> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bronto.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Send Metrics to Bronto

> Send OpenTelemetry metrics to Bronto using OTLP over HTTP, exported directly from an OTel SDK or routed through an OpenTelemetry Collector.

Bronto accepts OpenTelemetry metrics over OTLP/HTTP. You can export metrics directly from an OpenTelemetry SDK or route them through an OpenTelemetry Collector before forwarding them to Bronto.

<Note>
  OTLP metrics ingestion is in public beta.
</Note>

Bronto recommends enabling logs, metrics, and traces together so every service has a consistent telemetry pipeline. If you only need metrics, OpenTelemetry lets you enable the metrics exporter and pipeline independently.

## Supported metric types

| OpenTelemetry metric type | Support                 |
| ------------------------- | ----------------------- |
| Gauge                     | Supported               |
| Sum, including counters   | Supported               |
| Summary                   | Supported               |
| Explicit-bucket histogram | Supported               |
| Exponential histogram     | Not currently supported |

Bronto supports ingestion of sum and histogram metrics as delta or cumulative. Delta is strongly recommended to get the best value from the current set of supported functions.

<Warning>
  The Metric Explorer does not currently provide a Rate function. To visualize a rate, emit a rate metric from the source or precompute it in your telemetry pipeline before exporting it to Bronto.
</Warning>

## Prerequisites

Before you begin, you need:

* a Bronto API key with ingestion permissions
* your Bronto region: `eu` or `us`
* an application instrumented with an OpenTelemetry metrics SDK, or an OpenTelemetry Collector receiving metrics

## Endpoint and authentication

Use the metrics endpoint for your Bronto region:

| Region | Metrics endpoint                            |
| ------ | ------------------------------------------- |
| EU     | `https://ingestion.eu.bronto.io/v1/metrics` |
| US     | `https://ingestion.us.bronto.io/v1/metrics` |

Both endpoints accept OTLP/HTTP protobuf over HTTPS on port `443`. Every request must include:

```text theme={"dark"}
x-bronto-api-key: <YOUR_API_KEY>
```

## Send metrics through an OpenTelemetry Collector

Configure an OTLP receiver and an OTLP/HTTP exporter that targets the Bronto metrics endpoint:

<Note>
  The example uses the standard Collector receiver ports: `4317` for OTLP/gRPC and `4318` for OTLP/HTTP. A same-host application typically exports OTLP/HTTP metrics to `http://localhost:4318/v1/metrics`; replace the host, port, protocol, and TLS settings when your deployment differs.
</Note>

```yaml otel-config.yaml theme={"dark"}
receivers:
  otlp:
    protocols:
      grpc:
        endpoint: 0.0.0.0:4317
      http:
        endpoint: 0.0.0.0:4318

processors:
  batch:
  cumulativetodelta:
    initial_value: drop

exporters:
  otlphttp/brontometrics:
    metrics_endpoint: https://ingestion.<REGION>.bronto.io/v1/metrics
    compression: gzip
    headers:
      x-bronto-api-key: <YOUR_API_KEY>

service:
  pipelines:
    metrics:
      receivers: [otlp]
      processors: [cumulativetodelta, batch]
      exporters: [otlphttp/brontometrics]
```

Replace `<REGION>` with `eu` or `us`.

If your Collector also sends logs and traces, add the Bronto metrics exporter to its `metrics` pipeline and keep the existing signal pipelines. Each signal uses its own endpoint.

## Send metrics directly from an SDK

For SDKs that support OTLP/HTTP configuration through environment variables:

```bash theme={"dark"}
export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_ENDPOINT="https://ingestion.<REGION>.bronto.io/v1/metrics"
export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_HEADERS="x-bronto-api-key=<YOUR_API_KEY>"
export OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER="otlp"
export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL="http/protobuf"
```

Configure a meter provider and periodic metric reader in your application. Use the [language-specific OpenTelemetry guides](/opentelemetry/overview) for SDK setup.

## Resource attributes

Set resource attributes once and share them across logs, metrics, and traces:

```bash theme={"dark"}
export OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES="service.name=checkout,service.namespace=production,deployment.environment.name=production"
```

At minimum, set `service.name` so metrics can be associated with the service that emitted them.

## Verify metric delivery

1. Open **Metric Explorer** in Bronto.
2. Select a recently emitted metric.
3. Confirm its service and resource attributes are present.
4. Compare the latest timestamp with the export interval configured in your SDK or Collector.

## Troubleshooting

If metrics do not appear:

* confirm the endpoint matches your Bronto region and ends in `/v1/metrics`
* confirm the `x-bronto-api-key` header is present
* confirm the Collector has an enabled `metrics` pipeline
* check that the SDK has a metric reader and exporter configured
* check Collector logs for rejected exponential histograms
* allow at least one SDK export interval before checking Metric Explorer

For a combined logs, metrics, and traces setup, see [Connect OpenTelemetry Collector to Bronto](/agent-setup/open-telemetry).

## Further reading

* [OpenTelemetry metrics concepts](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/concepts/signals/metrics/)
* [OpenTelemetry OTLP exporter configuration](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/languages/sdk-configuration/otlp-exporter/)
* [Explore Metrics](/metrics/explore-metrics) — query, visualize, export, and monitor metrics after ingestion