Query metrics

Use the observability.metrics query to get a series of data points for one compute instance, volume, or network interface. You choose the metrics, the time window, the length of each period, and whether each data point is a per-second rate or a total increase.

Before you begin

Query the metrics

1. Find the URN of the resource. Each command lists the resources of a project with their urn field:

   origin compute list-instances --project-urn <project-urn>
   origin storage list-volumes --project-urn <project-urn>
   origin network list-network-interfaces --project-urn <project-urn>

2. Pick the metric names for that resource type. An instance has oc_compute_instance_cpu_seconds_total; a volume and a network interface each have two metrics. See Metrics reference.

3. Use a periodSeconds of at least 60. The platform collects a value every 30 seconds, and each data point needs two collected values inside its period; a shorter period often returns no data points.

4. Keep the total number of data points, across all metrics in the query, at or below 11,000. For example, one metric over 7 days at a 300-second period is 2,017 data points.

5. Make from a multiple of the period (for example, a full hour) so data points line up with clock times.

6. Save the request as metrics-query.json. This example asks for the CPU use of an instance as a per-second rate, in 5-minute periods, over 15 minutes:

   {
     "query": "query Metrics($input: MetricQueryInput!) { observability { metrics(input: $input) { metricName resourceUrn unit dataPoints { timestamp value } } } }",
     "variables": {
       "input": {
         "resourceUrn": "<instance-urn>",
         "metricNames": ["oc_compute_instance_cpu_seconds_total"],
         "from": "2026-10-03T10:00:00Z",
         "to": "2026-10-03T10:15:00Z",
         "periodSeconds": 300,
         "statistic": "RATE"
       }
     }
   }

   Formatted, the GraphQL query in the query field reads:

   query Metrics($input: MetricQueryInput!) {
     observability {
       metrics(input: $input) {
         metricName
         resourceUrn
         unit
         dataPoints {
           timestamp
           value
         }
       }
     }
   }

7. Send the request:

   curl -s https://api.origincloud.eu/graphql \
     -H "$(origin id token --as-header --raw)" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     --data @metrics-query.json

8. Check the response. It contains one series per metric name you asked for, in the same order. For RATE on oc_compute_instance_cpu_seconds_total, a value of 0.5 means the instance used half a vCPU on average during that period. Example output (illustrative):

   {
     "data": {
       "observability": {
         "metrics": [
           {
             "metricName": "oc_compute_instance_cpu_seconds_total",
             "resourceUrn": "<instance-urn>",
             "unit": "seconds",
             "dataPoints": [
               { "timestamp": "2026-10-03T10:00:00+00:00", "value": 0.12 },
               { "timestamp": "2026-10-03T10:05:00+00:00", "value": 0.48 },
               { "timestamp": "2026-10-03T10:10:00+00:00", "value": 1.73 },
               { "timestamp": "2026-10-03T10:15:00+00:00", "value": 0.51 }
             ]
           }
         ]
       }
     }
   }

   Each data point covers the period that ends at its timestamp. The unit is the unit of the counter, so a RATE of a seconds counter is seconds per second.

   Both ends of the window are included: data points fall on from, every periodSeconds after it, and to, which is why a 15-minute window at 300 seconds returns four points. The first point, at from, covers the period before from (here 09:55 to 10:00). To cover only the window itself, set from one period later.

A series with an empty dataPoints list means the platform has no values for that resource and metric in the window. Common reasons are an instance that was stopped, a volume or network interface that wasn’t attached to a running instance, a metric name that belongs to another resource type, or a window older than the 90 days the platform keeps metrics.

If the query returns an error, look up its extensions.code in Errors.

Related

• Metrics reference – every metric, argument, limit, and error.
• What is Origin Cloud Observability? – how counters, RATE, and INCREASE work.
• Use the GraphQL API – authenticating against the GraphQL API.