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---
title: promtool
---
# promtool
Tooling for the Prometheus monitoring system.
## Flags
| Flag | Description |
| --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > -h< / code > , < code class = "text-nowrap" > --help< / code > | Show context-sensitive help (also try --help-long and --help-man). |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --version< / code > | Show application version. |
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| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --experimental< / code > | Enable experimental commands. |
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| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --enable-feature< / code > | Comma separated feature names to enable (only PromQL related and no-default-scrape-port). See https://prometheus.io/docs/prometheus/latest/feature_flags/ for the options and more details. |
## Commands
| Command | Description |
| --- | --- |
| help | Show help. |
| check | Check the resources for validity. |
| query | Run query against a Prometheus server. |
| debug | Fetch debug information. |
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| push | Push to a Prometheus server. |
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| test | Unit testing. |
| tsdb | Run tsdb commands. |
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| promql | PromQL formatting and editing. Requires the --experimental flag. |
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### `promtool help`
Show help.
#### Arguments
| Argument | Description |
| --- | --- |
| command | Show help on command. |
### `promtool check`
Check the resources for validity.
#### Flags
| Flag | Description |
| --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --extended< / code > | Print extended information related to the cardinality of the metrics. |
##### `promtool check service-discovery`
Perform service discovery for the given job name and report the results, including relabeling.
###### Flags
| Flag | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --timeout</ code > | The time to wait for discovery results. | `30s` |
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| config-file | The prometheus config file. | Yes |
| job | The job to run service discovery for. | Yes |
##### `promtool check config`
Check if the config files are valid or not.
###### Flags
| Flag | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --syntax-only< / code > | Only check the config file syntax, ignoring file and content validation referenced in the config | |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --lint</ code > | Linting checks to apply to the rules specified in the config. Available options are: all, duplicate-rules, none. Use --lint=none to disable linting | `duplicate-rules` |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --lint-fatal</ code > | Make lint errors exit with exit code 3. | `false` |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --agent< / code > | Check config file for Prometheus in Agent mode. | |
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| config-files | The config files to check. | Yes |
##### `promtool check web-config`
Check if the web config files are valid or not.
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| web-config-files | The config files to check. | Yes |
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##### `promtool check healthy`
Check if the Prometheus server is healthy.
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###### Flags
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| Flag | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --http.config.file< / code > | HTTP client configuration file for promtool to connect to Prometheus. | |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --url</ code > | The URL for the Prometheus server. | `http://localhost:9090` |
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##### `promtool check ready`
Check if the Prometheus server is ready.
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###### Flags
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| Flag | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --http.config.file< / code > | HTTP client configuration file for promtool to connect to Prometheus. | |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --url</ code > | The URL for the Prometheus server. | `http://localhost:9090` |
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##### `promtool check rules`
Check if the rule files are valid or not.
###### Flags
| Flag | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --lint</ code > | Linting checks to apply. Available options are: all, duplicate-rules, none. Use --lint=none to disable linting | `duplicate-rules` |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --lint-fatal</ code > | Make lint errors exit with exit code 3. | `false` |
###### Arguments
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| Argument | Description |
| --- | --- |
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| rule-files | The rule files to check, default is read from standard input. |
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##### `promtool check metrics`
Pass Prometheus metrics over stdin to lint them for consistency and correctness.
examples:
$ cat metrics.prom | promtool check metrics
$ curl -s http://localhost:9090/metrics | promtool check metrics
### `promtool query`
Run query against a Prometheus server.
#### Flags
| Flag | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > -o</ code > , < code class = "text-nowrap" > --format</ code > | Output format of the query. | `promql` |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --http.config.file< / code > | HTTP client configuration file for promtool to connect to Prometheus. | |
##### `promtool query instant`
Run instant query.
###### Flags
| Flag | Description |
| --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --time< / code > | Query evaluation time (RFC3339 or Unix timestamp). |
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| server | Prometheus server to query. | Yes |
| expr | PromQL query expression. | Yes |
##### `promtool query range`
Run range query.
###### Flags
| Flag | Description |
| --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --header< / code > | Extra headers to send to server. |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --start< / code > | Query range start time (RFC3339 or Unix timestamp). |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --end< / code > | Query range end time (RFC3339 or Unix timestamp). |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --step< / code > | Query step size (duration). |
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| server | Prometheus server to query. | Yes |
| expr | PromQL query expression. | Yes |
##### `promtool query series`
Run series query.
###### Flags
| Flag | Description |
| --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --match< / code > | Series selector. Can be specified multiple times. |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --start< / code > | Start time (RFC3339 or Unix timestamp). |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --end< / code > | End time (RFC3339 or Unix timestamp). |
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| server | Prometheus server to query. | Yes |
##### `promtool query labels`
Run labels query.
###### Flags
| Flag | Description |
| --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --start< / code > | Start time (RFC3339 or Unix timestamp). |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --end< / code > | End time (RFC3339 or Unix timestamp). |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --match< / code > | Series selector. Can be specified multiple times. |
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| server | Prometheus server to query. | Yes |
| name | Label name to provide label values for. | Yes |
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##### `promtool query analyze`
Run queries against your Prometheus to analyze the usage pattern of certain metrics.
###### Flags
| Flag | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --server< / code > | Prometheus server to query. | |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --type< / code > | Type of metric: histogram. | |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --duration</ code > | Time frame to analyze. | `1h` |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --time< / code > | Query time (RFC3339 or Unix timestamp), defaults to now. | |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --match< / code > | Series selector. Can be specified multiple times. | |
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### `promtool debug`
Fetch debug information.
##### `promtool debug pprof`
Fetch profiling debug information.
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| server | Prometheus server to get pprof files from. | Yes |
##### `promtool debug metrics`
Fetch metrics debug information.
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| server | Prometheus server to get metrics from. | Yes |
##### `promtool debug all`
Fetch all debug information.
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| server | Prometheus server to get all debug information from. | Yes |
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### `promtool push`
Push to a Prometheus server.
#### Flags
| Flag | Description |
| --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --http.config.file< / code > | HTTP client configuration file for promtool to connect to Prometheus. |
##### `promtool push metrics`
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Push metrics to a prometheus remote write (for testing purpose only).
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###### Flags
| Flag | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
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| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --label</ code > | Label to attach to metrics. Can be specified multiple times. | `job=promtool` |
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| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --timeout</ code > | The time to wait for pushing metrics. | `30s` |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --header< / code > | Prometheus remote write header. | |
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| remote-write-url | Prometheus remote write url to push metrics. | Yes |
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| metric-files | The metric files to push, default is read from standard input. | |
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### `promtool test`
Unit testing.
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#### Flags
| Flag | Description |
| --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --junit< / code > | File path to store JUnit XML test results. |
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##### `promtool test rules`
Unit tests for rules.
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###### Flags
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| Flag | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --run< / code > | If set, will only run test groups whose names match the regular expression. Can be specified multiple times. | |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --diff</ code > | [Experimental] Print colored differential output between expected & received output. | `false` |
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###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| test-rule-file | The unit test file. | Yes |
### `promtool tsdb`
Run tsdb commands.
##### `promtool tsdb bench`
Run benchmarks.
##### `promtool tsdb bench write`
Run a write performance benchmark.
###### Flags
| Flag | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --out</ code > | Set the output path. | `benchout` |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --metrics</ code > | Number of metrics to read. | `10000` |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --scrapes</ code > | Number of scrapes to simulate. | `3000` |
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| file | Input file with samples data, default is (../../tsdb/testdata/20kseries.json). | `../../tsdb/testdata/20kseries.json` |
##### `promtool tsdb analyze`
Analyze churn, label pair cardinality and compaction efficiency.
###### Flags
| Flag | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --limit</ code > | How many items to show in each list. | `20` |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --extended< / code > | Run extended analysis. | |
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| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --match< / code > | Series selector to analyze. Only 1 set of matchers is supported now. | |
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###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| db path | Database path (default is data/). | `data/` |
| block id | Block to analyze (default is the last block). | |
##### `promtool tsdb list`
List tsdb blocks.
###### Flags
| Flag | Description |
| --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > -r< / code > , < code class = "text-nowrap" > --human-readable< / code > | Print human readable values. |
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| db path | Database path (default is data/). | `data/` |
##### `promtool tsdb dump`
Dump samples from a TSDB.
###### Flags
| Flag | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
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| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --sandbox-dir-root</ code > | Root directory where a sandbox directory would be created in case WAL replay generates chunks. The sandbox directory is cleaned up at the end. | `data/` |
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| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --min-time</ code > | Minimum timestamp to dump. | `-9223372036854775808` |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --max-time</ code > | Maximum timestamp to dump. | `9223372036854775807` |
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| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --match</ code > | Series selector. Can be specified multiple times. | `{__name__=~'(?s:.*)'}` |
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###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| db path | Database path (default is data/). | `data/` |
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##### `promtool tsdb dump-openmetrics`
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[Experimental] Dump samples from a TSDB into OpenMetrics text format, excluding native histograms and staleness markers, which are not representable in OpenMetrics.
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###### Flags
| Flag | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
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| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --sandbox-dir-root</ code > | Root directory where a sandbox directory would be created in case WAL replay generates chunks. The sandbox directory is cleaned up at the end. | `data/` |
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| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --min-time</ code > | Minimum timestamp to dump. | `-9223372036854775808` |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --max-time</ code > | Maximum timestamp to dump. | `9223372036854775807` |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --match</ code > | Series selector. Can be specified multiple times. | `{__name__=~'(?s:.*)'}` |
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| db path | Database path (default is data/). | `data/` |
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##### `promtool tsdb create-blocks-from`
[Experimental] Import samples from input and produce TSDB blocks. Please refer to the storage docs for more details.
###### Flags
| Flag | Description |
| --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > -r< / code > , < code class = "text-nowrap" > --human-readable< / code > | Print human readable values. |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > -q< / code > , < code class = "text-nowrap" > --quiet< / code > | Do not print created blocks. |
##### `promtool tsdb create-blocks-from openmetrics`
Import samples from OpenMetrics input and produce TSDB blocks. Please refer to the storage docs for more details.
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Default | Required |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| input file | OpenMetrics file to read samples from. | | Yes |
| output directory | Output directory for generated blocks. | `data/` | |
##### `promtool tsdb create-blocks-from rules`
Create blocks of data for new recording rules.
###### Flags
| Flag | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --http.config.file< / code > | HTTP client configuration file for promtool to connect to Prometheus. | |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --url</ code > | The URL for the Prometheus API with the data where the rule will be backfilled from. | `http://localhost:9090` |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --start< / code > | The time to start backfilling the new rule from. Must be a RFC3339 formatted date or Unix timestamp. Required. | |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --end< / code > | If an end time is provided, all recording rules in the rule files provided will be backfilled to the end time. Default will backfill up to 3 hours ago. Must be a RFC3339 formatted date or Unix timestamp. | |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --output-dir</ code > | Output directory for generated blocks. | `data/` |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > --eval-interval</ code > | How frequently to evaluate rules when backfilling if a value is not set in the recording rule files. | `60s` |
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| rule-files | A list of one or more files containing recording rules to be backfilled. All recording rules listed in the files will be backfilled. Alerting rules are not evaluated. | Yes |
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### `promtool promql`
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PromQL formatting and editing. Requires the `--experimental` flag.
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##### `promtool promql format`
Format PromQL query to pretty printed form.
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| query | PromQL query. | Yes |
##### `promtool promql label-matchers`
Edit label matchers contained within an existing PromQL query.
##### `promtool promql label-matchers set`
Set a label matcher in the query.
###### Flags
| Flag | Description | Default |
| --- | --- | --- |
| < code class = "text-nowrap" > -t</ code > , < code class = "text-nowrap" > --type</ code > | Type of the label matcher to set. | `=` |
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| query | PromQL query. | Yes |
| name | Name of the label matcher to set. | Yes |
| value | Value of the label matcher to set. | Yes |
##### `promtool promql label-matchers delete`
Delete a label from the query.
###### Arguments
| Argument | Description | Required |
| --- | --- | --- |
| query | PromQL query. | Yes |
| name | Name of the label to delete. | Yes |
