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Nautobot App GraphQL Observability


A GraphQL observability app for Nautobot — Prometheus metrics and structured query logging.

Overview

A Nautobot app that provides comprehensive observability for the GraphQL API. It includes two Graphene middlewares that collect Prometheus metrics and emit structured query logs — without modifying Nautobot's core code.

Features

Prometheus Metrics (PrometheusMiddleware):

  • Request metrics: Count and measure the duration of all GraphQL queries and mutations.
  • Error tracking: Count errors by operation and exception type.
  • Query depth & complexity: Histogram metrics for query nesting depth and total field count.
  • Per-user tracking: Count requests per authenticated user for auditing and capacity planning.
  • Per-field resolution: Optionally measure individual field resolver durations for debugging.
  • All metrics appear at Nautobot's default /metrics/ endpoint — no extra endpoint needed.

Query Logging (GraphQLQueryLoggingMiddleware):

  • Structured log entries: Operation type, name, user, duration, and status for every query.
  • Optional query body and variables: Include the full query text and variables in log entries.
  • Standard Python logging: Route logs to any backend (file, syslog, ELK, etc.) via Django's LOGGING configuration.

General:

  • Zero configuration: Automatically patches Nautobot's GraphQLDRFAPIView to load the middlewares — no manual GRAPHENE["MIDDLEWARE"] setup needed.

Quick Install

pip install nautobot-graphql-observability

# nautobot_config.py
PLUGINS = ["nautobot_graphql_observability"]

Documentation

Full documentation is bundled with the app and available in the docs folder of this repository:

  • User Guide (docs/user/) - Overview, Using the App, Getting Started.
  • Administrator Guide (docs/admin/) - How to Install, Configure, Upgrade, or Uninstall the App.
  • Developer Guide (docs/dev/) - Extending the App, Code Reference, Contribution Guide.
  • Release Notes (docs/admin/release_notes/).
  • FAQ (docs/user/faq.md).

Contributing to the Documentation

You can find all the Markdown source for the App documentation under the docs folder in this repository. For simple edits, a Markdown capable editor is sufficient: clone the repository and edit away.

If you need to view the fully-generated documentation site, you can build it with MkDocs. A container hosting the documentation can be started using the invoke commands on http://localhost:8001. Using this container, as your changes to the documentation are saved, they will be automatically rebuilt and any pages currently being viewed will be reloaded in your browser.

Any PRs with fixes or improvements are very welcome!

Questions

For any questions or comments, please check the FAQ first. Feel free to open an issue on GitHub.