Metrics Extension

The metrics extension surfaces Prometheus metrics directly inside ArgoCD’s resource detail views. Developers can see CPU, memory, network, container-level breakdowns, and custom metrics for their Deployments, StatefulSets, and Pods without leaving ArgoCD.

Registration

The extension registers as:

• Resource tab on apps/Deployment, apps/StatefulSet, and core Pod resources
• App view in the application detail for namespace-wide metrics and a query builder

What it shows

Resource tab (per-resource)

When viewing a Deployment, StatefulSet, or Pod, the Metrics tab shows:

• Instant summary cards (CPU, Memory, Network RX/TX, Restarts)
• Config-driven charts organized in tabs (e.g., “Resource Usage”, “Container Breakdown”)
• Per-pod and per-container breakdowns via configurable PromQL
• Pod details table with per-pod instant metrics

Charts are rendered with recharts: responsive width, synchronized hover across all charts, dark tooltip overlay, and clickable legend to toggle series.

App view

The application-level view provides:

• Namespace-wide summary metrics
• Same config-driven dashboard with tabs
• Interactive Query Builder for custom PromQL (visual builder and raw mode)
• Pod details table

Default dashboards

Without any custom config, the extension ships built-in dashboards:

Deployments and StatefulSets:

Pods:

For pods, metrics are always broken down by container (not summed) so you can see sidecar vs app container resource usage.

Custom dashboards

Dashboards are fully customizable via a JSON config file mounted as a ConfigMap. This lets you add custom PromQL queries, organize metrics into tabs, define per-application dashboards, and add Golden Signal or SLO graphs.

Config format

{
  "applications": [
    {
      "name": "default",
      "default": true,
      "dashboards": [
        {
          "groupKind": "deployment",
          "tabs": ["Resource Usage", "Golden Signal"],
          "intervals": ["1h", "6h", "24h", "7d"],
          "rows": [
            {
              "name": "cpu-memory",
              "title": "CPU & Memory",
              "tab": "Resource Usage",
              "graphs": [
                {
                  "name": "cpu-by-pod",
                  "title": "CPU Usage",
                  "description": "CPU usage per pod",
                  "graphType": "line",
                  "metricName": "pod",
                  "queryExpression": "sum by (pod) (rate(container_cpu_usage_seconds_total{namespace="{{.namespace}}",pod=~"{{.name}}",container!=""}[5m])) * 1000",
                  "yAxisUnit": "millicores"
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Template variables

PromQL query expressions support Go text/template syntax. All URL query parameters are available as variables:

Config structure

Deploying a custom config

1. Create a ConfigMap with your config:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: argoplane-metrics-config
  namespace: argocd
data:
  config.json: |
    {
      "applications": [
        {
          "name": "default",
          "default": true,
          "dashboards": [ ... ]
        }
      ]
    }

2. Mount the ConfigMap and set CONFIG_PATH in the metrics backend deployment:

env:
  - name: CONFIG_PATH
    value: "/app/config.json"
volumeMounts:
  - name: dashboard-config
    mountPath: /app/config.json
    subPath: config.json
    readOnly: true
volumes:
  - name: dashboard-config
    configMap:
      name: argoplane-metrics-config

3. The backend reads the config on startup. Restart the pod to pick up changes.

Per-application dashboards

You can define different dashboards for different ArgoCD applications. The backend matches by application name and falls back to the entry with "default": true.

{
  "applications": [
    {
      "name": "my-api",
      "dashboards": [
        {
          "groupKind": "deployment",
          "tabs": ["Resource Usage", "HTTP Metrics"],
          "rows": [ ... ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "default",
      "default": true,
      "dashboards": [ ... ]
    }
  ]
}

Backend configuration

Proxy configuration

In deploy/argocd/proxy-extensions.json:

{
  "extension.config.metrics": "services:\n- url: http://argoplane-metrics-backend.argocd.svc:8080\n"
}

RBAC

p, role:developer, extensions, invoke, metrics, allow