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For cloud users, BuildBuddy exposes Prometheus metrics to monitor and alert on their usage.

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Overview

BuildBuddy Cloud provides Prometheus-compatible metrics that allow you to:
  • Monitor build frequency and success rates
  • Track cache hit rates and performance
  • Measure remote execution usage
  • Set up alerts for anomalies
  • Create custom dashboards

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Configuration

To fetch Prometheus metrics, add the following scrape config to your Prometheus configuration: 
global:
  scrape_interval: 3600s

scrape_configs:
  - job_name: buildbuddy
    scheme: https
    authorization:
      type: "x-buildbuddy-api-key"
      credentials: "<buildbuddy_api_key>"
    metrics_path: "/api/v1/metrics"
    static_configs:
      - targets: ["app.buildbuddy.io"]
Replace <buildbuddy_api_key> with your actual BuildBuddy API key. You can create an API key in the BuildBuddy UI under Settings > API Keys.

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Scrape Interval

We recommend a scrape interval of 1 hour (3600s) as shown above. Cloud metrics are aggregated and updated hourly, so more frequent scraping will not provide additional data.

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Visualization

To view these metrics in a live-updating dashboard, we recommend using a tool like Grafana.

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Grafana Setup

  1. Add Prometheus as a data source:
    • In Grafana, go to Configuration > Data Sources
    • Add Prometheus
    • Enter your Prometheus server URL
  2. Create dashboards:
    • Import community dashboards for Prometheus metrics
    • Or create custom dashboards with BuildBuddy-specific queries
  3. Set up alerts:
    • Configure alert rules in Grafana
    • Get notified when metrics exceed thresholds

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Available Metrics

BuildBuddy Cloud exposes metrics for:

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Build Metrics

  • Total builds over time
  • Build success/failure rates
  • Build duration statistics
  • Builds by user and repository

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Cache Metrics

  • Cache hit rates (action cache and CAS)
  • Cache read/write bytes
  • Cache performance (latency)

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Remote Execution Metrics

  • Actions executed remotely
  • Execution duration
  • Executor utilization
  • Queue times

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API Metrics

  • API request rates
  • API latency
  • API error rates
The specific metrics available depend on your BuildBuddy Cloud plan and usage patterns.

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Example Queries

Here are some example PromQL queries you can use:

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Build Success Rate

sum(rate(buildbuddy_builds_completed_total{status="success"}[1h])) 
/ 
sum(rate(buildbuddy_builds_completed_total[1h]))

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Cache Hit Rate

sum(rate(buildbuddy_cache_hits_total[1h])) 
/ 
sum(rate(buildbuddy_cache_requests_total[1h]))

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Average Build Duration

rate(buildbuddy_build_duration_seconds_sum[1h]) 
/ 
rate(buildbuddy_build_duration_seconds_count[1h])

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Authentication

Metrics are authenticated using your BuildBuddy API key. The API key must have read permissions for metrics. Header format: 
Authorization: x-buildbuddy-api-key YOUR_API_KEY
Or in Prometheus configuration: 
authorization:
  type: "x-buildbuddy-api-key"
  credentials: "YOUR_API_KEY"

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Security

  • API keys should be kept secret and rotated regularly
  • Use HTTPS for all metric requests (enforced by BuildBuddy)
  • Metrics are scoped to your organization
  • No personally identifiable information is exposed

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Limits

  • Metrics endpoint rate limit: 100 requests per hour
  • Metric retention: 90 days
  • Maximum time range per query: 30 days

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Troubleshooting

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No data returned

  • Verify your API key is correct and has metrics permissions
  • Check that you’re using HTTPS scheme
  • Ensure the authorization header format is correct

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Missing metrics

  • Some metrics only appear after specific features are used
  • Check your BuildBuddy plan includes the feature you’re monitoring
  • Verify data is being generated (check BuildBuddy UI)

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Stale data

  • Cloud metrics are updated hourly
  • Check your scrape interval isn’t too frequent
  • Verify Prometheus is successfully scraping the endpoint

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Support

For questions about metrics or to request additional metrics, contact BuildBuddy support at support@buildbuddy.io.
For a complete list of available metrics with descriptions, build the BuildBuddy source:
bazel build //enterprise/server/backends/prom/generate_docs
This generates comprehensive metric documentation at bazel-bin/enterprise/server/backends/prom/generate_docs/docs.mdx

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