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Getting Started with the App

This document provides a step-by-step tutorial on how to get the App going and how to use it.

Install the App

To install the App, please follow the instructions detailed in the Installation Guide.

First Steps with the App

Once the app is installed and Nautobot has been restarted, metrics collection begins automatically. Here is how to verify it is working:

1. Send a GraphQL Query

Use the Nautobot GraphQL API to run a query. You can use the GraphiQL interface at /graphql/ or send a request via curl:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/graphql/ \
  -H "Authorization: Token $NAUTOBOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "query GetDevices { devices { name } }"}'

2. Check the Metrics Endpoint

Browse to or query Nautobot's default Prometheus metrics endpoint:

curl http://localhost:8080/metrics/

You should see output similar to:

# HELP graphql_requests_total Total number of GraphQL requests
# TYPE graphql_requests_total counter
graphql_requests_total{operation_name="GetDevices",operation_type="query",status="success"} 1.0

# HELP graphql_request_duration_seconds Duration of GraphQL request execution in seconds
# TYPE graphql_request_duration_seconds histogram
graphql_request_duration_seconds_bucket{le="0.01",operation_name="GetDevices",operation_type="query"} 0.0
...

# HELP graphql_query_depth Depth of GraphQL queries
# TYPE graphql_query_depth histogram
graphql_query_depth_bucket{le="1.0",operation_name="GetDevices"} 1.0
...

3. Configure Prometheus Scraping

Add a scrape target in your prometheus.yml:

scrape_configs:
  - job_name: "nautobot-graphql"
    metrics_path: "/metrics/"
    static_configs:
      - targets: ["nautobot:8080"]

4. Enable Query Logging (Optional)

To also log every GraphQL query to the console, enable logging in your nautobot_config.py:

PLUGINS_CONFIG = {
    "nautobot_graphql_observability": {
        "query_logging_enabled": True,
        "log_query_body": True,
    }
}

After restarting Nautobot, send a GraphQL query and check the Nautobot logs. You should see entries like:

14:32:05.123 INFO    nautobot_graphql_observability.graphql_query_log : operation_type=query operation_name=GetDevices user=admin duration_ms=42.3 status=success query=query GetDevices { devices { name } }

What are the next steps?

  • Review the App Configuration to tune which metrics and logging options are enabled.
  • Set up Grafana dashboards using the provided templates.
  • Route query logs to external systems — see Query Logging.
  • Check out the Use Cases section for more examples.