prometheus/prometheus

Expand scrape_config_files in the /config web UI endpoint

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#12,591 opened on Jul 21, 2023

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component/uihelp wantedkind/featurepriority/P3

Description

Proposal

Being able to quickly see the running configuration on a Prometheus instance using the /config UI endpoint is a really convenient feature of Prometheus. However, with the recent addition of being able to separate scrape configs into multiple files with scrape_config_files, you lose the ability to see exactly what the full running config actually is when using it. This can make it more difficult to easily see what relabeling is happening on individual scrape jobs.

Instead, you just see which paths are being included in the main config file, like so: Screenshot 2023-07-21 at 11 20 34 AM

I'd propose that the contents in the /config endpoint be expanded to show the contents of the included scrape_config_files.

In order to do so, I'm not sure if the best way would be to just include it in the box that is there now or create a new section named something like "Running Configuration" that has all of the scrape config files expanded. Or to create a new endpoint entirely just for scrape configs, similar to /rules.

Regardless, I believe it's an important feature and wanted to put this out there for ideas and tracking.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
go
Domain
apiobservability
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-2 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Go programmingPrometheus codebase basics
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
50
Research direction
Explore the /config endpoint implementation in the web/api directory. Understand how the main config is currently serialized and how scrape config files are parsed in the config package. Review the three proposed approaches (expand current box, new section, new endpoint) and consider which is simplest. Check existing comments for maintainer feedback or prior attempts.