TRON Dashboard Creation

Purpose

Create on-call friendly Grafana dashboards for TRON team services using grafanalib and axon_helpers. Implements Grafana best practices including health overview panels, tiered information design, and service-specific alert annotations.

When NOT to Use

• Generic API dashboards without Kafka consumers (use standard rms_helpers patterns)
• Non-RMS services (use cd/ or common/ helpers)
• Simple metric additions to existing dashboards

Quick Start: Minimal TRON Consumer Dashboard

from grafanalib.core import Template, Threshold
from axon_helpers.graph_helpers import AxonGraph, AxonSingleStat, GenDashboard, UNITS
from axon_helpers.rms_helpers import generate_dashboard_template_values

# Template variable for filtering by deployment type
deployment_type_template = Template(
    name="deployment_type",
    label="Deployment Type",
    type="custom",
    default="All",
    includeAll=False,
    query="All : .*,Internal : .*-internal.*,Customer : .*-customer.*",
    options=[
        {"selected": True, "text": "All", "value": ".*"},
        {"selected": False, "text": "Internal", "value": ".*-internal.*"},
        {"selected": False, "text": "Customer", "value": ".*-customer.*"},
    ],
)

rows = {
    "Health Overview": [
        AxonSingleStat(
            title="Consumer Lag",
            expressions=[{"expr": 'sum(kafka_consumergroup_group_topic_sum_lag{topic="task-events-public",group=~".*taskmetadatasvc-task-event-consumer.*"})'}],
            thresholds=[
                Threshold("green", 0, 0.0),
                Threshold("orange", 1, 2500),
                Threshold("red", 2, 5000),
            ],
            reduceCalc="lastNotNull",
            graphMode="area",
            format="short",
            span=4,
        ),
    ],
}

dashboard = GenDashboard(
    title="My TRON Consumer Dashboard",
    uid="my-tron-consumer-dashboard",
    templating=generate_dashboard_template_values(
        additional_templates_list=[deployment_type_template]
    ),
    rows=rows,
)

Core Workflows

Workflow 1: Health Overview Dashboard (On-Call Triage)

Create a health overview row for instant on-call triage. This follows the KubeCon "Foolproof K8s Dashboards for Sleep-Deprived On-Calls" pattern.

Step 1: Define SLO Thresholds

# Define SLO constants at top of file (not hardcoded in panels)
CUSTOMER_LATENCY_WARNING_MS = 120000   # 2 minutes
CUSTOMER_LATENCY_CRITICAL_MS = 300000  # 5 minutes
CUSTOMER_LAG_WARNING = 2500
CUSTOMER_LAG_CRITICAL = 5000
DLQ_WARNING = 5
DLQ_CRITICAL = 10

Step 2: Create Health Stat Panels

from grafanalib.core import Threshold

def health_stat(title, description, expr, unit, thresholds, span=2):
    """Create a stat panel showing current metric value with thresholds."""
    return AxonSingleStat(
        title=title,
        description=description,
        expressions=[{"expr": expr, "legendFormat": title}],
        thresholds=thresholds,
        reduceCalc="lastNotNull",
        graphMode="area",
        format=unit,
        decimals=1,
        span=span,
    )

# Health Overview panels (6 stat panels + timeline)
health_panels = [
    health_stat(
        title="Overall Health",
        description="Health score 0-100% based on Kafka lag",
        expr='(1 - clamp_max(sum(kafka_consumergroup_group_topic_sum_lag{...}) / 5000, 1)) * 100',
        unit="percent",
        thresholds=[
            Threshold("red", 0, 0.0),
            Threshold("orange", 1, 50.0),
            Threshold("green", 2, 90.0),
        ],
    ),
    health_stat(
        title="Max Latency",
        description="Max consumer latency in minutes",
        expr='max(rms_taskmetadatasvc_task_event_consumer_read_latency{...}) / 60000',
        unit="m",
        thresholds=[
            Threshold("green", 0, 0.0),
            Threshold("orange", 1, 2.0),
            Threshold("red", 2, 5.0),
        ],
    ),
    # ... Consumer Lag, DLQ Rate, Throughput panels
]

Step 3: Add Timeline Graph

timeline = AxonGraph(
    title="Kafka Lag Timeline",
    expressions=[{
        "expr": 'sum(kafka_consumergroup_group_topic_sum_lag{topic="task-events-public",...})',
        "legendFormat": "Total Consumer Lag",
    }],
    thresholds=[
        Threshold("green", 0, 0.0),
        Threshold("orange", 1, float(CUSTOMER_LAG_WARNING)),
        Threshold("red", 2, float(CUSTOMER_LAG_CRITICAL)),
    ],
    thresholdsStyleMode="line+area",
    span=12,
    unit=UNITS.SHORT,
)

Validation:

• Health overview is first row (not collapsed)
• 5-6 stat panels cover: Health, Latency, Lag, DLQ, Throughput
• Thresholds use SLO constants (not hardcoded values)
• Timeline shows historical context

Workflow 2: Consumer Dashboard (Using ConsumerMetrics)

Use the ConsumerMetrics class for standard consumer dashboard sections.

Step 1: Import and Configure

from axon_helpers.rms_helpers import ConsumerMetrics, Query
from axon_helpers.utils import flatten

# Filter tags for internal vs customer
isInternalServiceTag = ', service=~".*-internal.*"'
isCustomerServiceTag = ', service!~".*-internal.*"'
isNotDLQTag = ', is_dlq!="true"'

Step 2: Create Consumer Section

# For Task Metadata Consumer (Internal)
internal_consumer_graphs = flatten(
    ConsumerMetrics(
        service_name="Task Metadata Consumer (Internal)",
        container_name="taskmetadatasvc-task-event-consumer-internal",
        consumer_group=".*taskmetadatasvc-task-event-consumer-internal",
        fetch_latency_query=Query(
            "rms_taskmetadatasvc_task_event_consumer_read_latency",
            additional_expressions=isNotDLQTag + isInternalServiceTag,
        ),
        process_latency_query=Query(
            "rms_taskmetadatasvc_task_event_consumer_sync_latency",
            additional_expressions=isNotDLQTag + isInternalServiceTag,
        ),
        dlq_submitted_query=Query(
            "rms_taskmetadatasvc_task_event_consumer_dlq_submitted_count",
            additional_expressions=isNotDLQTag + isInternalServiceTag,
        ),
        message_volume_query=Query(
            "rms_taskmetadatasvc_task_event_consumer_processed_count",
            additional_expressions=isNotDLQTag + isInternalServiceTag,
        ),
    ).generate_consumer_graphs()
)

Step 3: Add to Dashboard Rows

rows = {
    "Health Overview": health_panels + [timeline],
    "TASK Events: Task Metadata Consumer (Internal)": internal_consumer_graphs,
    "TASK Events: Task Metadata Consumer (Customer)": customer_consumer_graphs,
}

Validation:

• Internal and Customer are separate rows (not combined)
• Proper filter tags applied (isInternalServiceTag, isCustomerServiceTag)
• DLQ metrics excluded from main consumer (is_dlq!="true")

Workflow 3: Alert-Linked Dashboard

Link dashboards to alerts for directed browsing (Grafana best practice).

Step 1: Define Service-Specific Alert Pattern

import grafanalib.core as G

# CRITICAL: Use narrow patterns, NOT generic like ".*[Ll]ag.*"
# Generic patterns match 90+ alerts and create solid annotation blocks
SERVICE_ALERT_PATTERN = (
    "RMS.*TaskMetadataSvc.*|"
    "RMS.*RQ.*Rule.*Manager.*|"
    "RMS.*RuleManager.*"
)

Step 2: Create Alert Annotations

alert_annotations = G.Annotations(
    list=[
        {
            "builtIn": 0,
            "datasource": {"type": "prometheus", "uid": "${DataSource}"},
            "enable": True,
            "expr": f'ALERTS{{alertname=~"{SERVICE_ALERT_PATTERN}", alertstate="firing", axon_cluster=~"$axon_cluster"}}',
            "hide": False,
            "iconColor": "rgba(255, 120, 50, 0.25)",  # Orange with 25% opacity
            "name": "Service Alerts",
            "titleFormat": "{{alertname}}",
            "useValueForTime": False,
        },
    ]
)

Step 3: Apply to Dashboard

dashboard = GenDashboard(
    title="RMS TRON Consumer Dashboard",
    # ... other config
    annotations=alert_annotations,
)

Validation:

• Alert pattern is service-specific (not generic)
• Includes axon_cluster=~"$axon_cluster" for environment filtering
• Icon color has transparency (25% opacity for subtle background)
• Alert annotations appear on relevant panels only

Panel Selection Guide

See PATTERNS.md for complete code examples for each pattern.

Template Variables

Always include these variables:

from axon_helpers.rms_helpers import generate_dashboard_template_values

# Standard RMS template variables
templating = generate_dashboard_template_values(
    additional_templates_list=[
        deployment_type_template,  # Internal vs Customer
        consumer_group_template,   # Kafka consumer group filter
    ]
)

Standard variables provided by generate_dashboard_template_values():

• $DataSource - Prometheus/Cortex datasource
• $axon_cluster - Cluster/environment selector

See REFERENCE.md for custom template variable patterns.

Alert Setup

CRITICAL: Use service-specific patterns, NOT generic patterns

# WRONG - matches 90+ alerts, creates solid annotation blocks
ALERT_PATTERN = ".*[Ll]ag.*"

# CORRECT - matches only TRON service alerts
SERVICE_ALERT_PATTERN = (
    "RMS.*TaskMetadataSvc.*|"
    "RMS.*RQ.*Rule.*Manager.*|"
    "RMS.*RuleManager.*"
)

See ALERTS.md for complete alert annotation patterns and threshold integration.

Row Organization (Best Practice)

rows = {
    # TIER 1: Health Overview - NOT collapsed (on-call triage)
    "Health Overview": health_panels + [timeline],

    # TIER 2: Infrastructure - Collapsed by default
    "Overview: Kafka Infrastructure": kafka_panels,
    "Overview: Consumer Pod Replicas": replica_panels,

    # TIER 3: Service-specific - Collapsed by default
    "TASK Events: Rules Manager Consumers": task_event_panels,
    "TASK Events: Task Metadata Consumer (Internal)": internal_panels,
    "TASK Events: Task Metadata Consumer (Customer)": customer_panels,

    # TIER 4: Advanced/DLQ - Collapsed by default
    "DLQ Processors: All Event Types": dlq_panels,
}

dashboard = GenDashboard(
    rows=rows,
    rows_to_collapse_by_title={
        "Overview: Kafka Infrastructure",
        "Overview: Consumer Pod Replicas",
        "TASK Events: Rules Manager Consumers",
        "DLQ Processors: All Event Types",
    },
)

Common Issues

Issue: Kafka metrics don't filter by $axon_cluster

Cause: Kafka exporter metrics don't have axon_cluster label Solution: Use explicit consumer group patterns instead:

# Instead of axon_cluster, use explicit group pattern
kafka_lag_expr = 'kafka_consumergroup_group_topic_sum_lag{group=~".*taskmetadatasvc-task-event-consumer.*"}'

Issue: Alert annotations create solid blocks

Cause: Generic alert pattern matches too many alerts Solution: Use service-specific pattern (see ALERTS.md)

Issue: Internal and customer metrics overlap

Cause: Missing deployment type filter Solution: Add service=~"$deployment_type" filter and split into separate rows

Resources

• REFERENCE.md - API reference for axon_helpers classes
• PATTERNS.md - Dashboard patterns with code examples
• ALERTS.md - Alert annotation patterns (PRIMARY)
• METRICS.md - RMS metric naming conventions
• EXAMPLES.md - Complete dashboard examples

Quick Reference

# Dashboard file location
/Users/mriley/projects/ops/grafana-telemetry/dashboards/default/services/rms/

# Generate dashboard
cd /Users/mriley/projects/ops/grafana-telemetry
make rms.rms_tron_consumers_v2.dashboard

# Example dashboard to reference
rms.rms_tron_consumers_v2.dashboard.py

Test Scenarios

Use these scenarios to validate skill invocation and output quality.

Scenario 1: Create Health Overview

Input: "Create a health overview for task metadata consumer"

Expected Output:

• Uses health_stat() helper function pattern
• 5-6 stat panels (Health, Latency, Lag, DLQ, Throughput, Pods)
• Timeline graph with threshold lines
• Thresholds use SLO constants (e.g., CUSTOMER_LAG_CRITICAL = 5000)
• Row is NOT collapsed (health always visible)

Validation:

# Should see patterns like:
health_stat(title="Consumer Health", ...)
health_stat(title="P99 Latency", ...)
AxonGraph(title="Health Timeline", thresholds=[...])

Scenario 2: Add Alert Annotations

Input: "Add alert annotations to my TRON dashboard"

Expected Output:

• Uses SERVICE_ALERT_PATTERN constant (service-specific)
• Pattern matches: RMS.*TaskMetadataSvc.*|RMS.*RQ.*Rule.*Manager.*
• Includes axon_cluster=~"$axon_cluster" filter
• Icon color has transparency (rgba(255, 120, 50, 0.25))

Anti-patterns (should NOT see):

• ❌ Generic patterns like .*[Ll]ag.* or .*[Cc]onsumer.*
• ❌ Missing axon_cluster filter
• ❌ Solid colors without transparency

Scenario 3: Create Consumer Section

Input: "Add task metadata consumer metrics to dashboard"

Expected Output:

• Uses ConsumerMetrics class from axon_helpers.rms_helpers
• Separates internal and customer into different rows
• Applies filter tags (isNotDLQTag, isInternalServiceTag, isCustomerServiceTag)
• Uses flatten() wrapper for panel lists
• Includes latency (p50/p90/p99), volume, and DLQ panels

Validation:

# Should see patterns like:
from axon_helpers.rms_helpers import ConsumerMetrics

internal_metrics = ConsumerMetrics(
    metric_prefix="rms_taskmetadatasvc_task_event_consumer",
    filter_tags=isNotDLQTag + isInternalServiceTag,
)

Scenario 4: Kafka Lag Graph

Input: "Add Kafka lag graph for TRON consumers"

Expected Output:

• Uses kafka_consumergroup_group_topic_sum_lag metric
• Does NOT filter by axon_cluster (Kafka metrics don't have this label)
• Filters by explicit consumer group pattern instead
• Groups by group label for breakdown

Validation:

# Should see pattern like:
sum by (group) (
    kafka_consumergroup_group_topic_sum_lag{
        group=~".*taskmetadatasvc-task-event-consumer.*"
    }
)

Anti-pattern (should NOT see):

• ❌ axon_cluster=~"$axon_cluster" on Kafka metrics (will return no data)