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Using the Prometheus HTTP API

Tools such as the Prometheus expression browser can provide an easy way to execute queries and interact with Prometheus data. However, Prometheus also provides an HTTP API that can allow you to integrate Prometheus with your own custom tools. In this lesson, you will perform some simple queries using the Prometheus HTTP API, allowing you to gain hands-on experience with using that API.

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Lab Info
Level
Intermediate
Last updated
Aug 15, 2025
Duration
45m

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Table of Contents
  1. Challenge

    Get the Current Number of Threads
    1. Log in to the Prometheus server.

    2. Make an HTTP request to the Prometheus server to retrieve the data and save it to a file:

      curl localhost:9090/api/v1/query?query=num_threads > /home/cloud_user/num_threads.txt
      
    3. If you want, you can view the file to verify the output is there:

      cat /home/cloud_user/num_threads.txt
      
  2. Challenge

    Get the `num_threads` Data Over the Last Five Minutes
    1. Make an HTTP request to retrieve the data and save it to a file:

      start=$(date --date '-5 min' +'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ')
      
      end=$(date +'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ')
      
      curl "localhost:9090/api/v1/query_range?query=num_threads&start=$start&end=$end&step=15s" > /home/cloud_user/num_threads_5_minutes.txt
      
    2. View the file to verify the output is there.

      cat /home/cloud_user/num_threads_5_minutes.txt
      
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