--- aliases: - ../data-sources/prometheus/ - ../features/datasources/prometheus/ description: Guide for using Prometheus in Grafana keywords: - grafana - prometheus - guide labels: products: - cloud - enterprise - oss menuTitle: Prometheus title: Prometheus data source weight: 1300 refs: build-dashboards: - pattern: /docs/grafana/ destination: /docs/grafana//dashboards/build-dashboards/ - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/ destination: /docs/grafana//dashboards/build-dashboards/ get-started-prometheus: - pattern: /docs/grafana/ destination: /docs/grafana//getting-started/get-started-grafana-prometheus/#get-started-with-grafana-and-prometheus - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/ destination: /docs/grafana//getting-started/get-started-grafana-prometheus/#get-started-with-grafana-and-prometheus provisioning-data-sources: - pattern: /docs/grafana/ destination: /docs/grafana//administration/provisioning/#data-sources - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/ destination: /docs/grafana//administration/provisioning/#data-sources set-up-grafana-monitoring: - pattern: /docs/grafana/ destination: /docs/grafana//setup-grafana/set-up-grafana-monitoring/ - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/ destination: /docs/grafana//setup-grafana/set-up-grafana-monitoring/ configure-grafana: - pattern: /docs/grafana/ destination: /docs/grafana//setup-grafana/configure-grafana/ - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/ destination: /docs/grafana//setup-grafana/configure-grafana/ administration-documentation: - pattern: /docs/grafana/ destination: /docs/grafana//administration/data-source-management/ - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/ destination: /docs/grafana//administration/data-source-management/ annotate-visualizations: - pattern: /docs/grafana/ destination: /docs/grafana//dashboards/build-dashboards/annotate-visualizations/ - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/ destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/dashboards/build-dashboards/annotate-visualizations/ exemplars: - pattern: /docs/grafana/ destination: /docs/grafana//fundamentals/exemplars/ - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/ destination: /docs/grafana//fundamentals/exemplars/ intro-to-prometheus: - pattern: /docs/grafana/ destination: /docs/grafana//fundamentals/intro-to-prometheus/ - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/ destination: /docs/grafana//fundamentals/intro-to-prometheus/ configure-prometheus-data-source: - pattern: /docs/grafana/ destination: /docs/grafana//datasources/prometheus/configure - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/ destination: /docs/grafana//datasources/prometheus/configure annotate-visualizations: - pattern: /docs/grafana/ destination: /docs/grafana//dashboards/build-dashboards/annotate-visualizations/ - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/ destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/dashboards/build-dashboards/annotate-visualizations/ recorded-queries: - pattern: /docs/grafana/ destination: /docs/grafana//administration/recorded-queries/ - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/ destination: /docs/grafana//administration/recorded-queries/ transformations: - pattern: /docs/grafana/ destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/query-transform-data/transform-data/ - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/ destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/query-transform-data/transform-data/ alerting: - pattern: /docs/grafana/ destination: /docs/grafana//alerting/ - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/ destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/alerting-and-irm/alerting/ visualizations: - pattern: /docs/grafana/ destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/ - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/ destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/ variables: - pattern: /docs/grafana/ destination: /docs/grafana//dashboards/variables/ - pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/ destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/dashboards/variables/ --- # Prometheus data source Prometheus is an open source database that uses a telemetry collector agent to scrape and store metrics used for monitoring and alerting. Grafana provides native support for Prometheus, so you don't need to install a plugin. The following documentation will help you get started working with Prometheus and Grafana: - [What is Prometheus?](ref:intro-to-prometheus) - [Prometheus data model](https://prometheus.io/docs/concepts/data_model/) - [Getting started](https://prometheus.io/docs/prometheus/latest/getting_started/) - [Configure the Prometheus data source](ref:configure-prometheus-data-source) - [Prometheus query editor](query-editor/) - [Template variables](template-variables/) ## Exemplars In Prometheus, an **exemplar** is a specific trace that represents a measurement taken within a given time interval. While metrics provide an aggregated view of your system, and traces offer a detailed view of individual requests, exemplars serve as a bridge between the two, linking high-level metrics to specific traces for deeper insights. Exemplars associate higher-cardinality metadata from a specific event with traditional time series data. Refer to [Introduction to exemplars](ref:exemplars) in the Prometheus documentation for detailed information on how they work. Grafana can show exemplar data alongside a metric both in Explore and in Dashboards. {{< figure src="/static/img/docs/v74/exemplars.png" class="docs-image--no-shadow" caption="Exemplar window" >}} You add exemplars when you configure the Prometheus data source. {{< figure src="/static/img/docs/prometheus/exemplars-10-1.png" max-width="500px" class="docs-image--no-shadow" >}} ## Prometheus API The Prometheus data source also works with other projects that implement the [Prometheus querying API](https://prometheus.io/docs/prometheus/latest/querying/api/). For more information on how to query other Prometheus-compatible projects from Grafana, refer to the specific product's documentation: - [Grafana Mimir](/docs/mimir/latest/) - [Thanos](https://thanos.io/tip/components/query.md/) ## View Grafana metrics with Prometheus Grafana exposes metrics for Prometheus on the `/metrics` endpoint and includes a pre-built dashboard to help you start visualizing your metrics immediately. Complete the following steps to import the pre-built dashboard: 1. Navigate to the Prometheus [configuration page](ref:configure-prometheus-data-source). 1. Click the **Dashboards** tab. 1. Locate the **Grafana metrics** dashboard in the list and click **Import**. For details about these metrics, refer to [Internal Grafana metrics](ref:set-up-grafana-monitoring). ## Amazon Managed Service for Prometheus Grafana has deprecated the Prometheus data source for Amazon Managed Service for Prometheus. Use the [Amazon Managed Service for Prometheus data source](https://grafana.com/grafana/plugins/grafana-amazonprometheus-datasource/) instead. The linked documentation outlines the migration steps. ## Get the most out of the Prometheus data source After you install and configure Prometheus you can: - Create a wide variety of [visualizations](ref:visualizations) - Configure and use [templates and variables](ref:variables) - Add [transformations](ref:transformations) - Add [annotations](ref:annotate-visualizations) - Set up [alerting](ref:alerting) - Create [recorded queries](ref:recorded-queries)