' 
  values:
    metrics: '{.value}'

How should I add the timestamp to the config?

[rustycl0ck]

I think what @SuperQ was trying to convey was that Prometheus supports the concept of creating metrics with explicit timestamp.

This exporter however, does not currently support providing external timestamps with the scrapes.

[fatpat]

See the PR #97 which adds the option to fetch the timestamp from the json:

---
metrics:
- name: example
  path: "{ .data }"
  timestamp: "{ .date }"
  help: Example 
  labels:
    label: '{.label}' 
  values:
    metrics: '{.value}'

[rustycl0ck]

From the discussion on #97, a possible way to do this can be to export the timestamp as a metric. If you can send a PR for this, it can be reviewed.

You can also try to use the feature from #69 if your server supports providing metrics for a given time period (for example, scrape every minute and get the metrics in the time period: from now - 1m to now).

Modifying the timestamps can break monitoring in case of inaccurate data, therefore it is not an option.