The Render URL API

The graphite webapp provides a /render endpoint for generating graphs and retrieving raw data. This endpoint accepts various arguments via query string parameters. These parameters are separated by an ampersand (&) and are supplied in the format:

&name=value

To verify that the api is running and able to generate images, open http://GRAPHITE_HOST:GRAPHITE_PORT/render in a browser. The api should return a simple 330x250 image with the text “No Data”.

Once the api is running and you’ve begun feeding data into carbon, 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

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.

Tagged Series

When querying tagged series, we start with the seriesByTag function:

# find all series that have tag1 set to value1
seriesByTag('tag1=value1')

See querying tagged series for more detail on using seriesByTag.

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)

Multiple function calls can be chained together either by nesting them or by piping the result into another function (it will be passed to the piped function as its first parameter):

&target=movingAverage(aliasByNode(company.server*.applicationInstance.requestsHandled,1),"5min")
&target=aliasByNode(company.server*.applicationInstance.requestsHandled,1)|movingAverage("5min")
&target=company.server*.applicationInstance.requestsHandled|aliasByNode(1)|movingAverage("5min")
&target=movingAverage(company.server*.applicationInstance.requestsHandled|aliasByNode(1),"5min")
(these are all equivalent)

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

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

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 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_YYYYMMDD, 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)

template

The target metrics can use a special template function which allows the metric paths to contain variables. Values for these variables can be provided via the template query parameter.

Examples

Example:

&target=template(hosts.$hostname.cpu)&template[hostname]=worker1

Default values for the template variables can also be provided:

&target=template(hosts.$hostname.cpu, hostname="worker1")

Positional arguments can be used instead of named ones:

&target=template(hosts.$1.cpu, "worker1")
&target=template(hosts.$1.cpu, "worker1")&template[1]=worker*

In addition to path substitution, variables can be used for numeric and string literals:

&target=template(constantLine($number))&template[number]=123
&target=template(sinFunction($name))&template[name]=nameOfMySineWaveMetric

Data Display Formats

Along with rendering an image, the api can also generate SVG with embedded metadata, PDF, 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
&format=pdf
&format=dygraph
&format=rickshaw

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]*

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

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>

pdf

Renders the graph as a PDF of size determined by width and height.

dygraph

Renders the data as a json object suitable for passing to a Dygraph object.

{
  "labels" : [
    "Time",
    "entries"
  ],
  "data" : [
    [1468791890000, 0.0],
    [1468791900000, 0.0]
  ]
}

rickshaw

Renders the data as a json object suitable for passing to a Rickshaw object.

[{
  "target": "entries",
  "datapoints": [{
    "y": 0.0,
    "x": 1468791890
  }, {
    "y": 0.0,
    "x": 1468791900
  }]
}]

pickle

Returns a Python pickle (serialized Python object). The response will have the MIME type ‘application/pickle’. The pickled object is a list of dictionaries with the keys: name, start, end, step, and values as below:

[
  {
    'name' : 'summarize(test.data, "30min", "sum")',
    'start': 1335398400,
    'end'  : 1335425400,
    'step' : 1800,
    'values' : [None, None, 1.0, None, 1.0, None, 1.0, None, 1.0, None, 1.0, None, None, None, None],
  }
]

rawData

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: value from the [default] template in graphTemplates.conf

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[AA] where RR, GG, and BB are 2-digit hex vaules for red, green and blue, respectively. AA is an optional addition describing the opacity (“alpha”). Where FF is fully opaque, 00 fully transparent.

Examples:

&bgcolor=blue
&bgcolor=2222FF
&bgcolor=5522FF60

cacheTimeout

Default: The value of DEFAULT_CACHE_DURATION from local_settings.py

The time in seconds for the rendered graph to be cached (only relevant if memcached is configured)

colorList

Default: value from the [default] template in graphTemplates.conf

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. Any RGB value can also have an optional transparency (00 being fully transparent, FF being opaque), as shown in the second example.

Example:

&colorList=green,yellow,orange,red,purple,DECAFF
&colorList=FF000055,00FF00AA,DECAFFEF

drawNullAsZero

Default: false

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

fgcolor

Default: value from the [default] template in graphTemplates.conf

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: value from the [default] template in graphTemplates.conf

If set to true, makes the font bold.

Example:

&fontBold=true

fontItalic

Default: value from the [default] template in graphTemplates.conf

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

Example:

&fontItalic=true

fontName

Default: value from the [default] template in graphTemplates.conf

Change the font used to render text on the graph. The font must be installed on the Graphite Server.

Example:

&fontName=FreeMono

fontSize

Default: value from the [default] template in graphTemplates.conf

Changes the font size. Must be passed a positive floating point number or integer equal to or greater than 1. Default is 10

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_MAX_ITEMS settings in local_settings.py is used to determine whether or not to display the legend.

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

Example:

&hideLegend=false

hideNullFromLegend

Default: False

If set to true, series with all null values will not be reported in the legend.

Example:

&hideNullFromLegend=true

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: 250

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)

localOnly

Default: False

Set to prevent fetching from remote Graphite servers, only returning metrics which are accessible locally

majorGridLineColor

Default: value from the [default] template in graphTemplates.conf

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

maxDataPoints

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

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

The function used to consolidate points can be set using the consolidateBy function.

minorGridLineColor

Default: value from the [default] template in graphTemplates.conf

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

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 to disable caching of rendered images

noNullPoints

Default: False

If set and combined with format=json, removes all null datapoints from the series returned.

pickle

pieLabels

Default: horizontal

Orientation to use for slice labels inside of a pie chart.

horizontal

Labels are oriented horizontally within each slice

rotated

Labels are oriented radially within each slice

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

pretty

Default: <unset>

If set to 1 and combined with format=json, outputs human-friendly json.

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

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 local_settings.py

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

valueLabels

Default: percent

Determines how slice labels are rendered within a pie chart.

none

Slice labels are not shown

numbers

Slice labels are reported with the original values

percent

Slice labels are reported as a percent of the whole

valueLabelsColor

Default: black

Color used to draw slice labels within a pie chart.

valueLabelsMin

Default: 5

Slice values below this minimum will not have their labels rendered.

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

xFilesFactor

Default: DEFAULT_XFILES_FACTOR specified in local_settings.py or 0

Sets the default xFilesFactor value used when performing runtime aggregation across multiple series and/or intervals.

See the xFilesFactor function for more information on the xFilesFactor value and how the default can be overridden for specific targets or series.

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

yDivisors

Default: 4,5,6

Sets the preferred number of intermediate values to display on the Y-axis (Y values between the minimum and maximum). Note that Graphite will ultimately choose what values (and how many) to display based on a ‘pretty’ factor, which tries to maintain a sensible scale (e.g. preferring intermediary values like 25%,50%,75% over 33.3%,66.6%). 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

sec

Use time units (seconds) - m, H, D, M, Y

msec

Use time units (milliseconds) - s, m, H, D, M, Y

none

Dont compact values, display the raw number