# Trouble Visualizing API Response Times in Percentiles with Prometheus Data in Elasticsearch

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/trouble-visualizing-api-response-times-in-percentiles-with-prometheus-data-in-elasticsearch/362958>\
**Category:** Kibana\
**Tags:** dashboard, visualisation\
**Created:** [July 11, 2024, 12:08pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/trouble-visualizing-api-response-times-in-percentiles-with-prometheus-data-in-elasticsearch/362958 "2024-07-11T12:08:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KKarjee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b782af/32.png) [@KKarjee](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/KKarjee)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 12:08pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/trouble-visualizing-api-response-times-in-percentiles-with-prometheus-data-in-elasticsearch/362958/1 "2024-07-11T12:08:00Z")

</div>

- **Issue** : I am trying to visualize API response times in percentiles using Prometheus histogram data stored in Elasticsearch. Despite sending data from Prometheus to Elasticsearch, I am encountering difficulties in creating meaningful visualizations.  
**Kibana Version: 8.4.3**

- **Approach** :

- I am using Prometheus to collect histogram data (`api_response_time_bucket`).

- Data is then exported to Elasticsearch for storage and visualization in Kibana.

- Response times are stored in cumulative buckets using the `le` (less than or equal) operator in Prometheus.

- **Challenge** : I am unsure about the correct approach to extract and visualize percentiles (like 90th percentile) from histogram data stored in Elasticsearch.

- **Desired Outcome** : My goal is to create Kibana visualizations that show percentile response times over time, segmented by API endpoints.

- Could anyone provide guidance on how to properly extract percentile metrics from Prometheus histogram data stored in Elasticsearch, particularly when using cumulative buckets with the `le` operator?

- Any examples, suggestions or alternative approach on setting up Kibana visualizations for percentile API response times would be greatly appreciated.

```auto
api_response_time_bucket{endpoint="/ep1", le="10"} 5
api_response_time_bucket{endpoint="/ep1", le="25"} 5
api_response_time_bucket{endpoint="/ep1", le="50"} 15
api_response_time_bucket{endpoint="/ep1", le="100"} 15
api_response_time_bucket{endpoint="/ep1", le="1000"} 15
api_response_time_bucket{endpoint="/ep1", le="+Inf"} 15

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KKarjee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b782af/32.png) [@KKarjee](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/KKarjee)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 12:41pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/trouble-visualizing-api-response-times-in-percentiles-with-prometheus-data-in-elasticsearch/362958/2 "2024-07-11T12:41:01Z")

</div>

Added #dashboard, #visualisation

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Marco\_Liberati](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/marco_liberati/32/82953_2.png) [@Marco\_Liberati](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Marco_Liberati)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 12:54pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/trouble-visualizing-api-response-times-in-percentiles-with-prometheus-data-in-elasticsearch/362958/3 "2024-07-11T12:54:32Z")

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Hi @KKarjee

can you share the mapping of the index?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KKarjee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b782af/32.png) [@KKarjee](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/KKarjee)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 1:40pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/trouble-visualizing-api-response-times-in-percentiles-with-prometheus-data-in-elasticsearch/362958/4 "2024-07-11T13:40:36Z")

</div>

Hi @Marco_Liberati, here are the relevant fields of the mapping. The actual size is too large to include

```auto
{
    "metrics-xxx": {
      "mappings": {
        "dynamic": "true",
        "_meta": {
          "date_detection": true,
          "properties": {
            "@timestamp": {
              "format": "strict_date_optional_time",
              "type": "date"
            },
            "prometheus": {
              "properties": {
                "labels": {
                  "properties": {
                    "endpoint": {
                        "type": "keyword"
                      },
                      "status": {
                        "type": "keyword"
                      },
                      "le": {
                        "type": "keyword"
                    }
                  }
                },
                "metrics": {
                  "properties": {
                    "api_counter": {
                        "type": "double"
                    },
                    "response_time_bucket": {
                        "type": "double"
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }

```

sample

```auto
{
    "_source": {
        "prometheus": {
            "metrics": {
                "response_time_bucket": 10
            },
            "labels": {
                "endpoint": "/ep1",
                "status": "Success",
                "le": "50"
            }
        }
    }
}

{
    "_source": {
        "prometheus": {
            "metrics": {
                "response_time_bucket": 15
            },
            "labels": {
                "endpoint": "/ep1",
                "status": "Success",
                "le": "250"
            }
        }
    }
}

{
    "_source": {
        "prometheus": {
            "metrics": {
                "response_time_bucket": 15
            },
            "labels": {
                "endpoint": "/ep1",
                "status": "Success",
                "le": "5000"
            }
        }
    }
}

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Marco\_Liberati](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/marco_liberati/32/82953_2.png) [@Marco\_Liberati](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Marco_Liberati)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 4:22pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/trouble-visualizing-api-response-times-in-percentiles-with-prometheus-data-in-elasticsearch/362958/5 "2024-07-11T16:22:17Z")

</div>

If I understood correctly you want to use the `le` field to programmatically set the percentile ranking of a request.  
Did I get it correctly?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KKarjee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b782af/32.png) [@KKarjee](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/KKarjee)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2024, 5:58pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/trouble-visualizing-api-response-times-in-percentiles-with-prometheus-data-in-elasticsearch/362958/6 "2024-07-11T17:58:59Z")

</div>

That's right.