Ad hoc queries
You can execute ad hoc queries with the Scanner API, which allows you to run an arbitrary query over a specified time range.
What is an ad hoc query?
An ad hoc query is a search query with a start_time, an end_time, and query. It runs asynchronously in the background, and you can poll it periodically to check for results.
An ad hoc query is basically analogous to a query you make in the Search tab in Scanner.
The results of an ad hoc query are tabular, consisting of columns and rows.
There are two ways to execute an ad hoc query: asynchronous and blocking.
How to execute an asynchronous ad hoc query
To execute an asynchronous ad hoc query, you first create it via POST /v1/start_query
request. The Scanner API will return the id of the query, which you can use to poll its status with GET /v1/query_progress
requests.
POST /v1/start_query
/v1/start_query
Initiates the ad-hoc query.
Success response
When the ad hoc query has been completed successfully, the response HTTP status code will be 200
, and the result will contain the ID of the ad hoc query that was just created.
Error response
If Scanner was unable to create the ad hoc query because the query parameters were invalid, the response HTTP status code will be 400
, and the response body will contain some information about the reason the query was rejected.
GET /v1/query_progress/<qr_id>
/v1/query_progress/<qr_id>
Gets the current progress of the query with the supplied qr_id
.
Users are expected to run GET
requests periodically to check for query results. We recommend checking every 1 second.
Run your GET
requests against /v1/query_progress/<qr_id>
to check for the status of your query.
Response when ad hoc query is still in progress
When the query is still in progress, the response HTTP status code will be 200, and the is_completed
field will be false
:
Response when ad hoc query has completed successfully
When the query has completed successfully, the response HTTP status code will be 200, and the is_completed
field will be true
.
The results
field will contain information you can use to render a table of results. The columns
field is an array of the names of the columns in the results table, and the rows
field is an array of JSON objects representing the rows.
How to execute a blocking ad hoc query
To execute a blocking ad hoc query, you just issue a POST /v1/blocking_query
request. The Scanner API will hold the request open until the query completes, or until the timeout period is exceeded.
POST /v1/blocking_query
/v1/blocking_query
Runs a blocking query. This will time out if the query takes longer than 60 seconds.
Response when ad hoc query has completed successfully
When the query has completed successfully, the response HTTP status code will be 200, and the is_completed
field will be true
.
The results
field will contain information you can use to render a table of results. The columns
field is an array of the names of the columns in the results table, and the rows
field is an array of JSON objects representing the rows.
Response when ad hoc query has timed out
When the query times out, the response HTTP status code will be 504.
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