# Metrics

Collect and visualize numerical time-series data from applications and infrastructure in SigNoz.

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://signoz.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions are also available by appending `.md` to documentation URLs.

Tags: SigNoz Cloud, Self-Host

[Metrics](https://signoz.io/docs/glossary/#metric) provide numerical data over time to help you monitor application and infrastructure behavior. SigNoz enables you to collect, query, and visualize metrics from diverse sources, including OpenTelemetry SDKs, the OTel Collector, and Prometheus.

![SigNoz Metrics Explorer](https://d3nu8xzr1i9u95.cloudfront.net/web/img/docs/metrics/metrics-explorer/metrics-explorer-walkthrough.gif)

SigNoz Metrics Explorer

Use this section to find guides for sending data, exploring metrics, and setting up dashboards and alerts.

## Key capabilities

- **Flexible ingestion:** Collect metrics from applications, infrastructure, and existing Prometheus setups. SigNoz also derives APM metrics from traces automatically.
- **Interactive exploration:** Use the [Metrics Explorer](https://signoz.io/docs/metrics-management/metrics-explorer/) to query and visualize data with a visual builder or advanced query languages like PromQL and ClickHouse SQL.
- **Dashboards and Alerts:** Build custom [dashboards](https://signoz.io/docs/dashboards/overview/) or use pre-built templates. Configure [alerts](https://signoz.io/docs/alerts/) to notify your team of anomalies.
- **Unified context:** Correlate metrics with traces and logs for faster root cause analysis.

## Get started

- [Send metrics to SigNoz](https://signoz.io/docs/metrics-management/send-metrics/) — Start ingesting metrics.
- [APM metrics from traces](https://signoz.io/docs/userguide/custom-apm-dashboards-alerts/) — Leverage automatic metrics from traces.

## Work with metrics

- [Use Metrics Explorer](https://signoz.io/docs/metrics-management/metrics-explorer/) — Query and visualize your data.
- [Query Builder](https://signoz.io/docs/userguide/query-builder-v5/) — Use the visual builder to create queries.
- [Manage dashboards](https://signoz.io/docs/dashboards/overview/) — Create and organize dashboards.
- [Configure alerts](https://signoz.io/docs/alerts/) — Set up metric-based alerts.
- [Infrastructure monitoring](https://signoz.io/docs/infrastructure-monitoring/overview/) — Monitor hosts and Kubernetes clusters.
- [Understanding Metrics Billing and Reducing Costs](https://signoz.io/docs/metrics-management/reducing-costs/) — Learn how cardinality affects billing and how to optimize costs.

## Concepts and reference

- [Metric types and aggregations](https://signoz.io/docs/metrics-management/types-and-aggregation/) — Understand Counters, Gauges, and Histograms.
- [Querying Metrics](https://signoz.io/docs/metrics-management/querying-metrics/) — Query metrics using Query Builder, ClickHouse SQL, or PromQL.
- [PromQL guide](https://signoz.io/docs/userguide/write-a-prom-query-with-new-format/) — Write Prometheus-style queries.
- [ClickHouse SQL guide](https://signoz.io/docs/userguide/write-a-metrics-clickhouse-query/) — Use SQL for advanced analytics.
- [Metrics Query API](https://signoz.io/docs/metrics-management/query-range-api/) — API reference for querying SigNoz metrics.
- [OpenTelemetry Environment Variables](https://signoz.io/docs/ingestion/opentelemetry-environment-variables/) — Configure service identity, OTLP endpoints, headers, protocols, batching, and sampling.
- [Debug Missing Telemetry](https://signoz.io/docs/ingestion/signoz-cloud/troubleshooting/data-not-appearing/) — Find where your metrics are getting lost between your app and SigNoz.
- [Glossary](https://signoz.io/docs/glossary/): Definitions for samples, time series, cardinality, identifying attributes, and temporality.

More docs: /docs/sitemap.md