Filter Metric Name

Filters metrics out of a pipeline by matching on the metric name. Choose whether matches are excluded (dropped) or included (kept while everything else is dropped), and whether names are matched exactly (strict) or by regular expression (regexp). Operates on metrics only.

Supported Telemetry Types

Metrics	Logs	Traces
✓

Configuration

Metrics

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Action	Enum: include, exclude	No	exclude	What to do with metrics that match. exclude drops matching metrics. include keeps matching metrics and drops everything that does not match.
Match Type	Enum: strict, regexp	No	strict	How names are compared. strict requires an exact metric-name match. regexp uses re2 to match the metric name.
Metrics	Strings	Yes	(empty)	List of metric names to match against. With regexp, each entry is a re2 pattern. All matches are acted on per the Action.

Examples

Exclude host metrics by regular expression

Drop all metrics whose name begins with system.network. and any k8s.node. metric, leaving the rest of the pipeline untouched.

apiVersion: bindplane.observiq.com/v1
kind: Processor
metadata:
  name: filter-metric-name
spec:
  type: filter_metric_name
  parameters:
    - name: action
      value: exclude
    - name: match_type
      value: regexp
    - name: metric_names
      value:
        - "system.network\\..*"
        - "k8s.node\\..*"

Keep only specific metrics by exact name

Keep only the three named metrics and drop everything else from the pipeline.

apiVersion: bindplane.observiq.com/v1
kind: Processor
metadata:
  name: filter-metric-name
spec:
  type: filter_metric_name
  parameters:
    - name: action
      value: include
    - name: match_type
      value: strict
    - name: metric_names
      value:
        - system.cpu.utilization
        - system.memory.usage
        - k8s.pod.memory.usage

Configuration Tips

• include is an allow-list: any metric not listed is dropped. exclude is a deny-list: only listed metrics are dropped. Reach for include when you want to keep a small, known set, and exclude when you want to drop a few noisy metrics from an otherwise-complete stream.
• With strict match type each entry must be the full metric name. With regexp each entry is a re2 pattern; anchor patterns (for example ^system\.cpu\.) when you want to avoid unintended partial matches.
• Strict matching is a simple set lookup and is effectively free. Regexp matching compiles and evaluates a pattern against every metric name flowing through the pipeline, so prefer strict matching, keep the pattern list short, and write specific patterns when filtering high-cardinality or high-throughput metric streams.

Troubleshooting

Metrics are not being filtered

Symptoms: matching metrics still arrive at the destination.

Solutions:

1. Confirm the Action is what you intend. exclude drops matches, include drops everything that does not match.
2. With strict match type the metric name must match exactly, including casing and the full dotted name. Switch to regexp if you need pattern matching.

Too many metrics are being dropped

Symptoms: metrics you expected to keep are missing from the destination.

Solutions:

1. With include, every metric not in the list is dropped by design. Add the metrics you want to keep to the Metrics list, or switch to exclude.
2. With regexp, an unanchored pattern can match more names than intended. Anchor the pattern (for example ^k8s\.node\.) and test it against the actual metric names.

Regular expression matches nothing

Symptoms: a regexp filter has no effect.

Solutions:

1. Bindplane uses re2 syntax, which does not support lookahead or backreferences. Rewrite unsupported constructs.
2. Remember that . matches any character. Escape literal dots in metric names (system\.cpu\.utilization) so the pattern matches only the intended names.

Standalone Processor

apiVersion: bindplane.observiq.com/v1
kind: Processor
metadata:
  name: filter-metric-name
spec:
  type: filter_metric_name
  parameters:
    - name: action
      value: exclude
    - name: match_type
      value: regexp
    - name: metric_names
      value:
        - "system.network\\..*"
        - "k8s.node\\..*"

Related Resources

• Filter Processor — OpenTelemetry Collector Contrib reference
• re2 regular-expression syntax