> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://otel.fyi/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Httpcheck > OpenTelemetry receiver for Httpcheck # Httpcheck Receiver ![Status](https://img.shields.io/badge/status-alpha-red) **Available in:** `contrib`, `k8s` **Maintainers:** [@VenuEmmadi](https://github.com/VenuEmmadi) **Source:** [opentelemetry-collector-contrib](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/tree/main/receiver/httpcheckreceiver) ## Supported Telemetry ![Metrics](https://img.shields.io/badge/metrics-alpha-green) ## Overview This receiver will make a request to the specified `endpoint` using the configured `method`. This scraper generates a metric with a label for each HTTP response status class with a value of `1` if the status code matches the class. For example, the following metrics will be generated if the endpoint returned a `200`: ``` httpcheck.status{http.status_class:1xx, http.status_code:200,...} = 0 httpcheck.status{http.status_class:2xx, http.status_code:200,...} = 1 httpcheck.status{http.status_class:3xx, http.status_code:200,...} = 0 httpcheck.status{http.status_class:4xx, http.status_code:200,...} = 0 httpcheck.status{http.status_class:5xx, http.status_code:200,...} = 0 ``` For HTTPS endpoints, the receiver can collect TLS certificate metrics including the time remaining until certificate expiry. This allows monitoring of certificate expiration alongside HTTP availability. Note that TLS certificate metrics are disabled by default and must be explicitly enabled in the metrics configuration. ## Configuration > **Note:** This receiver was renamed from `httpcheck` to `http_check` to match the snake\_case naming convention. > The deprecated component type `httpcheck` is still accepted as an alias and will log a deprecation warning. The following configuration settings are available: * `targets` (required): The list of targets to be monitored. * `collection_interval` (optional, default = `60s`): This receiver collects metrics on an interval. Valid time units are `ns`, `us` (or `µs`), `ms`, `s`, `m`, `h`. * `initial_delay` (optional, default = `1s`): defines how long this receiver waits before starting. Each target has the following properties: * `endpoint` (optional): A single URL to be monitored. * `endpoints` (optional): A list of URLs to be monitored. * `method` (optional, default: `GET`): The HTTP method used to call the endpoint or endpoints. * `body` (optional): Request body content for POST, PUT, PATCH, and other methods. At least one of `endpoint` or `endpoints` must be specified. Additionally, each target supports the client configuration options of [confighttp]. ### Optional Metrics The receiver provides optional metrics that are disabled by default and can be enabled in the configuration: #### TLS Certificate Monitoring For HTTPS endpoints, TLS certificate metrics can be enabled: ```yaml theme={null} receivers: http_check: metrics: httpcheck.tls.cert_remaining: enabled: true ``` #### Timing Breakdown Metrics For detailed performance analysis, timing breakdown metrics are available: ```yaml theme={null} receivers: http_check: metrics: httpcheck.dns.lookup.duration: enabled: true httpcheck.client.connection.duration: enabled: true httpcheck.tls.handshake.duration: enabled: true httpcheck.client.request.duration: enabled: true httpcheck.duration: enabled: true httpcheck.response.duration: enabled: true ``` These metrics provide detailed timing information for different phases of the HTTP request: * `dns.lookup.duration`: Time spent performing DNS lookup * `client.connection.duration`: Time spent establishing TCP connection * `tls.handshake.duration`: Time spent performing TLS handshake (HTTPS only) * `client.request.duration`: Time spent sending the HTTP request * `response.duration`: Time spent receiving the HTTP response #### Response Validation Metrics For API monitoring and health checks, response validation metrics are available: ```yaml theme={null} receivers: http_check: metrics: httpcheck.validation.passed: enabled: true httpcheck.validation.failed: enabled: true httpcheck.response.size: enabled: true ``` These metrics track validation results with `validation.type` attribute indicating the validation type (contains, json\_path, size, regex). ### Request Body Support The receiver supports sending request bodies for POST, PUT, PATCH, and other HTTP methods: ```yaml theme={null} receivers: http_check: targets: # POST with JSON body - endpoint: "https://api.example.com/users" method: "POST" body: '{"name": "John Doe", "email": "john@example.com"}' # PUT with form data - endpoint: "https://api.example.com/profile" method: "PUT" body: "name=John&email=john@example.com" # PATCH with custom Content-Type - endpoint: "https://api.example.com/settings" method: "PATCH" body: '{"theme": "dark"}' headers: Content-Type: "application/json" Authorization: "Bearer token123" ``` **Content-Type Auto-Detection:** * JSON bodies (starting with `{` or `[`): `application/json` * Form data (containing `=`): `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` * Other content: `text/plain` * Custom headers override auto-detection ### Response Validation The receiver supports response body validation for API monitoring: ```yaml theme={null} receivers: http_check: targets: - endpoint: "https://api.example.com/health" validations: # String matching - contains: "healthy" - not_contains: "error" # JSON path validation using gjson syntax - json_path: "$.status" equals: "ok" - json_path: "$.services[*].status" equals: "up" # Response size validation (bytes) - max_size: 1024 - min_size: 10 # Regex validation - regex: "^HTTP/[0-9.]+ 200" ``` **Validation Types:** * `contains` / `not_contains`: String matching * `json_path` + `equals`: JSON path queries using [gjson syntax](https://github.com/tidwall/gjson) * `max_size` / `min_size`: Response body size limits * `regex`: Regular expression matching ### Example Configuration ```yaml theme={null} receivers: http_check: collection_interval: 30s # Optional: Enable timing breakdown metrics metrics: httpcheck.dns.lookup.duration: enabled: true httpcheck.client.connection.duration: enabled: true httpcheck.tls.handshake.duration: enabled: true httpcheck.client.request.duration: enabled: true httpcheck.response.duration: enabled: true httpcheck.tls.cert_remaining: enabled: true httpcheck.validation.passed: enabled: true httpcheck.validation.failed: enabled: true httpcheck.response.size: enabled: true targets: - method: "GET" endpoints: - "https://opentelemetry.io" - method: "GET" endpoints: - "http://localhost:8080/hello1" - "http://localhost:8080/hello2" headers: Authorization: "Bearer " - method: "GET" endpoint: "http://localhost:8080/hello" headers: Authorization: "Bearer " - method: "POST" endpoint: "https://api.example.com/users" body: '{"name": "Test User", "email": "test@example.com"}' - method: "GET" endpoint: "https://api.example.com/health" validations: - contains: "healthy" - json_path: "$.status" equals: "ok" - max_size: 1024 exporters: debug: verbosity: detailed service: pipelines: metrics: receivers: [http_check] exporters: [debug] ``` ## Metrics Details about the metrics produced by this receiver can be found in [documentation.md](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/tree/main/receiver/httpcheckreceiver/documentation.md) [confighttp]: https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector/tree/main/config/confighttp#client-configuration ## Metrics | Metric Name | Description | Unit | Type | Attributes | | ---------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------- | ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | ❌ `httpcheck.client.connection.duration` | Time spent establishing TCP connection to the endpoint. | ns | Gauge | http.url, network.transport | | ❌ `httpcheck.client.request.duration` | Time spent sending the HTTP request to the endpoint. | ns | Gauge | http.url | | ❌ `httpcheck.dns.lookup.duration` | Time spent performing DNS lookup for the endpoint. | ns | Gauge | http.url | | ✅ `httpcheck.duration` | Measures the duration of the HTTP check. | ms | Gauge | http.url | | ✅ `httpcheck.error` | Records errors occurring during HTTP check. | \{error} | UpDownCounter | http.url, error.message | | ❌ `httpcheck.response.duration` | Time spent receiving the HTTP response from the endpoint. | ns | Gauge | http.url | | ❌ `httpcheck.response.size` | Size of response body in bytes. | By | Gauge | http.url | | ✅ `httpcheck.status` | 1 if the check resulted in status\_code matching the status\_class, otherwise 0. | 1 | UpDownCounter | http.url, http.status\_code, http.method, http.status\_class | | ❌ `httpcheck.tls.cert_remaining` | Time in seconds until certificate expiry, as specified by `NotAfter` field in the x.509 certificate. Negative values represent time in seconds since expiration. | s | Gauge | http.url, http.tls.issuer, http.tls.cn, http.tls.san | | ❌ `httpcheck.tls.handshake.duration` | Time spent performing TLS handshake with the endpoint. | ns | Gauge | http.url | | ❌ `httpcheck.validation.failed` | Number of response validations that failed. | \{validation} | UpDownCounter | http.url, validation.type | | ❌ `httpcheck.validation.passed` | Number of response validations that passed. | \{validation} | UpDownCounter | http.url, validation.type | ## Attributes | Attribute Name | Description | Type | Values | | ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ------ | ------ | | `error.message` | Error message recorded during check | string | | | `http.method` | HTTP request method | string | | | `http.status_class` | HTTP response status class | string | | | `http.status_code` | HTTP response status code | int | | | `http.tls.cn` | The commonName in the subject of the certificate. | string | | | `http.tls.issuer` | The entity that issued the certificate. | string | | | `http.tls.san` | The Subject Alternative Name of the certificate. | slice | | | `http.url` | Full HTTP request URL. | string | | | `network.transport` | OSI transport layer or inter-process communication method. | string | | | `validation.type` | Type of validation performed (contains, json\_path, size, regex) | string | | *** *Last generated: 2026-07-06*