Define a Query via JSON | Honeycomb

Define a Query via JSON

We support defining queries via JSON.

You can use defined queries in Honeycomb with:

Fields on a Query Specification 

All fields are optional, but a query without any calculations defined will default to a COUNT.

  • breakdowns: a list of strings describing the columns by which to break events down into groups
  • calculations: a list of objects describing the calculations to return as a time series and summary table. Each calculation consists of an op and a column (except for COUNT or CONCURRENCY, which need no column). If no calculations are provided, COUNT is applied. See below for a list of valid ops.
  • filters: a list of objects describing the filters with which to restrict the considered events. Each filter consists of a column, op, and (sometimes) value. See below for a list of valid ops.
  • filter_combination: either "AND" or "OR". If multiple filters are specified, filter_combination determines how they are applied; set to "OR" to match ANY filter in the filter list. Defaults to "AND".
  • granularity: an integer describing the time resolution of the query’s graph, in seconds. Valid values are the query’s time range /10 at maximum, and /1000 at minimum.
  • orders: a list of objects describing the terms on which to order the query results. Each term must appear in either the breakdowns field or the calculations field.
  • limit: an integer describing the maximum number of query results.
  • havings: a list of objects describing filters with which to restrict returned groups. Each having consists of a calculate_op (the same set used for op in calculations, but excluding HEATMAP), a column (except for COUNT, which needs no column), an op (=, >, >=, <, <=), and a value (currently assumed to be numeric). Each column/calculate_op pair must appear in the calculations field. There can be multiple havings for the same column/calculate_op pair.
  • time_range: an integer describing the time range of query in seconds, for relative-time queries. Cannot be combined with both start_time and end_time (See caveat below.) Defaults to two hours.
  • start_time: an integer describing the UNIX timestamp of the absolute start time of the query.
  • end_time: an integer describing the UNIX timestamp of the absolute end time of the query.

A Caveat on Time 

To specify an absolute time range, use start_time and end_time (both UNIX timestamps) to describe the desired range:

{
  "start_time": 1525125600,
  "end_time": 1525132800
}

start_time or end_time can also be used in combination with time_range to specify a fixed time plus a range. Specifying values for all three fields, however, will result in an error.

The following describes “the one-hour period leading up to the absolute time 2018-05-01 00:00 UTC”:

{
  "end_time": 1525132800,
  "time_range": 3600
}

Without a start_time or end_time, a single time_range argument will default to an end_time of “now.”

The following describes “the last hour” relative to the time of invocation:

{
  "time_range": 3600
}

Examples 

This query specification calculates the top 10 (by volume, or COUNT) unique user_agents for the hour leading up to the absolute time 2018-01-01 00:00 UTC:

{
  "breakdowns": ["user_agent"],
  "calculations": [{ "op": "COUNT" }],
  "orders": [{ "op": "COUNT", "order": "descending" }],
  "limit": 10,
  "time_range": 3600,
  "end_time": 1514768400
}

This query specification calculates the AVG(content_length) of events from the last hour matching kafka_partition = 3 or kafka_partition = 6:

{
  "calculations": [{ "column": "content_length", "op": "AVG" }],
  "filters": [
    { "column": "kafka_partition", "op": "=", "value": 3 },
    { "column": "kafka_partition", "op": "=", "value": 6 }
  ],
  "filter_combination": "OR",
  "time_range": 3600
}

This query specification matches events with duration_ms > 500 and service.name != "fraud", then calculates a HEATMAP(match_quality) (where the graph spans the last 3 hours, drawn at 15-minute intervals):

{
  "calculations": [{ "column": "match_quality", "op": "HEATMAP" }],
  "filters": [
    { "column": "duration_ms", "op": ">", "value": 500 },
    { "column": "service.name", "op": "!=", "value": "fraud" }
  ],
  "granularity": 900,
  "time_range": 10800
}

This query specification describes an absolute-time query which matches events with result = 200, then calculates the AVG(duration_ms) and P99(duration_ms) broken down into unique (user_id, build_id) pairs. It then returns the first 100 results, ordered first by P99(duration_ms) values, then user_id:

{
  "breakdowns": ["user_id", "build_id"],
  "calculations": [
    { "column": "duration_ms", "op": "AVG" },
    { "column": "duration_ms", "op": "P99" }
  ],
  "filters": [{ "column": "result", "op": "=", "value": 200 }],
  "orders": [
    { "column": "duration_ms", "op": "P99", "order": "descending" },
    { "column": "user_id" }
  ],
  "limit": 100,
  "start_time": 1515542451,
  "end_time": 1515546051
}

This query specification describes a query over the last hour that matches events with result = 200, then calculates the AVG(duration_ms) and P99(duration_ms) broken down into unique (user_id, build_id) pairs. It then returns the first 100 results that have a P99(duration_ms) > 10000, ordered first by P99(duration_ms) values, then user_id:

{
  "breakdowns": ["user_id", "build_id"],
  "calculations": [
    { "column": "duration_ms", "op": "AVG" },
    { "column": "duration_ms", "op": "P99" }
  ],
  "filters": [{ "column": "result", "op": "=", "value": 200 }],
  "orders": [
    { "column": "duration_ms", "op": "P99", "order": "descending" },
    { "column": "user_id" }
  ],
  "havings": [
    { "calculate_op": "P99", "column": "duration_ms", "op": ">", "value": 10000 }
  ],
  "limit": 100,
  "time_range": 3600
}

Calculation Operators 

Calculation operators are consistent between the API and the UI. These are the available calculation "op" values:

  • COUNT (does not expect an accompanying "column" value)
  • CONCURRENCY (does not expect an accompanying "column" value)
  • SUM
  • AVG
  • COUNT_DISTINCT
  • MAX
  • MIN
  • P001
  • P01
  • P05
  • P10
  • P25
  • P50
  • P75
  • P90
  • P95
  • P99
  • P999
  • HEATMAP
  • RATE_AVG
  • RATE_SUM
  • RATE_MAX

Filter Operators 

Filter operators are consistent between the API and the UI. These are the available filter "op" values:

  • =
  • !=
  • >
  • >=
  • <
  • <=
  • starts-with
  • does-not-start-with
  • exists (does not expect an accompanying "value")
  • does-not-exist (does not expect an accompanying "value")
  • contains
  • does-not-contain
  • in (filter "value" must be present and be an array),
  • not-in (filter "value" must be present and be an array)