https://veerendra2.github.io/tags/promql/ Recent content in Promql on Veerendra's Blog Hugo -- 0.161.1 en Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://veerendra2.github.io/promql-rate-v-increase/ Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://veerendra2.github.io/promql-rate-v-increase/ <p>I keep mixing up <code>rate()</code> and <code>increase()</code> in PromQL, so this is a short note for future reference.</p> <p>Both functions are normally used with <strong>counters</strong>: metrics that only go up, except when the process restarts and the counter resets.</p> <p>The quick difference:</p> <ul> <li><code>rate()</code> answers: <strong>how fast is it increasing?</strong></li> <li><code>increase()</code> answers: <strong>how much did it increase?</strong></li> </ul> <h2 id="rate"><code>rate()</code></h2> <p><code>rate()</code> gives the <strong>average per-second increase</strong> over a time range.</p> <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-promql" data-lang="promql"><span class="line"><span class="cl"><span class="kr">rate</span><span class="o">(</span><span class="nv">http_requests_total</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="s">5m</span><span class="p">]</span><span class="o">)</span><span class="w"> </span></span></span></code></pre></div><p>If the counter moved from around <code>280</code> to <code>700</code>, the increase is <code>420</code>. In this example the sampled time difference is <code>270</code> seconds, so:</p>