Expose prometheus HELP information

api/flowmetrics/v1alpha1/flowmetric_types.go

@@ -76,6 +76,10 @@ type FlowMetricSpec struct {
 	// +required
 	Type MetricType `json:"type"`
 
+	// Help text of the metric, as it appears in Prometheus.
+	// +optional
+	Help string `json:"help,omitempty"`
+
 	// `valueField` is the flow field that must be used as a value for this metric (for example: `Bytes`). This field must hold numeric values.
 	// Leave empty to count flows rather than a specific value per flow.
 	// Refer to the documentation for the list of available fields: https://docs.redhat.com/en/documentation/openshift_container_platform/latest/html/network_observability/json-flows-format-reference.

bundle/manifests/flows.netobserv.io_flowmetrics.yaml

@@ -192,6 +192,9 @@ spec:
                 items:
                   type: string
                 type: array
+              help:
+                description: Help text of the metric, as it appears in Prometheus.
+                type: string
               labels:
                 description: |-
                   `labels` is a list of fields that should be used as Prometheus labels, also known as dimensions (for example: `SrcK8S_Namespace`).

bundle/manifests/netobserv-operator.clusterserviceversion.yaml

@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ metadata:
     categories: Monitoring, Networking, Observability
     console.openshift.io/plugins: '["netobserv-plugin"]'
     containerImage: quay.io/netobserv/network-observability-operator:1.9.2-community
-    createdAt: "2025-09-30T17:05:14Z"
+    createdAt: "2025-10-01T10:32:51Z"
     description: Network flows collector and monitoring solution
     operatorframework.io/initialization-resource: '{"apiVersion":"flows.netobserv.io/v1beta2",
       "kind":"FlowCollector","metadata":{"name":"cluster"},"spec": {}}'

config/crd/bases/flows.netobserv.io_flowmetrics.yaml

@@ -192,6 +192,9 @@ spec:
                 items:
                   type: string
                 type: array
+              help:
+                description: Help text of the metric, as it appears in Prometheus.
+                type: string
               labels:
                 description: |-
                   `labels` is a list of fields that should be used as Prometheus labels, also known as dimensions (for example: `SrcK8S_Namespace`).

docs/FlowMetric.md

@@ -152,6 +152,13 @@ Refer to the documentation for the list of available fields: https://docs.redhat
 For instance, when flattening `Interfaces` on a bytes counter, a flow having Interfaces [br-ex, ens5] increases one counter for `br-ex` and another for `ens5`.<br/>
         </td>
         <td>false</td>
+      </tr><tr>
+        <td><b>help</b></td>
+        <td>string</td>
+        <td>
+          Help text of the metric, as it appears in Prometheus.<br/>
+        </td>
+        <td>false</td>
       </tr><tr>
         <td><b>labels</b></td>
         <td>[]string</td>

go.mod

@@ -71,11 +71,11 @@ require (
 	github.com/netsampler/goflow2 v1.3.7 // indirect
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1 // indirect
 	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.1-0.20181226105442-5d4384ee4fb2 // indirect
-	github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.23.0 // indirect
+	github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.23.2 // indirect
 	github.com/prometheus/client_model v0.6.2 // indirect
 	github.com/prometheus/procfs v0.17.0 // indirect
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.9.1 // indirect
-	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.9 // indirect
+	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.10 // indirect
 	github.com/stoewer/go-strcase v1.3.1 // indirect
 	github.com/stretchr/objx v0.5.2 // indirect
 	github.com/x448/float16 v0.8.4 // indirect
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ require (
 	gomodules.xyz/jsonpatch/v2 v2.5.0 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/api v0.0.0-20250707201910-8d1bb00bc6a7 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20250707201910-8d1bb00bc6a7 // indirect
-	google.golang.org/grpc v1.75.0 // indirect
+	google.golang.org/grpc v1.75.1 // indirect
 	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.8 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/evanphx/json-patch.v4 v4.12.0 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/inf.v0 v0.9.1 // indirect
@@ -118,3 +118,5 @@ require (
 	sigs.k8s.io/randfill v1.0.0 // indirect
 	sigs.k8s.io/structured-merge-diff/v6 v6.3.0 // indirect
 )
+
+replace github.com/netobserv/flowlogs-pipeline => github.com/jpinsonneau/flowlogs-pipeline v0.1.9-rc1.0.20251001081611-41d20711f48a

go.sum

@@ -79,6 +79,8 @@ github.com/josharian/intern v1.0.0 h1:vlS4z54oSdjm0bgjRigI+G1HpF+tI+9rE5LLzOg8Hm
 github.com/josharian/intern v1.0.0/go.mod h1:5DoeVV0s6jJacbCEi61lwdGj/aVlrQvzHFFd8Hwg//Y=
 github.com/jpillora/backoff v1.0.0 h1:uvFg412JmmHBHw7iwprIxkPMI+sGQ4kzOWsMeHnm2EA=
 github.com/jpillora/backoff v1.0.0/go.mod h1:J/6gKK9jxlEcS3zixgDgUAsiuZ7yrSoa/FX5e0EB2j4=
+github.com/jpinsonneau/flowlogs-pipeline v0.1.9-rc1.0.20251001081611-41d20711f48a h1:LsADP4IZfGAS55b8HTYtxgqIynWR92GVMyi002XkNeo=
+github.com/jpinsonneau/flowlogs-pipeline v0.1.9-rc1.0.20251001081611-41d20711f48a/go.mod h1:9rG9AeMpoh5LIkjgXpRjvjE7DI3gwvAsVqTJIsWRqZk=
 github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12 h1:PV8peI4a0ysnczrg+LtxykD8LfKY9ML6u2jnxaEnrnM=
 github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12/go.mod h1:e30LSqwooZae/UwlEbR2852Gd8hjQvJoHmT4TnhNGBo=
 github.com/kisielk/errcheck v1.5.0/go.mod h1:pFxgyoBC7bSaBwPgfKdkLd5X25qrDl4LWUI2bnpBCr8=
@@ -103,8 +105,6 @@ github.com/munnerz/goautoneg v0.0.0-20191010083416-a7dc8b61c822 h1:C3w9PqII01/Oq
 github.com/munnerz/goautoneg v0.0.0-20191010083416-a7dc8b61c822/go.mod h1:+n7T8mK8HuQTcFwEeznm/DIxMOiR9yIdICNftLE1DvQ=
 github.com/mwitkow/go-conntrack v0.0.0-20190716064945-2f068394615f h1:KUppIJq7/+SVif2QVs3tOP0zanoHgBEVAwHxUSIzRqU=
 github.com/mwitkow/go-conntrack v0.0.0-20190716064945-2f068394615f/go.mod h1:qRWi+5nqEBWmkhHvq77mSJWrCKwh8bxhgT7d/eI7P4U=
-github.com/netobserv/flowlogs-pipeline v1.9.2-community h1:RYwbuxFCghfTyufn1QiSo2TPWeb69pg2SvQorglwFnc=
-github.com/netobserv/flowlogs-pipeline v1.9.2-community/go.mod h1:shv+KbOGiM2IYWPQWjVOcuaXu/y/ZdBIem59wLAVQ/M=
 github.com/netobserv/netobserv-ebpf-agent v1.9.2-community h1:ghW16OO4QRWj0Uh1gMYX+NjAlgx2sZmCsO3Tkwoj4Do=
 github.com/netobserv/netobserv-ebpf-agent v1.9.2-community/go.mod h1:17OaUNAwx0LxoeV/SaHlJIJP6bpN7zSvUP3GtZelESQ=
 github.com/netsampler/goflow2 v1.3.7 h1:XZaTy8kkMnGXpJ9hS3KbO1McyrFTpVNhVFEx9rNhMmc=
@@ -126,8 +126,8 @@ github.com/prashantv/gostub v1.1.0 h1:BTyx3RfQjRHnUWaGF9oQos79AlQ5k8WNktv7VGvVH4
 github.com/prashantv/gostub v1.1.0/go.mod h1:A5zLQHz7ieHGG7is6LLXLz7I8+3LZzsrV0P1IAHhP5U=
 github.com/prometheus-operator/prometheus-operator/pkg/apis/monitoring v0.85.0 h1:oY+F5FZFmCjCyzkHWPjVQpzvnvEB/0FP+iyzDUUlqFc=
 github.com/prometheus-operator/prometheus-operator/pkg/apis/monitoring v0.85.0/go.mod h1:VB7wtBmDT6W2RJHzsvPZlBId+EnmeQA0d33fFTXvraM=
-github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.23.0 h1:ust4zpdl9r4trLY/gSjlm07PuiBq2ynaXXlptpfy8Uc=
-github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.23.0/go.mod h1:i/o0R9ByOnHX0McrTMTyhYvKE4haaf2mW08I+jGAjEE=
+github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.23.2 h1:Je96obch5RDVy3FDMndoUsjAhG5Edi49h0RJWRi/o0o=
+github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.23.2/go.mod h1:Tb1a6LWHB3/SPIzCoaDXI4I8UHKeFTEQ1YCr+0Gyqmg=
 github.com/prometheus/client_model v0.6.2 h1:oBsgwpGs7iVziMvrGhE53c/GrLUsZdHnqNwqPLxwZyk=
 github.com/prometheus/client_model v0.6.2/go.mod h1:y3m2F6Gdpfy6Ut/GBsUqTWZqCUvMVzSfMLjcu6wAwpE=
 github.com/prometheus/common v0.66.1 h1:h5E0h5/Y8niHc5DlaLlWLArTQI7tMrsfQjHV+d9ZoGs=
@@ -137,23 +137,23 @@ github.com/prometheus/procfs v0.17.0/go.mod h1:oPQLaDAMRbA+u8H5Pbfq+dl3VDAvHxMUO
 github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.13.1 h1:KvO1DLK/DRN07sQ1LQKScxyZJuNnedQ5/wKSR38lUII=
 github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.13.1/go.mod h1:uMEvuHeurkdAXX61udpOXGD/AzZDWNMNyH2VO9fmH0o=
 github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.1.0/go.mod h1:+Rmxgy9KzJVeS9/2gXHxylqXiyQDYRxCVz55jmeOWTM=
-github.com/sagikazarmark/locafero v0.9.0 h1:GbgQGNtTrEmddYDSAH9QLRyfAHY12md+8YFTqyMTC9k=
-github.com/sagikazarmark/locafero v0.9.0/go.mod h1:UBUyz37V+EdMS3hDF3QWIiVr/2dPrx49OMO0Bn0hJqk=
+github.com/sagikazarmark/locafero v0.11.0 h1:1iurJgmM9G3PA/I+wWYIOw/5SyBtxapeHDcg+AAIFXc=
+github.com/sagikazarmark/locafero v0.11.0/go.mod h1:nVIGvgyzw595SUSUE6tvCp3YYTeHs15MvlmU87WwIik=
 github.com/sirupsen/logrus v1.9.3 h1:dueUQJ1C2q9oE3F7wvmSGAaVtTmUizReu6fjN8uqzbQ=
 github.com/sirupsen/logrus v1.9.3/go.mod h1:naHLuLoDiP4jHNo9R0sCBMtWGeIprob74mVsIT4qYEQ=
-github.com/sourcegraph/conc v0.3.0 h1:OQTbbt6P72L20UqAkXXuLOj79LfEanQ+YQFNpLA9ySo=
-github.com/sourcegraph/conc v0.3.0/go.mod h1:Sdozi7LEKbFPqYX2/J+iBAM6HpqSLTASQIKqDmF7Mt0=
-github.com/spf13/afero v1.14.0 h1:9tH6MapGnn/j0eb0yIXiLjERO8RB6xIVZRDCX7PtqWA=
-github.com/spf13/afero v1.14.0/go.mod h1:acJQ8t0ohCGuMN3O+Pv0V0hgMxNYDlvdk+VTfyZmbYo=
-github.com/spf13/cast v1.7.1 h1:cuNEagBQEHWN1FnbGEjCXL2szYEXqfJPbP2HNUaca9Y=
-github.com/spf13/cast v1.7.1/go.mod h1:ancEpBxwJDODSW/UG4rDrAqiKolqNNh2DX3mk86cAdo=
+github.com/sourcegraph/conc v0.3.1-0.20240121214520-5f936abd7ae8 h1:+jumHNA0Wrelhe64i8F6HNlS8pkoyMv5sreGx2Ry5Rw=
+github.com/sourcegraph/conc v0.3.1-0.20240121214520-5f936abd7ae8/go.mod h1:3n1Cwaq1E1/1lhQhtRK2ts/ZwZEhjcQeJQ1RuC6Q/8U=
+github.com/spf13/afero v1.15.0 h1:b/YBCLWAJdFWJTN9cLhiXXcD7mzKn9Dm86dNnfyQw1I=
+github.com/spf13/afero v1.15.0/go.mod h1:NC2ByUVxtQs4b3sIUphxK0NioZnmxgyCrfzeuq8lxMg=
+github.com/spf13/cast v1.10.0 h1:h2x0u2shc1QuLHfxi+cTJvs30+ZAHOGRic8uyGTDWxY=
+github.com/spf13/cast v1.10.0/go.mod h1:jNfB8QC9IA6ZuY2ZjDp0KtFO2LZZlg4S/7bzP6qqeHo=
 github.com/spf13/cobra v1.9.1 h1:CXSaggrXdbHK9CF+8ywj8Amf7PBRmPCOJugH954Nnlo=
 github.com/spf13/cobra v1.9.1/go.mod h1:nDyEzZ8ogv936Cinf6g1RU9MRY64Ir93oCnqb9wxYW0=
 github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.6/go.mod h1:McXfInJRrz4CZXVZOBLb0bTZqETkiAhM9Iw0y3An2Bg=
-github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.9 h1:9exaQaMOCwffKiiiYk6/BndUBv+iRViNW+4lEMi0PvY=
-github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.9/go.mod h1:McXfInJRrz4CZXVZOBLb0bTZqETkiAhM9Iw0y3An2Bg=
-github.com/spf13/viper v1.20.1 h1:ZMi+z/lvLyPSCoNtFCpqjy0S4kPbirhpTMwl8BkW9X4=
-github.com/spf13/viper v1.20.1/go.mod h1:P9Mdzt1zoHIG8m2eZQinpiBjo6kCmZSKBClNNqjJvu4=
+github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.10 h1:4EBh2KAYBwaONj6b2Ye1GiHfwjqyROoF4RwYO+vPwFk=
+github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.10/go.mod h1:McXfInJRrz4CZXVZOBLb0bTZqETkiAhM9Iw0y3An2Bg=
+github.com/spf13/viper v1.21.0 h1:x5S+0EU27Lbphp4UKm1C+1oQO+rKx36vfCoaVebLFSU=
+github.com/spf13/viper v1.21.0/go.mod h1:P0lhsswPGWD/1lZJ9ny3fYnVqxiegrlNrEmgLjbTCAY=
 github.com/stoewer/go-strcase v1.3.1 h1:iS0MdW+kVTxgMoE1LAZyMiYJFKlOzLooE4MxjirtkAs=
 github.com/stoewer/go-strcase v1.3.1/go.mod h1:fAH5hQ5pehh+j3nZfvwdk2RgEgQjAoM8wodgtPmh1xo=
 github.com/stretchr/objx v0.1.0/go.mod h1:HFkY916IF+rwdDfMAkV7OtwuqBVzrE8GR6GFx+wExME=
@@ -258,8 +258,8 @@ google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/api v0.0.0-20250707201910-8d1bb00bc6a7 h1:
 google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/api v0.0.0-20250707201910-8d1bb00bc6a7/go.mod h1:kXqgZtrWaf6qS3jZOCnCH7WYfrvFjkC51bM8fz3RsCA=
 google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20250707201910-8d1bb00bc6a7 h1:pFyd6EwwL2TqFf8emdthzeX+gZE1ElRq3iM8pui4KBY=
 google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20250707201910-8d1bb00bc6a7/go.mod h1:qQ0YXyHHx3XkvlzUtpXDkS29lDSafHMZBAZDc03LQ3A=
-google.golang.org/grpc v1.75.0 h1:+TW+dqTd2Biwe6KKfhE5JpiYIBWq865PhKGSXiivqt4=
-google.golang.org/grpc v1.75.0/go.mod h1:JtPAzKiq4v1xcAB2hydNlWI2RnF85XXcV0mhKXr2ecQ=
+google.golang.org/grpc v1.75.1 h1:/ODCNEuf9VghjgO3rqLcfg8fiOP0nSluljWFlDxELLI=
+google.golang.org/grpc v1.75.1/go.mod h1:JtPAzKiq4v1xcAB2hydNlWI2RnF85XXcV0mhKXr2ecQ=
 google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.8 h1:xHScyCOEuuwZEc6UtSOvPbAT4zRh0xcNRYekJwfqyMc=
 google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.8/go.mod h1:fuxRtAxBytpl4zzqUh6/eyUujkJdNiuEkXntxiD/uRU=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=

helm/crds/flows.netobserv.io_flowmetrics.yaml

@@ -180,6 +180,9 @@ spec:
                   items:
                     type: string
                   type: array
+                help:
+                  description: Help text of the metric, as it appears in Prometheus.
+                  type: string
                 labels:
                   description: |-
                     `labels` is a list of fields that should be used as Prometheus labels, also known as dimensions (for example: `SrcK8S_Namespace`).

internal/controller/flp/flp_pipeline_builder.go

@@ -409,6 +409,7 @@ func flowMetricToFLP(fm *metricslatest.FlowMetric) (*api.MetricsItem, error) {
 	m := &api.MetricsItem{
 		Name:     metricName,
 		Type:     api.MetricEncodeOperationEnum(strings.ToLower(string(fm.Spec.Type))),
+		Help:     fm.Spec.Help,
 		Filters:  []api.MetricsFilter{},
 		Labels:   fm.Spec.Labels,
 		Remap:    remap,

internal/pkg/helper/otel/otel_config.go

@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ func GetOtelMetrics(flpMetrics []api.MetricsItem) ([]api.MetricsItem, error) {
 		otelMetrics = append(otelMetrics, api.MetricsItem{
 			Name:       convertToOtelLabel(otelRules, m.Name),
 			Type:       m.Type,
+			Help:       m.Help,
 			Filters:    convertToOtelFilters(otelRules, m.Filters),
 			ValueKey:   convertToOtelLabel(otelRules, m.ValueKey),
 			Labels:     convertToOtelLabels(otelRules, m.Labels),

internal/pkg/metrics/predefined_metrics.go

@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ func init() {
 					FlowMetricSpec: metricslatest.FlowMetricSpec{
 						MetricName: fmt.Sprintf("%s_%s_%s_total", groupTrimmed, lowDir, vt),
 						Type:       metricslatest.CounterMetric,
+						Help:       fmt.Sprintf("Total %s per %s in %s direction", vt, groupTrimmed, lowDir),
 						ValueField: valueField,
 						Direction:  dir,
 						Labels:     labels,
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@ func init() {
 			FlowMetricSpec: metricslatest.FlowMetricSpec{
 				MetricName: fmt.Sprintf("%s_sampling", groupTrimmed),
 				Type:       metricslatest.GaugeMetric,
+				Help:       fmt.Sprintf("Sampling per %s", groupTrimmed),
 				ValueField: "Sampling",
 				Labels:     labels,
 			},
@@ -80,6 +82,7 @@ func init() {
 			FlowMetricSpec: metricslatest.FlowMetricSpec{
 				MetricName: fmt.Sprintf("%s_flows_total", groupTrimmed),
 				Type:       "counter",
+				Help:       fmt.Sprintf("Total flows per %s", groupTrimmed),
 				Labels:     labels,
 			},
 			tags: []string{group, group + "-flows", "flows"},
@@ -93,6 +96,7 @@ func init() {
 			FlowMetricSpec: metricslatest.FlowMetricSpec{
 				MetricName: fmt.Sprintf("%s_rtt_seconds", groupTrimmed),
 				Type:       metricslatest.HistogramMetric,
+				Help:       fmt.Sprintf("Round-trip time latency in seconds per %s", groupTrimmed),
 				ValueField: "TimeFlowRttNs",
 				Filters: []metricslatest.MetricFilter{
 					{Field: "TimeFlowRttNs", MatchType: metricslatest.MatchPresence},
@@ -115,6 +119,7 @@ func init() {
 			FlowMetricSpec: metricslatest.FlowMetricSpec{
 				MetricName: fmt.Sprintf("%s_drop_packets_total", groupTrimmed),
 				Type:       metricslatest.CounterMetric,
+				Help:       fmt.Sprintf("Total dropped packets per %s", groupTrimmed),
 				ValueField: "PktDropPackets",
 				Filters: []metricslatest.MetricFilter{
 					{Field: "PktDropPackets", MatchType: metricslatest.MatchPresence},
@@ -128,6 +133,7 @@ func init() {
 			FlowMetricSpec: metricslatest.FlowMetricSpec{
 				MetricName: fmt.Sprintf("%s_drop_bytes_total", groupTrimmed),
 				Type:       metricslatest.CounterMetric,
+				Help:       fmt.Sprintf("Total dropped bytes per %s", groupTrimmed),
 				ValueField: "PktDropBytes",
 				Filters: []metricslatest.MetricFilter{
 					{Field: "PktDropBytes", MatchType: metricslatest.MatchPresence},
@@ -148,6 +154,7 @@ func init() {
 			FlowMetricSpec: metricslatest.FlowMetricSpec{
 				MetricName: fmt.Sprintf("%s_dns_latency_seconds", groupTrimmed),
 				Type:       metricslatest.HistogramMetric,
+				Help:       fmt.Sprintf("DNS latency in seconds per %s", groupTrimmed),
 				ValueField: "DnsLatencyMs",
 				Filters: []metricslatest.MetricFilter{
 					{Field: "DnsId", MatchType: metricslatest.MatchPresence},
@@ -171,6 +178,7 @@ func init() {
 			FlowMetricSpec: metricslatest.FlowMetricSpec{
 				MetricName: fmt.Sprintf("%s_network_policy_events_total", groupTrimmed),
 				Type:       "counter",
+				Help:       fmt.Sprintf("Total network policy events per %s", groupTrimmed),
 				Labels:     netpolLabels,
 				Filters:    []metricslatest.MetricFilter{{Field: "NetworkEvents>Feature", Value: "acl"}},
 				Flatten:    []string{"NetworkEvents"},
@@ -197,6 +205,7 @@ func init() {
 			FlowMetricSpec: metricslatest.FlowMetricSpec{
 				MetricName: fmt.Sprintf("%s_ipsec_flows_total", groupTrimmed),
 				Type:       metricslatest.CounterMetric,
+				Help:       fmt.Sprintf("Total IPsec encrypted flows per %s", groupTrimmed),
 				Filters:    []metricslatest.MetricFilter{{Field: "IPSecStatus", MatchType: metricslatest.MatchPresence}},
 				Labels:     ipsecLabels,
 				Charts:     ipsecStatusChart(group),
@@ -209,6 +218,7 @@ func init() {
 		FlowMetricSpec: metricslatest.FlowMetricSpec{
 			MetricName: "node_to_node_ingress_flows_total",
 			Type:       metricslatest.CounterMetric,
+			Help:       "Total ingress flows between nodes",
 			Labels:     mapLabels[tagNodes],
 			Filters: []metricslatest.MetricFilter{
 				{Field: "FlowDirection", Value: "2", MatchType: metricslatest.MatchNotEqual},