Prometheus

GeoPulse exposes a range of metrics in Prometheus format, providing valuable insights into the application's performance and usage. This document outlines how to access these metrics and provides a comprehensive list of all available metrics.

Accessing Prometheus Metrics

The Prometheus metrics are available via the following endpoint:

/api/prometheus/metrics

You can use this endpoint to scrape metrics with a Prometheus server or any other compatible monitoring tool.

Configuration

GeoPulse allows you to configure custom Prometheus metrics collection through environment variables at runtime. This is useful for controlling resource usage, especially in environments with many users or limited resources.

note

The Prometheus endpoint /api/prometheus/metrics is always available (configured at build time). You can control custom GeoPulse metrics at runtime, but default Micrometer metrics (HTTP requests, JVM, datasource, etc.) will always be collected and exposed.

Global Configuration

Environment Variable	Default	Description
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_ENABLED	false	Enable/disable all custom GeoPulse metrics (users, GPS points, timeline, favorites, etc.). Does not affect the Prometheus endpoint or default Micrometer metrics.
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_REFRESH_INTERVAL	10m	Interval for refreshing custom metric values (e.g., 5m, 30m, 1h). Only applies when custom metrics are enabled.

Per-Metric Configuration

You can selectively enable or disable specific metric categories:

Environment Variable	Default	Description
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_GPS_POINTS_ENABLED	true	Enable/disable GPS points metrics.
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_USER_METRICS_ENABLED	true	Enable/disable user activity metrics.
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_TIMELINE_ENABLED	true	Enable/disable timeline metrics.
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_FAVORITES_ENABLED	true	Enable/disable favorite locations metrics.
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_GEOCODING_ENABLED	true	Enable/disable reverse geocoding metrics.
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_MEMORY_ENABLED	true	Enable/disable process memory metrics.

Docker / Docker Compose Configuration

Enable custom GeoPulse metrics (in addition to default Micrometer metrics):

GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_ENABLED=true

Disable custom GeoPulse metrics (keep only default Micrometer metrics):

GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_ENABLED=false

This is the default behavior - only HTTP requests, JVM, and datasource metrics are exposed.

Change refresh interval to 30 minutes:

GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_ENABLED=true
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_REFRESH_INTERVAL=30m

Disable expensive per-user metrics while keeping aggregate metrics:

GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_ENABLED=true
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_GPS_POINTS_ENABLED=false
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_TIMELINE_ENABLED=false
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_FAVORITES_ENABLED=false

Enable only lightweight custom metrics:

GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_ENABLED=true
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_GPS_POINTS_ENABLED=false
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_TIMELINE_ENABLED=false
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_FAVORITES_ENABLED=false
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_USER_METRICS_ENABLED=true
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_GEOCODING_ENABLED=true
GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_MEMORY_ENABLED=true

Kubernetes / Helm Configuration

The GeoPulse Helm chart provides native support for Prometheus metrics configuration via values.yaml:

Enable all custom metrics:

# values.yaml or custom-values.yaml
config:
  prometheus:
    enabled: true
    refreshInterval: "10m"

Enable with custom refresh interval:

config:
  prometheus:
    enabled: true
    refreshInterval: "5m"  # Refresh every 5 minutes

Enable only lightweight metrics (disable per-user metrics):

config:
  prometheus:
    enabled: true
    refreshInterval: "10m"
    # Disable resource-intensive per-user metrics
    gpsPoints:
      enabled: false
    timeline:
      enabled: false
    favorites:
      enabled: false
    # Keep lightweight aggregate metrics
    userMetrics:
      enabled: true
    geocoding:
      enabled: true
    memory:
      enabled: true

Apply the configuration:

helm upgrade geopulse ./helm/geopulse -f custom-values.yaml

Using with Prometheus Operator / ServiceMonitor:

If you're using the Prometheus Operator, create a ServiceMonitor to scrape GeoPulse metrics:

apiVersion: monitoring.coreos.com/v1
kind: ServiceMonitor
metadata:
  name: geopulse
  labels:
    app: geopulse
spec:
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app.kubernetes.io/name: geopulse
      app.kubernetes.io/component: backend
  endpoints:
  - port: http
    path: /api/prometheus/metrics
    interval: 30s

For more details on Helm configuration, see the Helm Configuration Guide.

note

All configuration changes require an application restart to take effect. For Kubernetes deployments, this happens automatically during helm upgrade.

Available Metrics

Below is a list of all the metrics exposed by GeoPulse.

Default Micrometer Metrics

In addition to the custom metrics listed below, GeoPulse also exposes the default metrics provided by Micrometer. These include metrics for HTTP server requests, such as:

• http_server_requests_seconds_count: The total number of HTTP requests.
• http_server_requests_seconds_sum: The total time spent processing HTTP requests.

These metrics are available for each API endpoint separately, allowing for detailed monitoring of API performance.

Custom Application Metrics

The following custom metrics provide insights into specific features and components of GeoPulse:

User Metrics

Metric Name	Description	Tags
users_total	Total number of users.	-
users_active_last_24h	Number of users with GPS points in last 24 hours.	-
users_active_last_7d	Number of users with GPS points in last 7 days.	-
users_with_gps_data	Number of users who have at least one GPS point.	-

GPS Points Metrics

Metric Name	Description	Tags
gps_points_total	Total number of GPS points for all users.	-
gps_points_per_user_total	Total number of GPS points for a specific user.	user
gps_last_timestamp	Unix timestamp of the last GPS point received (overall).	-
gps_last_timestamp_per_user	Unix timestamp of last GPS point for a specific user.	user
gps_points_last_24h	Number of GPS points added in the last 24 hours.	-
gps_avg_points_per_user	Average number of GPS points per user (among users with GPS).	-

Favorite Locations Metrics

Metric Name	Description	Tags
favorite_locations_total	Total number of Favorite Locations.	-
favorite_locations_per_user_total	Total number of Favorite Locations for a specific user.	user
favorite_locations_avg_per_user	Average number of Favorite Locations per user (among users with any).	-

Timeline Metrics

Metric Name	Description	Tags
timeline_stays_total	Total number of Timeline stays for all users.	-
timeline_stays_per_user_total	Total number of Timeline stays for a specific user.	user
timeline_trips_total	Total number of Timeline trips for all users.	-
timeline_trips_per_user_total	Total number of Timeline trips for a specific user.	user
timeline_data_gaps_total	Total number of Timeline data gaps for all users.	-
timeline_data_gaps_per_user_total	Total number of Timeline data gaps for a specific user.	user

Other Metrics

Metric Name	Description	Tags
reverse_geocoding_total	Total number of reverse geocoding lookups.	-
process_resident_memory_bytes	Resident memory of the application process.	-
process_virtual_memory_bytes	Virtual memory of the application process.	-

Note on Metric Naming:

• Metrics without tags represent overall/aggregate values across all users.
• Metrics with _per_user_ in the name are tagged with user and provide per-user breakdowns.
• All metrics are refreshed at regular intervals (default: 10 minutes, configurable via GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_REFRESH_INTERVAL).

Performance Considerations

Resource Usage

Custom metrics collection involves periodic database queries. Consider the following when configuring metrics:

• Per-user metrics (gps_points_per_user_total, timeline_stays_per_user_total, etc.) iterate over all users and can be resource-intensive with many users.
• Aggregate metrics (gps_points_total, users_total, etc.) are lightweight single queries.
• Memory metrics (process_resident_memory_bytes, process_virtual_memory_bytes) are very lightweight and don't query the database.

Optimization Strategies

For high-user-count deployments:

1. Disable per-user metrics if you only need aggregate statistics:

   GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_GPS_POINTS_ENABLED=false
   GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_TIMELINE_ENABLED=false
   GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_FAVORITES_ENABLED=false

2. Increase refresh interval to reduce database load:

   GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_REFRESH_INTERVAL=30m

3. Disable all custom metrics (keep only default Micrometer metrics):

   GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_ENABLED=false

   This is the default configuration. The endpoint will still be available with HTTP, JVM, and datasource metrics.

Configuration Hierarchy

The configuration works in a hierarchical manner:

1. Prometheus Endpoint - Always enabled at build time. The /api/prometheus/metrics endpoint is always available and will always expose default Micrometer metrics (HTTP requests, JVM, datasource).

2. GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_ENABLED=false (default) - Disables all custom GeoPulse metrics. Only default Micrometer metrics are exposed.

3. GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_ENABLED=true - Enables custom GeoPulse metrics in addition to default Micrometer metrics.

4. Per-metric flags (e.g., GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_GPS_POINTS_ENABLED=false) - Fine-grained control over specific custom metric categories. Only effective when GEOPULSE_PROMETHEUS_ENABLED=true.