Lab
Cloud

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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Path Info

Level

Intermediate

Duration

45m

Last updated

Aug 15, 2025

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
```

Challenge

Get the `num_threads` Data Over the Last Five Minutes

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

View the file to verify the output is there.

cat /home/cloud_user/num_threads_5_minutes.txt

Author

Pluralsight Skills

Pluralsight Skills gives leaders confidence they have the skills needed to execute technology strategy. Technology teams can benchmark expertise across roles, speed up release cycles and build reliable, secure products. By leveraging our expert content, skill assessments and one-of-a-kind analytics, keep up with the pace of change, put the right people on the right projects and boost productivity. It's the most effective path to developing tech skills at scale.

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