# Google Monitoring API . projects . metricDescriptors

## Instance Methods

Creates a new metric descriptor. User-created metric descriptors define [custom metrics](/monitoring/custom-metrics).

Deletes a metric descriptor. Only user-created [custom metrics](/monitoring/custom-metrics) can be deleted.

Gets a single metric descriptor. This method does not require a Stackdriver account.

Lists metric descriptors that match a filter. This method does not require a Stackdriver account.

Retrieves the next page of results.

### Method Details

`create(name, body, x__xgafv=None)`

    Creates a new metric descriptor. User-created metric descriptors define [custom metrics](/monitoring/custom-metrics).

    Args:
      name: string, The project on which to execute the request. The format is `"projects/{project_id_or_number}"`. (required)
      body: object, The request body. (required)
        The object takes the form of:

    { # Defines a metric type and its schema.
        "displayName": "A String", # A concise name for the metric, which can be displayed in user interfaces. Use sentence case without an ending period, for example "Request count".
        "name": "A String", # Resource name. The format of the name may vary between different implementations. For examples: projects/{project_id}/metricDescriptors/{type=**} metricDescriptors/{type=**}
        "metricKind": "A String", # Whether the metric records instantaneous values, changes to a value, etc.
        "valueType": "A String", # Whether the measurement is an integer, a floating-point number, etc.
        "labels": [ # The set of labels that can be used to describe a specific instance of this metric type. For example, the `compute.googleapis.com/instance/network/received_bytes_count` metric type has a label, `loadbalanced`, that specifies whether the traffic was received through a load balanced IP address.
          { # A description of a label.
            "valueType": "A String", # The type of data that can be assigned to the label.
            "description": "A String", # A human-readable description for the label.
            "key": "A String", # The label key.
          },
        ],
        "type": "A String", # The metric type including a DNS name prefix, for example `"compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization"`. Metric types should use a natural hierarchical grouping such as the following: compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization compute.googleapis.com/instance/disk/read_ops_count compute.googleapis.com/instance/network/received_bytes_count Note that if the metric type changes, the monitoring data will be discontinued, and anything depends on it will break, such as monitoring dashboards, alerting rules and quota limits. Therefore, once a metric has been published, its type should be immutable.
        "unit": "A String", # The unit in which the metric value is reported. It is only applicable if the `value_type` is `INT64`, `DOUBLE`, or `DISTRIBUTION`. The supported units are a subset of [The Unified Code for Units of Measure](http://unitsofmeasure.org/ucum.html) standard: **Basic units (UNIT)** * `bit` bit * `By` byte * `s` second * `min` minute * `h` hour * `d` day **Prefixes (PREFIX)** * `k` kilo (10**3) * `M` mega (10**6) * `G` giga (10**9) * `T` tera (10**12) * `P` peta (10**15) * `E` exa (10**18) * `Z` zetta (10**21) * `Y` yotta (10**24) * `m` milli (10**-3) * `u` micro (10**-6) * `n` nano (10**-9) * `p` pico (10**-12) * `f` femto (10**-15) * `a` atto (10**-18) * `z` zepto (10**-21) * `y` yocto (10**-24) * `Ki` kibi (2**10) * `Mi` mebi (2**20) * `Gi` gibi (2**30) * `Ti` tebi (2**40) **Grammar** The grammar includes the dimensionless unit `1`, such as `1/s`. The grammar also includes these connectors: * `/` division (as an infix operator, e.g. `1/s`). * `.` multiplication (as an infix operator, e.g. `GBy.d`) The grammar for a unit is as follows: Expression = Component { "." Component } { "/" Component } ; Component = [ PREFIX ] UNIT [ Annotation ] | Annotation | "1" ; Annotation = "{" NAME "}" ; Notes: * `Annotation` is just a comment if it follows a `UNIT` and is equivalent to `1` if it is used alone. For examples, `{requests}/s == 1/s`, `By{transmitted}/s == By/s`. * `NAME` is a sequence of non-blank printable ASCII characters not containing '{' or '}'.
        "description": "A String", # A detailed description of the metric, which can be used in documentation.
      }

      x__xgafv: string, V1 error format.

    Returns:
      An object of the form:

        { # Defines a metric type and its schema.
          "displayName": "A String", # A concise name for the metric, which can be displayed in user interfaces. Use sentence case without an ending period, for example "Request count".
          "name": "A String", # Resource name. The format of the name may vary between different implementations. For examples: projects/{project_id}/metricDescriptors/{type=**} metricDescriptors/{type=**}
          "metricKind": "A String", # Whether the metric records instantaneous values, changes to a value, etc.
          "valueType": "A String", # Whether the measurement is an integer, a floating-point number, etc.
          "labels": [ # The set of labels that can be used to describe a specific instance of this metric type. For example, the `compute.googleapis.com/instance/network/received_bytes_count` metric type has a label, `loadbalanced`, that specifies whether the traffic was received through a load balanced IP address.
            { # A description of a label.
              "valueType": "A String", # The type of data that can be assigned to the label.
              "description": "A String", # A human-readable description for the label.
              "key": "A String", # The label key.
            },
          ],
          "type": "A String", # The metric type including a DNS name prefix, for example `"compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization"`. Metric types should use a natural hierarchical grouping such as the following: compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization compute.googleapis.com/instance/disk/read_ops_count compute.googleapis.com/instance/network/received_bytes_count Note that if the metric type changes, the monitoring data will be discontinued, and anything depends on it will break, such as monitoring dashboards, alerting rules and quota limits. Therefore, once a metric has been published, its type should be immutable.
          "unit": "A String", # The unit in which the metric value is reported. It is only applicable if the `value_type` is `INT64`, `DOUBLE`, or `DISTRIBUTION`. The supported units are a subset of [The Unified Code for Units of Measure](http://unitsofmeasure.org/ucum.html) standard: **Basic units (UNIT)** * `bit` bit * `By` byte * `s` second * `min` minute * `h` hour * `d` day **Prefixes (PREFIX)** * `k` kilo (10**3) * `M` mega (10**6) * `G` giga (10**9) * `T` tera (10**12) * `P` peta (10**15) * `E` exa (10**18) * `Z` zetta (10**21) * `Y` yotta (10**24) * `m` milli (10**-3) * `u` micro (10**-6) * `n` nano (10**-9) * `p` pico (10**-12) * `f` femto (10**-15) * `a` atto (10**-18) * `z` zepto (10**-21) * `y` yocto (10**-24) * `Ki` kibi (2**10) * `Mi` mebi (2**20) * `Gi` gibi (2**30) * `Ti` tebi (2**40) **Grammar** The grammar includes the dimensionless unit `1`, such as `1/s`. The grammar also includes these connectors: * `/` division (as an infix operator, e.g. `1/s`). * `.` multiplication (as an infix operator, e.g. `GBy.d`) The grammar for a unit is as follows: Expression = Component { "." Component } { "/" Component } ; Component = [ PREFIX ] UNIT [ Annotation ] | Annotation | "1" ; Annotation = "{" NAME "}" ; Notes: * `Annotation` is just a comment if it follows a `UNIT` and is equivalent to `1` if it is used alone. For examples, `{requests}/s == 1/s`, `By{transmitted}/s == By/s`. * `NAME` is a sequence of non-blank printable ASCII characters not containing '{' or '}'.
          "description": "A String", # A detailed description of the metric, which can be used in documentation.
        }

`delete(name, x__xgafv=None)`

    Deletes a metric descriptor. Only user-created [custom metrics](/monitoring/custom-metrics) can be deleted.

    Args:
      name: string, The metric descriptor on which to execute the request. The format is `"projects/{project_id_or_number}/metricDescriptors/{metric_id}"`. An example of `{metric_id}` is: `"custom.googleapis.com/my_test_metric"`. (required)
      x__xgafv: string, V1 error format.

    Returns:
      An object of the form:

        { # A generic empty message that you can re-use to avoid defining duplicated empty messages in your APIs. A typical example is to use it as the request or the response type of an API method. For instance: service Foo { rpc Bar(google.protobuf.Empty) returns (google.protobuf.Empty); } The JSON representation for `Empty` is empty JSON object `{}`.
      }

`get(name, x__xgafv=None)`

    Gets a single metric descriptor. This method does not require a Stackdriver account.

    Args:
      name: string, The metric descriptor on which to execute the request. The format is `"projects/{project_id_or_number}/metricDescriptors/{metric_id}"`. An example value of `{metric_id}` is `"compute.googleapis.com/instance/disk/read_bytes_count"`. (required)
      x__xgafv: string, V1 error format.

    Returns:
      An object of the form:

        { # Defines a metric type and its schema.
          "displayName": "A String", # A concise name for the metric, which can be displayed in user interfaces. Use sentence case without an ending period, for example "Request count".
          "name": "A String", # Resource name. The format of the name may vary between different implementations. For examples: projects/{project_id}/metricDescriptors/{type=**} metricDescriptors/{type=**}
          "metricKind": "A String", # Whether the metric records instantaneous values, changes to a value, etc.
          "valueType": "A String", # Whether the measurement is an integer, a floating-point number, etc.
          "labels": [ # The set of labels that can be used to describe a specific instance of this metric type. For example, the `compute.googleapis.com/instance/network/received_bytes_count` metric type has a label, `loadbalanced`, that specifies whether the traffic was received through a load balanced IP address.
            { # A description of a label.
              "valueType": "A String", # The type of data that can be assigned to the label.
              "description": "A String", # A human-readable description for the label.
              "key": "A String", # The label key.
            },
          ],
          "type": "A String", # The metric type including a DNS name prefix, for example `"compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization"`. Metric types should use a natural hierarchical grouping such as the following: compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization compute.googleapis.com/instance/disk/read_ops_count compute.googleapis.com/instance/network/received_bytes_count Note that if the metric type changes, the monitoring data will be discontinued, and anything depends on it will break, such as monitoring dashboards, alerting rules and quota limits. Therefore, once a metric has been published, its type should be immutable.
          "unit": "A String", # The unit in which the metric value is reported. It is only applicable if the `value_type` is `INT64`, `DOUBLE`, or `DISTRIBUTION`. The supported units are a subset of [The Unified Code for Units of Measure](http://unitsofmeasure.org/ucum.html) standard: **Basic units (UNIT)** * `bit` bit * `By` byte * `s` second * `min` minute * `h` hour * `d` day **Prefixes (PREFIX)** * `k` kilo (10**3) * `M` mega (10**6) * `G` giga (10**9) * `T` tera (10**12) * `P` peta (10**15) * `E` exa (10**18) * `Z` zetta (10**21) * `Y` yotta (10**24) * `m` milli (10**-3) * `u` micro (10**-6) * `n` nano (10**-9) * `p` pico (10**-12) * `f` femto (10**-15) * `a` atto (10**-18) * `z` zepto (10**-21) * `y` yocto (10**-24) * `Ki` kibi (2**10) * `Mi` mebi (2**20) * `Gi` gibi (2**30) * `Ti` tebi (2**40) **Grammar** The grammar includes the dimensionless unit `1`, such as `1/s`. The grammar also includes these connectors: * `/` division (as an infix operator, e.g. `1/s`). * `.` multiplication (as an infix operator, e.g. `GBy.d`) The grammar for a unit is as follows: Expression = Component { "." Component } { "/" Component } ; Component = [ PREFIX ] UNIT [ Annotation ] | Annotation | "1" ; Annotation = "{" NAME "}" ; Notes: * `Annotation` is just a comment if it follows a `UNIT` and is equivalent to `1` if it is used alone. For examples, `{requests}/s == 1/s`, `By{transmitted}/s == By/s`. * `NAME` is a sequence of non-blank printable ASCII characters not containing '{' or '}'.
          "description": "A String", # A detailed description of the metric, which can be used in documentation.
        }

`list(name, pageSize=None, filter=None, pageToken=None, x__xgafv=None)`

    Lists metric descriptors that match a filter. This method does not require a Stackdriver account.

    Args:
      name: string, The project on which to execute the request. The format is `"projects/{project_id_or_number}"`. (required)
      pageSize: integer, A positive number that is the maximum number of results to return.
      filter: string, If this field is empty, all custom and system-defined metric descriptors are returned. Otherwise, the [filter](/monitoring/api/v3/filters) specifies which metric descriptors are to be returned. For example, the following filter matches all [custom metrics](/monitoring/custom-metrics): metric.type = starts_with("custom.googleapis.com/")
      pageToken: string, If this field is not empty then it must contain the `nextPageToken` value returned by a previous call to this method. Using this field causes the method to return additional results from the previous method call.
      x__xgafv: string, V1 error format.

    Returns:
      An object of the form:

        { # The `ListMetricDescriptors` response.
        "nextPageToken": "A String", # If there are more results than have been returned, then this field is set to a non-empty value. To see the additional results, use that value as `pageToken` in the next call to this method.
        "metricDescriptors": [ # The metric descriptors that are available to the project and that match the value of `filter`, if present.
          { # Defines a metric type and its schema.
              "displayName": "A String", # A concise name for the metric, which can be displayed in user interfaces. Use sentence case without an ending period, for example "Request count".
              "name": "A String", # Resource name. The format of the name may vary between different implementations. For examples: projects/{project_id}/metricDescriptors/{type=**} metricDescriptors/{type=**}
              "metricKind": "A String", # Whether the metric records instantaneous values, changes to a value, etc.
              "valueType": "A String", # Whether the measurement is an integer, a floating-point number, etc.
              "labels": [ # The set of labels that can be used to describe a specific instance of this metric type. For example, the `compute.googleapis.com/instance/network/received_bytes_count` metric type has a label, `loadbalanced`, that specifies whether the traffic was received through a load balanced IP address.
                { # A description of a label.
                  "valueType": "A String", # The type of data that can be assigned to the label.
                  "description": "A String", # A human-readable description for the label.
                  "key": "A String", # The label key.
                },
              ],
              "type": "A String", # The metric type including a DNS name prefix, for example `"compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization"`. Metric types should use a natural hierarchical grouping such as the following: compute.googleapis.com/instance/cpu/utilization compute.googleapis.com/instance/disk/read_ops_count compute.googleapis.com/instance/network/received_bytes_count Note that if the metric type changes, the monitoring data will be discontinued, and anything depends on it will break, such as monitoring dashboards, alerting rules and quota limits. Therefore, once a metric has been published, its type should be immutable.
              "unit": "A String", # The unit in which the metric value is reported. It is only applicable if the `value_type` is `INT64`, `DOUBLE`, or `DISTRIBUTION`. The supported units are a subset of [The Unified Code for Units of Measure](http://unitsofmeasure.org/ucum.html) standard: **Basic units (UNIT)** * `bit` bit * `By` byte * `s` second * `min` minute * `h` hour * `d` day **Prefixes (PREFIX)** * `k` kilo (10**3) * `M` mega (10**6) * `G` giga (10**9) * `T` tera (10**12) * `P` peta (10**15) * `E` exa (10**18) * `Z` zetta (10**21) * `Y` yotta (10**24) * `m` milli (10**-3) * `u` micro (10**-6) * `n` nano (10**-9) * `p` pico (10**-12) * `f` femto (10**-15) * `a` atto (10**-18) * `z` zepto (10**-21) * `y` yocto (10**-24) * `Ki` kibi (2**10) * `Mi` mebi (2**20) * `Gi` gibi (2**30) * `Ti` tebi (2**40) **Grammar** The grammar includes the dimensionless unit `1`, such as `1/s`. The grammar also includes these connectors: * `/` division (as an infix operator, e.g. `1/s`). * `.` multiplication (as an infix operator, e.g. `GBy.d`) The grammar for a unit is as follows: Expression = Component { "." Component } { "/" Component } ; Component = [ PREFIX ] UNIT [ Annotation ] | Annotation | "1" ; Annotation = "{" NAME "}" ; Notes: * `Annotation` is just a comment if it follows a `UNIT` and is equivalent to `1` if it is used alone. For examples, `{requests}/s == 1/s`, `By{transmitted}/s == By/s`. * `NAME` is a sequence of non-blank printable ASCII characters not containing '{' or '}'.
              "description": "A String", # A detailed description of the metric, which can be used in documentation.
            },
        ],
      }

`list_next(previous_request, previous_response)`

    Retrieves the next page of results.

    Args:
      previous_request: The request for the previous page. (required)
      previous_response: The response from the request for the previous page. (required)

    Returns:
      A request object that you can call 'execute()' on to request the next
      page. Returns None if there are no more items in the collection.