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Prometheus Metrics Integration

Monitor IRC network statistics with Prometheus and Grafana

Overview

IRC Driven provides OpenMetrics-compatible endpoints that can be scraped by Prometheus for monitoring IRC network statistics in real-time. This allows you to:

  • Track network health and growth over time
  • Set up alerts for unusual activity
  • Create beautiful Grafana dashboards
  • Monitor multiple networks from a single Prometheus instance
  • Analyze historical trends

Available Endpoints

Network-Specific Metrics

URL: /network/<network_name>/metrics/

Access: Public (no authentication required)

Metrics Provided
  • irc_network_users - Total users on the network
  • irc_network_channels - Total number of channels
  • irc_network_servers - Total number of servers
  • irc_network_last_update - Timestamp of last update
  • irc_channel_users - User count per channel (with labels)
  • irc_server_users - User count per server (with labels)
  • irc_network_info - Network metadata (region, etc.)
Query Parameters
Parameter Description Default Example
limit Maximum number of channels to include All channels ?limit=500
min_users Minimum user count for channels 0 (all channels) ?min_users=10
Examples
# Get all channels
curl https://www.ircdriven.com/network/Libera.Chat/metrics/

# Get top 500 channels only
curl https://www.ircdriven.com/network/Libera.Chat/metrics/?limit=500

# Get channels with at least 5 users (reduces noise)
curl https://www.ircdriven.com/network/Libera.Chat/metrics/?min_users=5

# Combine both parameters
curl https://www.ircdriven.com/network/Libera.Chat/metrics/?limit=100&min_users=50

Global Metrics (All Networks)

URL: /metrics/

Access: Site administrators only

Metrics Provided
  • irc_networks_total - Total number of active networks
  • irc_network_users{network="..."} - Users per network
  • irc_network_channels{network="..."} - Channels per network
  • irc_network_servers{network="..."} - Servers per network
  • irc_global_users - Total users across all networks
  • irc_global_channels - Total channels across all networks
  • irc_global_servers - Total servers across all networks

Prometheus Configuration

Scraping a Single Network

Add this to your prometheus.yml file:

scrape_configs:
  - job_name: 'irc_libera'
    metrics_path: '/network/Libera.Chat/metrics/'
    params:
      min_users: ['5']  # Optional: filter out empty channels
    static_configs:
      - targets: ['www.ircdriven.com']
    scheme: https
    scrape_interval: 5m  # Adjust based on your needs

Scraping Multiple Networks

scrape_configs:
  - job_name: 'irc_networks'
    static_configs:
      - targets:
        - 'Libera.Chat'
        - 'OFTC'
        - 'IRCnet'
    metrics_path: '/network/__param_target__/metrics/'
    params:
      min_users: ['3']
    relabel_configs:
      - source_labels: [__address__]
        target_label: __param_target
      - source_labels: [__param_target]
        target_label: network
      - target_label: __address__
        replacement: www.ircdriven.com:443
    scheme: https
    scrape_interval: 5m

Scraping Global Metrics (Admin Only)

scrape_configs:
  - job_name: 'irc_global'
    metrics_path: '/metrics/'
    static_configs:
      - targets: ['www.ircdriven.com']
    scheme: https
    scrape_interval: 10m
    basic_auth:
      username: 'your_username'
      password: 'your_password'

Grafana Dashboard Examples

Network Overview Panel

Display current user count with trend:

irc_network_users{network="Libera.Chat"}

Top 10 Channels by User Count

topk(10, irc_channel_users{network="Libera.Chat"})

Total Users Across All Networks

sum(irc_network_users)

Network Growth Rate (24h)

irc_network_users{network="Libera.Chat"} 
  - irc_network_users{network="Libera.Chat"} offset 24h

Alert: Network Down or Major Drop

- alert: NetworkUsersDrop
  expr: |
    (irc_network_users - irc_network_users offset 5m) / irc_network_users < -0.5
  for: 5m
  labels:
    severity: critical
  annotations:
    summary: "IRC network user count dropped significantly"

Best Practices

Filter Empty Channels

Use min_users parameter to reduce metric cardinality and focus on active channels.

Appropriate Intervals

Set scrape intervals to 5-15 minutes. IRC stats don't change rapidly enough to warrant more frequent scraping.

Use Labels

Leverage network, channel, and server labels in your queries for detailed analysis.

Troubleshooting

  • Verify the endpoint URL is correct and accessible
  • Check Prometheus logs for scrape errors
  • Ensure SSL/TLS certificates are valid if using HTTPS
  • Verify network name spelling (case-sensitive)

  • Use min_users parameter to filter out empty/small channels
  • Set a reasonable limit parameter (e.g., 500-1000)
  • Focus on per-network aggregates instead of per-channel metrics
  • Increase Prometheus retention settings if needed

  • Ensure your user account has staff/admin privileges
  • Verify basic_auth credentials in prometheus.yml are correct
  • Check for special characters in password that need escaping
  • Contact site administrators if you need access