# HTTP API

Here is the general behavior of the API:

- When parameters are missing or wrong, an HTTP 400 response is returned with the detailed errors in the response body.

- Request parameters can be passed via:

  - JSON data in the request body (`application/json` content-type).
  - Form data in the request body (`application/www-form-urlencoded` content-type).
  - Querystring parameters.

  You can pass some parameters by querystring and others by json/form data if you want to. Parameters are looked up in the order above, meaning that if a parameter is present in both the form data and the querystring, only the one from the querystring is taken into account.

- URLs are given without a trailing slash but adding a trailing slash is fine for all API calls.

- Parameters are case-sensitive.

## The Metrics API

These API endpoints are useful for finding and listing metrics available in the system.

### `/metrics/find`

Finds metrics under a given path. Other alias: `/metrics`.

Example:

    GET /metrics/find?query=collectd.*

    {"metrics": [{
        "is_leaf": 0,
        "name": "db01",
        "path": "collectd.db01."
    }, {
        "is_leaf": 1,
        "name": "foo",
        "path": "collectd.foo"
    }]}

Parameters:

query (mandatory)
  The query to search for.
format
  The output format to use. Can be `completer` (default) or `treejson`.
wildcards (0 or 1)
  Whether to add a wildcard result at the end or no. Default: 0.
from
  Epoch timestamp from which to consider metrics.
until
  Epoch timestamp until which to consider metrics.
jsonp (optional)
  Wraps the response in a JSONP callback.

### `/metrics/expand`

Expands the given query with matching paths.

Parameters:

query (mandatory)
  The metrics query. Can be specified multiple times.
groupByExpr (0 or 1)
  Whether to return a flat list of results or group them by query. Default: 0.
leavesOnly (0 or 1)
  Whether to only return leaves or both branches and leaves. Default: 0
jsonp (optional)
  Wraps the response in a JSONP callback.

### `/metrics/index.json`

Walks the metrics tree and returns every metric found as a sorted JSON array.

Parameters:

jsonp (optional)
  Wraps the response in a jsonp callback.

Example:

    GET /metrics/index.json

    [
        "collectd.host1.load.longterm",
        "collectd.host1.load.midterm",
        "collectd.host1.load.shortterm"
    ]

### `/index`

Rebuilds the search index by recursively querying the storage finders for available paths.

Parameters:

jsonp (optional)
  Wraps the response in a JSONP callback.

Example:

    POST /index

    {
        "success": true,
        "entries": 854
    }

`POST` or `PUT` are supported.

## The Render API – `/render`

Graphite-API provides a `/render` endpoint for generating graphs and retrieving raw data. This endpoint accepts various arguments via query string parameters, form data or JSON data.

To verify that the api is running and able to generate images, open `http://<api-host>:<port>/render?target=test` in a browser. The api should return a simple 600x300 image with the text “No Data”.

Once the api is running and you’ve begun feeding data into the storage backend, use the parameters below to customize your graphs and pull out raw data. For example:

    # single server load on large graph
    http://graphite/render?target=server.web1.load&height=800&width=600

    # average load across web machines over last 12 hours
    http://graphite/render?target=averageSeries(server.web*.load)&from=-12hours

    # number of registered users over past day as raw json data
    http://graphite/render?target=app.numUsers&format=json

    # rate of new signups per minute
    http://graphite/render?target=summarize(derivative(app.numUsers),"1min")&title=New_Users_Per_Minute

Note

Most of the functions and parameters are case sensitive. For example `&linewidth=2` will fail silently. The correct parameter in this case is `&lineWidth=2`

### Graphing Metrics

To begin graphing specific metrics, pass one or more target parameters and specify a time window for the graph via from / until.

#### target

The `target` parameter specifies a path identifying one or several metrics, optionally with functions acting on those metrics. Paths are documented below, while functions are listed on the functions page.

##### Paths and Wildcards

Metric paths show the ”.” separated path from the root of the metrics tree (often starting with `servers`) to a metric, for example `servers.ix02ehssvc04v.cpu.total.user`.

Paths also support the following wildcards, which allows you to identify more than one metric in a single path.

Asterisk

> The asterisk (`*`) matches zero or more characters. It is non-greedy, so you can have more than one within a single path element.

> Example: `servers.ix*ehssvc*v.cpu.total.*` will return all total CPU metrics for all servers matching the given name pattern.

Character list or range

> Characters in square brackets (`[...]`) specify a single character position in the path string, and match if the character in that position matches one of the characters in the list or range.

> A character range is indicated by 2 characters separated by a dash (`-`), and means that any character between those 2 characters (inclusive) will match. More than one range can be included within the square brackets, e.g. `foo[a-z0-9]bar` will match `foopbar`, `foo7bar` etc..

> If the characters cannot be read as a range, they are treated as a list – any character in the list will match, e.g. `foo[bc]ar` will match `foobar` and `foocar`. If you want to include a dash (`-`) in your list, put it at the beginning or end, so it’s not interpreted as a range.

Value list

> Comma-separated values within curly braces (`{foo,bar,...}`) are treated as value lists, and match if any of the values matches the current point in the path. For example, `servers.ix01ehssvc04v.cpu.total.{user,system,iowait}` will match the user, system and I/O wait total CPU metrics for the specified server.

Note

All wildcards apply only within a single path element. In other words, they do not include or cross dots (`.`) Therefore, `servers.*` will not match `servers.ix02ehssvc04v.cpu.total.user`, while `servers.*.*.*.*` will.

##### Examples

This will draw one or more metrics

Example:

    &target=company.server05.applicationInstance04.requestsHandled
    (draws one metric)

Let’s say there are 4 identical application instances running on each server:

    &target=company.server05.applicationInstance*.requestsHandled
    (draws 4 metrics / lines)

Now let’s say you have 10 servers:

    &target=company.server*.applicationInstance*.requestsHandled
    (draws 40 metrics / lines)

You can also run any number of functions on the various metrics before graphing:

    &target=averageSeries(company.server*.applicationInstance.requestsHandled)
    (draws 1 aggregate line)

The target param can also be repeated to graph multiple related metrics:

    &target=company.server1.loadAvg&target=company.server1.memUsage

Note

If more than 10 metrics are drawn the legend is no longer displayed. See the hideLegend parameter for details.

#### from / until

These are optional parameters that specify the relative or absolute time period to graph `from` specifies the beginning, `until` specifies the end. If `from` is omitted, it defaults to 24 hours ago If `until` is omitted, it defaults to the current time (now).

There are multiple possible formats for these functions:

    &from=-RELATIVE_TIME
    &from=ABSOLUTE_TIME

RELATIVE_TIME is a length of time since the current time. It is always preceded by a minus sign (-) and followed by a unit of time. Valid units of time:

Abbreviation | Unit
--- | ---
s | Seconds
min | Minutes
h | Hours
d | Days
w | Weeks
mon | 30 Days (month)
y | 365 Days (year)

ABSOLUTE_TIME is in the format HH:MM_YYMMDD, YYYYMMDD, MM/DD/YY, or any other `at(1)`-compatible time format.

Abbreviation | Meaning
--- | ---
HH | Hours, in 24h clock format. Times before 12PM must include leading zeroes.
MM | Minutes
YYYY | 4 Digit Year.
MM | Numeric month representation with leading zero
DD | Day of month with leading zero

`&from` and `&until` can mix absolute and relative time if desired.

Examples:

    &from=-8d&until=-7d
    (shows same day last week)

    &from=04:00_20110501&until=16:00_20110501
    (shows 4AM-4PM on May 1st, 2011)

    &from=20091201&until=20091231
    (shows December 2009)

    &from=noon+yesterday
    (shows data since 12:00pm on the previous day)

    &from=6pm+today
    (shows data since 6:00pm on the same day)

    &from=january+1
    (shows data since the beginning of the current year)

    &from=monday
    (show data since the previous monday)

### Data Display Formats

Along with rendering an image, the api can also generate SVG with embedded metadata or return the raw data in various formats for external graphing, analysis or monitoring.

#### format

Controls the format of data returned Affects all `&targets` passed in the URL.

Examples:

    &format=png
    &format=raw
    &format=csv
    &format=json
    &format=svg

##### png

Renders the graph as a PNG image of size determined by width and height

##### raw

Renders the data in a custom line-delimited format. Targets are output one per line and are of the format `<target name>,<start timestamp>,<end timestamp>,<series step>|[data]*`.

Example:

    entries,1311836008,1311836013,1|1.0,2.0,3.0,5.0,6.0

##### csv

Renders the data in a CSV format suitable for import into a spreadsheet or for processing in a script.

Example:

    entries,2011-07-28 01:53:28,1.0
    entries,2011-07-28 01:53:29,2.0
    entries,2011-07-28 01:53:30,3.0
    entries,2011-07-28 01:53:31,5.0
    entries,2011-07-28 01:53:32,6.0

##### json

Renders the data as a json object. The jsonp option can be used to wrap this data in a named call for cross-domain access.

    [{
      "target": "entries",
      "datapoints": [
        [1.0, 1311836008],
        [2.0, 1311836009],
        [3.0, 1311836010],
        [5.0, 1311836011],
        [6.0, 1311836012]
      ]
    }]

##### svg

Renders the graph as SVG markup of size determined by width and height. Metadata about the drawn graph is saved as an embedded script with the variable `metadata` being set to an object describing the graph.

    <script>
      <![CDATA[
        metadata = {
          "area": {
            "xmin": 39.195507812499997,
            "ymin": 33.96875,
            "ymax": 623.794921875,
            "xmax": 1122
          },
          "series": [
            {
              "start": 1335398400,
              "step": 1800,
              "end": 1335425400,
              "name": "summarize(test.data, \"30min\", \"sum\")",
              "color": "#859900",
              "data": [null, null, 1.0, null, 1.0, null, 1.0, null, 1.0, null, 1.0, null, null, null, null],
              "options": {},
              "valuesPerPoint": 1
            }
          ],
          "y": {
            "labelValues": [0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0],
            "top": 1.0,
            "labels": ["0 ", "0.25 ", "0.50 ", "0.75 ", "1.00  "],
            "step": 0.25,
            "bottom": 0
          },
          "x": {
            "start": 1335398400,
            "end": 1335423600
          },
          "font": {
            "bold": false,
            "name": "Sans",
            "italic": false,
            "size": 10
          },
          "options": {
            "lineWidth": 1.2
          }
        }
      ]]>
    </script>

#### rawData

Deprecated since version 0.9.9: This option is deprecated in favor of format

Used to get numerical data out of the webapp instead of an image Can be set to true, false, csv. Affects all `&targets` passed in the URL.

Example:

    &target=carbon.agents.graphiteServer01.cpuUsage&from=-5min&rawData=true

Returns the following text:

    carbon.agents.graphiteServer01.cpuUsage,1306217160,1306217460,60|0.0,0.00666666520965,0.00666666624282,0.0,0.0133345399694

### Graph Parameters

#### areaAlpha

Default: 1.0

Takes a floating point number between 0.0 and 1.0.

Sets the alpha (transparency) value of filled areas when using an areaMode.

#### areaMode

Default: none

Enables filling of the area below the graphed lines. Fill area is the same color as the line color associated with it. See areaAlpha to make this area transparent. Takes one of the following parameters which determines the fill mode to use:

`none`
  Disables areaMode
`first`
  Fills the area under the first target and no other
`all`
  Fills the areas under each target
`stacked`
  Creates a graph where the filled area of each target is stacked on one another. Each target line is displayed as the sum of all previous lines plus the value of the current line.

#### bgcolor

Default: white

Sets the background color of the graph.

Color Names | RGB Value
--- | ---
black | 0,0,0
white | 255,255,255
blue | 100,100,255
green | 0,200,0
red | 200,0,50
yellow | 255,255,0
orange | 255, 165, 0
purple | 200,100,255
brown | 150,100,50
aqua | 0,150,150
gray | 175,175,175
grey | 175,175,175
magenta | 255,0,255
pink | 255,100,100
gold | 200,200,0
rose | 200,150,200
darkblue | 0,0,255
darkgreen | 0,255,0
darkred | 255,0,0
darkgray | 111,111,111
darkgrey | 111,111,111

RGB can be passed directly in the format #RRGGBB where RR, GG, and BB are 2-digit hex vaules for red, green and blue, respectively.

Examples:

    &bgcolor=blue
    &bgcolor=#2222FF

#### cacheTimeout

Default: the value of `cache.default_timeout` in your configuration file. By default, 60 seconds.

#### colorList

Default: blue,green,red,purple,brown,yellow,aqua,grey,magenta,pink,gold,rose

Takes one or more comma-separated color names or RGB values (see bgcolor for a list of color names) and uses that list in order as the colors of the lines. If more lines / metrics are drawn than colors passed, the list is reused in order.

Example:

    &colorList=green,yellow,orange,red,purple,#DECAFF

#### drawNullAsZero

Default: false

Converts any None (null) values in the displayed metrics to zero at render time.

#### fgcolor

Default: black

Sets the foreground color This only affects the title, legend text, and axis labels.

See majorGridLineColor, and minorGridLineColor for further control of colors.

See bgcolor for a list of color names and details on formatting this parameter.

#### fontBold

Default: false

If set to true, makes the font bold.

Example:

    &fontBold=true

#### fontItalic

Default: false

If set to true, makes the font italic / oblique.

Example:

    &fontItalic=true

#### fontName

Default: ‘Sans’

Change the font used to render text on the graph The font must be installed on the Graphite-API server.

Example:

    &fontName=FreeMono

#### fontSize

Default: 10

Changes the font size Must be passed a positive floating point number or integer equal to or greater than 1.

Example:

    &fontSize=8

#### format

See: Data Display Formats

#### from

See: from / until

#### graphOnly

Default: false

Display only the graph area with no grid lines, axes, or legend.

#### graphType

Default: line

Sets the type of graph to be rendered. Currently there are only two graph types:

`line`
  A line graph displaying metrics as lines over time.
`pie`
  A pie graph with each slice displaying an aggregate of each metric calculated using the function specified by pieMode.

#### hideLegend

Default: <unset>

If set to `true`, the legend is not drawn.

If set to `false`, the legend is drawn.

If unset, the legend is displayed if there are less than 10 items.

Hint: If set to `false` the `&height` parameter may need to be increased to accommodate the additional text.

Example:

    &hideLegend=false

#### hideAxes

Default: false

If set to `true` the X and Y axes will not be rendered.

Example:

    &hideAxes=true

#### hideXAxis

Default: false

If set to `true` the X Axis will not be rendered.

#### hideYAxis

Default: false

If set to `true` the Y Axis will not be rendered.

#### hideGrid

Default: false

If set to `true` the grid lines will not be rendered.

Example:

    &hideGrid=true

#### height

Default: 300

Sets the height of the generated graph image in pixels.

See also: width

Example:

    &width=650&height=250

#### jsonp

Default: <unset>

If set and combined with `format=json`, wraps the JSON response in a function call named by the parameter specified.

#### leftColor

Default: color chosen from colorList.

In dual Y-axis mode, sets the color of all metrics associated with the left Y-axis.

#### leftDashed

Default: false

In dual Y-axis mode, draws all metrics associated with the left Y-axis using dashed lines.

#### leftWidth

Default: value of the parameter lineWidth

In dual Y-axis mode, sets the line width of all metrics associated with the left Y-axis.

#### lineMode

Default: slope

Sets the line drawing behavior. Takes one of the following parameters:

`slope`
  Slope line mode draws a line from each point to the next. Periods with Null values will not be drawn.
`staircase`
  Staircase draws a flat line for the duration of a time period and then a vertical line up or down to the next value.
`connected`
  Like a slope line, but values are always connected with a slope line, regardless of whether or not there are Null values between them.

Example:

    &lineMode=staircase

#### lineWidth

Default: 1.2

Takes any floating point or integer (negative numbers do not error but will cause no line to be drawn). Changes the width of the line in pixels.

Example:

    &lineWidth=2

#### logBase

Default: <unset>

If set, draws the graph with a logarithmic scale of the specified base (e.g. 10 for common logarithm).

#### majorGridLineColor

Default: rose

Sets the color of the major grid lines.

See bgcolor for valid color names and formats.

Example:

    &majorGridLineColor=#FF22FF

#### margin

Default: 10

Sets the margin around a graph image in pixels on all sides.

Example:

    &margin=20

#### max

Deprecated since version 0.9.0: See yMax

#### maxDataPoints

Set the maximum numbers of datapoints returned when using json content.

If the number of datapoints in a selected range exceeds the maxDataPoints value then the datapoints over the whole period are consolidated.

#### minorGridLineColor

Default: grey

Sets the color of the minor grid lines.

See bgcolor for valid color names and formats.

Example:

    &minorGridLineColor=darkgrey

#### minorY

Sets the number of minor grid lines per major line on the y-axis.

Example:

    &minorY=3

#### min

Deprecated since version 0.9.0: See yMin

#### minXStep

Default: 1

Sets the minimum pixel-step to use between datapoints drawn. Any value below this will trigger a point consolidation of the series at render time. The default value of `1` combined with the default lineWidth of `1.2` will cause a minimal amount of line overlap between close-together points. To disable render-time point consolidation entirely, set this to `0` though note that series with more points than there are pixels in the graph area (e.g. a few month’s worth of per-minute data) will look very ‘smooshed’ as there will be a good deal of line overlap. In response, one may use lineWidth to compensate for this.

#### noCache

Default: False

Set it to disable caching in rendered graphs.

#### pieMode

Default: average

The type of aggregation to use to calculate slices of a pie when `graphType=pie`. One of:

`average`
  The average of non-null points in the series.
`maximum`
  The maximum of non-null points in the series.
`minimum`
  The minimum of non-null points in the series.

#### rightColor

Default: color chosen from colorList

In dual Y-axis mode, sets the color of all metrics associated with the right Y-axis.

#### rightDashed

Default: false

In dual Y-axis mode, draws all metrics associated with the right Y-axis using dashed lines.

#### rightWidth

Default: value of the parameter lineWidth

In dual Y-axis mode, sets the line width of all metrics associated with the right Y-axis.

#### template

Default: default

Used to specify a template from `graphTemplates.conf` to use for default colors and graph styles.

Example:

    &template=plain

#### thickness

Deprecated since version 0.9.0: See: lineWidth

#### title

Default: <unset>

Puts a title at the top of the graph, center aligned. If unset, no title is displayed.

Example:

    &title=Apache Busy Threads, All Servers, Past 24h

#### tz

Default: The timezone specified in the graphite-api configuration

Time zone to convert all times into.

Examples:

    &tz=America/Los_Angeles
    &tz=UTC

#### uniqueLegend

Default: false

Display only unique legend items, removing any duplicates.

#### until

See: from / until

#### vtitle

Default: <unset>

Labels the y-axis with vertical text. If unset, no y-axis label is displayed.

Example:

    &vtitle=Threads

#### vtitleRight

Default: <unset>

In dual Y-axis mode, sets the title of the right Y-Axis (see: vtitle).

#### width

Default: 330

Sets the width of the generated graph image in pixels.

See also: height

Example:

    &width=650&height=250

#### xFormat

Default: Determined automatically based on the time-width of the X axis

Sets the time format used when displaying the X-axis. See datetime.date.strftime() for format specification details.

#### yAxisSide

Default: left

Sets the side of the graph on which to render the Y-axis. Accepts values of `left` or `right`.

#### yDivisor

Default: 4,5,6

Supplies the preferred number of intermediate values for the Y-axis to display (Y values between the min and max). Note that Graphite will ultimately choose what values (and how many) to display based on a set of ‘pretty’ values. To explicitly set the Y-axis values, see yStep.

#### yLimit

Reserved for future use

See: yMax

#### yLimitLeft

Reserved for future use

See: yMaxLeft

#### yLimitRight

Reserved for future use

See: yMaxRight

#### yMin

Default: The lowest value of any of the series displayed

Manually sets the lower bound of the graph. Can be passed any integer or floating point number.

Example:

    &yMin=0

#### yMax

Default: The highest value of any of the series displayed

Manually sets the upper bound of the graph. Can be passed any integer or floating point number.

Example:

    &yMax=0.2345

#### yMaxLeft

In dual Y-axis mode, sets the upper bound of the left Y-Axis (see: yMax).

#### yMaxRight

In dual Y-axis mode, sets the upper bound of the right Y-Axis (see: yMax).

#### yMinLeft

In dual Y-axis mode, sets the lower bound of the left Y-Axis (see: yMin).

#### yMinRight

In dual Y-axis mode, sets the lower bound of the right Y-Axis (see: yMin).

#### yStep

Default: Calculated automatically

Manually set the value step between Y-axis labels and grid lines.

#### yStepLeft

In dual Y-axis mode, Manually set the value step between the left Y-axis labels and grid lines (see: yStep).

#### yStepRight

In dual Y-axis mode, Manually set the value step between the right Y-axis labels and grid lines (see: yStep).

#### yUnitSystem

Default: si

Set the unit system for compacting Y-axis values (e.g. 23,000,000 becomes 23M). Value can be one of:

`si`
  Use si units (powers of 1000) - K, M, G, T, P.
`binary`
  Use binary units (powers of 1024) - Ki, Mi, Gi, Ti, Pi.
`none`
  Dont compact values, display the raw number.