[Yandex Cloud documentation](../../../index.md) > [Yandex Monitoring](../../index.md) > [Step-by-step guides](../index.md) > Working with metrics > Metrics overview

# Viewing metrics in Yandex Monitoring

In **Metrics**, you can flexibly manage metric visualization and analyze various metrics of your infrastructure and applications in real time.

The charts you create in this section are not saved. They are used for real-time monitoring. If you need to access specific charts from time to time, save them to your [dashboard](#add-to-dashboard).

## Building charts based on metrics {#add-graph}

For information on how to build charts based on Prometheus metrics, see [this article](../prometheus/querying/monitoring.md).

1. Open the [service home page](https://monitoring.yandex.cloud).
1. Select **Metrics** on the left.
1. In the query string, select the service for which you want to view metrics.
1. Specify the [metrics and labels](../../concepts/data-model.md) of the service (tokens) to plot on the chart.

   You can select tokens with your cursor from the drop-down lists in the query string or by typing the first letters of the token name.
   
   To view query string hotkey tooltips, click **Search hotkey: Cmd/Ctrl + Enter**.

1. To visualize a modified metric on the chart, select [functions](../../concepts/querying.md#functions) in ![image](../../../_assets/monitoring/function.svg).
1. To display another metric on the chart, click **Add query** and enter the metric and label values.
   
   Hide any intermediate queries used for calculating another query on the chart. To do this, click ![image](../../../_assets/monitoring/concepts/visualization/chart-query-hide.svg) next to the query.
1. Click **Execute query** or press **Cmd/Ctrl + Enter**.

{% note tip %}

Hover over a specific point of the chart to view the date, time, and metrics. If the list of metrics does not fit into the tooltip window, click the point on the chart and scroll through the metric list.

{% endnote %}

## Selecting a time interval

You can set the time interval for displaying metrics in one of the following ways:

* At the top of the page, click:
  * **Last hour** to flexibly set the date and time in the drop-down list.
  * **<** or **>** to move one hour forward or backward on the timescale.
  * **1h**, **1d**, **1w**, or **1M** to show metrics for the last hour, day, week, or month, respectively, on the chart. In the field next to it, you can specify your own time interval, e.g., `15m`.
* At the top right of the chart panel, click **+** or **–**.
* Select an area on the chart and click **Go to selected window**.

## Customizing chart visualization {#set-graph}

1. At the top right of the chart panel, click ![image](../../../_assets/console-icons/gear.svg).
1. Under **General**, set the chart title and description.
1. Under **Visualization**, configure the following:
   1. **Chart type**: Select one of the metric display options: line chart, shaded areas, bar chart, scatter chart, pie chart, or tile chart.
   1. **Color scheme**: Chart [line colors](../../concepts/visualization/widget.md#color-schemes). 
   
      To maintain consistent colors for lines with the same names across various charts, select **Line name**.

      For lines exceeding a threshold value to be highlighted with that threshold's color, select **By threshold** and configure thresholds.

   1. **Normalize**: Normalizing all data to a range of 0 to 100%.
   1. **Interpolation**: Method of filling the data gap between two points, such as linear interpolation, forward fill, or backward fill.
1. Under **Left Y axis** and **Right Y axis**, set the title, scale, minimum and maximum values, units, and number of decimal places.
1. Under **Downsampling**, configure the [read data aggregation](../../concepts/decimation.md#reading-decimation) option.
1. Under **Thresholds**, specify one or more values. These values will be used to create straight lines on the chart for a visual reference as to which metrics are above or below the thresholds. You can customize the color for each line or leave the defaults.
1. When you are done configuring the chart, close the settings panel. The chart displays all changes as soon as you make them.

## Reviewing the chart data {#graph-exploring}

To view the chart legend:

1. At the top right of the chart panel, click ![image](../../../_assets/console-icons/ellipsis.svg).
1. Select **Show legend**.
1. To highlight the chart for a specific value, hover over its name in the legend.

To view the legend and statistics for a particular time point:

1. Select the point on the chart.
1. In the information window, check the values for different labels at that time point.
1. To sort the values, click the **Name** or **Value** column.
1. Click ![image](../../../_assets/console-icons/ellipsis.svg) and select **Go to line** to open a separate chart for a specific value.

To view the legend and statistics for a time interval:

1. Select an area on the chart.
1. In the information window, view the statistics for the metrics within the selected interval.
1. If needed, sort by minimum value, maximum value, average value, or other parameters.
1. Click ![image](../../../_assets/console-icons/ellipsis.svg) and select **Go to line** to open a separate chart for a specific value.

## Viewing metrics in numeric format {#view-source}

1. To view the numeric values of the metrics, click **Raw data** under the chart.
  
   It will give you a list of data for all the time points with collected metrics. To change the period, select the time interval you need at the top.

1. To view statistics for the metrics (minimum and maximum values, sum, etc.), click **Pivot table**.

1. To save the pivot table data, click **Copy as CSV** on the right.
   
## Splitting a chart by a parameter {#repeated-graphs}

1. Select the metrics and [build a chart](#add-graph).
1. Under the chart, click **Chart split**.
1. Select the parameters you want plotted:
   * **Split by label**: Parameter for additional charts. These can be charts for different services, hosts, or processors, i.e., tokens selected in the query.
   * **Display**: Number of highest values and lowest values on the chart.
   * **Sort by**: Sorting by minimum, maximum, or average value of the selected parameter.
   * **Graphs in row**: Number of charts on a single line.
1. Click **Execute**.

Select different parameter values and you will see the charts updated to reflect your selection.

## Adding a chart to a dashboard and sharing a chart {#add-to-dashboard}

To add a chart to a dashboard:

1. Select the metrics and [build a chart](#add-graph).
1. At the top right, click **Add to dashboard**.
1. Enter a name for your chart.
1. Select a cloud and folder.
1. Select an existing dashboard or create a new one.
1. Select a chart adding option:
   * **Add**: Stay in **Metrics**.
   * **Add and edit**: Go to **Dashboards**. The chart will not be saved in **Metrics**.

The widget on the dashboard will not be linked to the original chart. The changes you make to one will not affect the other.

To share a chart:

1. Select the metrics and [build a chart](#add-graph).
1. At the top right, click ![image](../../../_assets/monitoring/concepts/visualization/share.svg).
1. Specify a time interval for your chart.
1. Click **Copy** to copy the chart link to the clipboard.

## Creating an alert from a query {#create-alert}

1. Select the metrics and [build a chart](#add-graph).
1. In the query panel at the top right, click ![image](../../../_assets/console-icons/ellipsis.svg) and select **Create alert from query** or **Create alert from all queries**.
1. Specify the [alert parameters](../alert/create-alert.md).
1. Click **Create**.

#### See also {#see-also}

[Creating and managing a dashboard in Monitoring](../dashboard/create.md)
[Creating an alert](../alert/create-alert.md)