string

The resource name of the metric descriptor.

string

The metric type, including its DNS name prefix. The type is not URL-encoded. All user-defined metric types have the DNS namecustom.googleapis.com orexternal.googleapis.com. Metric types should use a natural hierarchical grouping. For example:

"custom.googleapis.com/invoice/paid/amount""external.googleapis.com/prometheus/up""appengine.googleapis.com/http/server/response_latencies"

object (LabelDescriptor)

The set of labels that can be used to describe a specific instance of this metric type. For example, theappengine.googleapis.com/http/server/response_latencies metric type has a label for the HTTP response code,response_code, so you can look at latencies for successful responses or just for responses that failed.

enum (MetricKind)

Whether the metric records instantaneous values, changes to a value, etc. Some combinations ofmetricKind andvalueType might not be supported.

enum (ValueType)

Whether the measurement is an integer, a floating-point number, etc. Some combinations ofmetricKind andvalueType might not be supported.

string

The units in which the metric value is reported. It is only applicable if thevalueType isINT64,DOUBLE, orDISTRIBUTION. Theunit defines the representation of the stored metric values.

Different systems might scale the values to be more easily displayed (so a value of0.02kBymight be displayed as20By, and a value of3523kBymight be displayed as3.5MBy). However, if theunit iskBy, then the value of the metric is always in thousands of bytes, no matter how it might be displayed.

If you want a custom metric to record the exact number of CPU-seconds used by a job, you can create anINT64 CUMULATIVE metric whoseunit iss{CPU} (or equivalently1s{CPU} or justs). If the job uses 12,005 CPU-seconds, then the value is written as12005.

Alternatively, if you want a custom metric to record data in a more granular way, you can create aDOUBLE CUMULATIVE metric whoseunit isks{CPU}, and then write the value12.005 (which is12005/1000), or useKis{CPU} and write11.723 (which is12005/1024).

The supported units are a subset ofThe Unified Code for Units of Measure standard:

Basic units (UNIT)

• bit bit
• By byte
• s second
• min minute
• h hour
• d day
• 1 dimensionless

Prefixes (PREFIX)

• k kilo (10^3)
• M mega (10^6)
• G giga (10^9)
• T tera (10^12)
• P peta (10^15)
• E exa (10^18)
• Z zetta (10^21)
• Y yotta (10^24)

• m milli (10^-3)

• u micro (10^-6)
• n nano (10^-9)
• p pico (10^-12)
• f femto (10^-15)
• a atto (10^-18)
• z zepto (10^-21)
• y yocto (10^-24)

• Ki kibi (2^10)

• Mi mebi (2^20)
• Gi gibi (2^30)
• Ti tebi (2^40)
• Pi pebi (2^50)

Grammar

The grammar also includes these connectors:

• / division or ratio (as an infix operator). For examples,kBy/{email} orMiBy/10ms (although you should almost never have/s in a metricunit; rates should always be computed at query time from the underlying cumulative or delta value).
• . multiplication or composition (as an infix operator). For examples,GBy.d ork{watt}.h.

The grammar for a unit is as follows:

Expression = Component { "." Component } { "/" Component } ;Component = ( [ PREFIX ] UNIT | "%" ) [ Annotation ]          | Annotation          | "1"          ;Annotation = "{" NAME "}" ;

Notes:

• Annotation is just a comment if it follows aUNIT. If the annotation is used alone, then the unit is equivalent to1. For examples,{request}/s == 1/s,By{transmitted}/s == By/s.
• NAME is a sequence of non-blank printable ASCII characters not containing{ or}.
• 1 represents a unitarydimensionless unit of 1, such as in1/s. It is typically used when none of the basic units are appropriate. For example, "new users per day" can be represented as1/d or{new-users}/d (and a metric value5 would mean "5 new users). Alternatively, "thousands of page views per day" would be represented as1000/d ork1/d ork{page_views}/d (and a metric value of5.3 would mean "5300 page views per day").
• % represents dimensionless value of 1/100, and annotates values giving a percentage (so the metric values are typically in the range of 0..100, and a metric value3 means "3 percent").
• 10^2.% indicates a metric contains a ratio, typically in the range 0..1, that will be multiplied by 100 and displayed as a percentage (so a metric value0.03 means "3 percent").

string

A detailed description of the metric, which can be used in documentation.

string

A concise name for the metric, which can be displayed in user interfaces. Use sentence case without an ending period, for example "Request count". This field is optional but it is recommended to be set for any metrics associated with user-visible concepts, such as Quota.

object (MetricDescriptorMetadata)

Optional. Metadata which can be used to guide usage of the metric.

enum (LaunchStage)

Optional. The launch stage of the metric definition.

string

Read-only. If present, then atime series, which is identified partially by a metric type and aMonitoredResourceDescriptor, that is associated with this metric type can only be associated with one of the monitored resource types listed here.

enum (LaunchStage)

Deprecated. Must use theMetricDescriptor.launch_stage instead.

string (Duration format)

The sampling period of metric data points. For metrics which are written periodically, consecutive data points are stored at this time interval, excluding data loss due to errors. Metrics with a higher granularity have a smaller sampling period.

string (Duration format)

The delay of data points caused by ingestion. Data points older than this age are guaranteed to be ingested and available to be read, excluding data loss due to errors.

enum (TimeSeriesResourceHierarchyLevel)

The scope of the timeseries data of the metric.