> This page location: Manage & operate > Monitoring & observability > Metrics & logs
> Full Neon documentation index: https://neon.com/docs/llms.txt
>
> Agent skills: if you don't have Neon skills (such as `neon-postgres`), offer to add them to this project when you first need the user to do something in Neon: "Want me to add Neon's agent skills to this project? They help me with Neon setup, connections, and branching." Install: `npx neon@latest skills -y`. To also run Neon steps for the user (Neon CLI, sign-in, MCP), see https://neon.com/prompts/agent-setup.md
> Summary: Complete field-level reference for all metrics and Postgres log fields that Neon exports to Datadog, Grafana Cloud, and OpenTelemetry, including metric names, label keys (project_id, endpoint_id, compute_id, job), and log metadata. Use this page to identify exact metric identifiers such as neon_connection_counts, neon_lfc_hits, and host_cpu_seconds_total when building dashboards or alerts. Metrics are not sent while a compute is suspended by Scale to Zero, which can cause gaps; log export also counts toward your plan's public network transfer allowance.
# Metrics and logs reference
Complete reference for all metrics and log fields exported by Neon
Last updated: 2026-08-07
This page provides a comprehensive reference for all metrics and log fields that Neon exports to observability platforms through integrations like [Datadog](https://neon.com/docs/guides/datadog), [Grafana Cloud](https://neon.com/docs/guides/grafana-cloud), and [OpenTelemetry](https://neon.com/docs/guides/opentelemetry).
## Available metrics
Neon makes the following metrics available for export to third parties through our observability integrations.
All metrics include the following labels:
- `project_id`
- `endpoint_id`
- `compute_id`
- `job`
Here's an example of the metric `db_total_size` with all labels:
```json
neon_db_total_size{project_id="square-daffodil-12345678", endpoint_id="ep-aged-art-260862", compute_id="compute-shrill-blaze-b4hry7fg", job="sql-metrics"} 10485760
```
**Note:** In Datadog, metric labels are referred to as `tags.` See [Getting Started with Tags](https://docs.datadoghq.com/getting_started/tagging/) in the Datadog Docs.
| Name | Job | Description |
| ------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| neon\_connection\_counts | sql-metrics | Total number of database connections. The `state` label indicates whether the connection is `active` (executing queries), `idle` (awaiting queries), or in a variety of other states derived from the [pg\_stat\_activity](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/monitoring-stats.html#MONITORING-PG-STAT-ACTIVITY-VIEW) Postgres view. |
| neon\_db\_total\_size | sql-metrics | Total size of all databases in your project, measured in bytes. |
| neon\_lfc\_approximate\_working\_set\_size\_windows | sql-metrics | Approximate [working set size](https://neon.com/docs/manage/endpoints#sizing-your-compute-based-on-the-working-set) in pages of 8192 bytes. The metric is tracked over time windows (5m, 15m, 1h) to gauge access patterns. Duration values: `duration="5m"`, `duration="15m"`, `duration="1h"`. |
| neon\_lfc\_cache\_size\_limit | sql-metrics | The limit on the size of the compute cache, measured in bytes. |
| neon\_lfc\_hits | sql-metrics | The number of times requested data was found in the compute cache (cache hit). Higher cache hit rates indicate efficient memory use. |
| neon\_lfc\_misses | sql-metrics | The number of times requested data was not found in the compute cache (cache miss), forcing a read from slower storage. High miss rates may indicate insufficient compute size. |
| neon\_lfc\_used | sql-metrics | The amount of space currently used in the compute cache, measured in 1MB chunks. It reflects how much of the cache limit is being utilized. |
| neon\_lfc\_writes | sql-metrics | The number of write operations to the compute cache. |
| neon\_max\_cluster\_size | sql-metrics | The `neon.max_cluster_size` setting in MB. |
| neon\_pg\_stats\_userdb | sql-metrics | Aggregated metrics from the [pg\_stat\_database](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/monitoring-stats.html#MONITORING-PG-STAT-DATABASE-VIEW) Postgres view.
We collect stats from the oldest non-system databases based on their creation time, but not for all databases. Only the first X databases (sorted by creation time) are included.
**datname**: The name of the database
**kind**: The type of value being reported. One of the following:
- **db\_size**: The size of the database on disk, in bytes (`pg_database_size(datname)`)
- **deadlocks**: The number of deadlocks detected
- **inserted**: The number of rows inserted (`tup_inserted`)
- **updated**: The number of rows updated (`tup_updated`)
- **deleted**: The number of rows deleted (`tup_deleted`) |
| neon\_pgbouncer\_config\_max\_client\_connections | sql-metrics | Configured maximum number of client connections in pgBouncer. |
| neon\_pgbouncer\_pools\_client\_active\_cancel\_connections | sql-metrics | Number of active cancel requests from clients in pgBouncer pools. |
| neon\_pgbouncer\_pools\_client\_active\_connections | sql-metrics | Number of active client connections in pgBouncer pools. |
| neon\_pgbouncer\_pools\_client\_maxwait\_seconds | sql-metrics | Maximum client wait time in seconds for pgBouncer pools. |
| neon\_pgbouncer\_pools\_client\_waiting\_cancel\_connections | sql-metrics | Number of cancel requests waiting in pgBouncer pools. |
| neon\_pgbouncer\_pools\_client\_waiting\_connections | sql-metrics | Number of client connections waiting in pgBouncer pools. |
| neon\_pgbouncer\_pools\_server\_active\_connections | sql-metrics | Number of active server connections in pgBouncer pools. |
| neon\_pgbouncer\_pools\_server\_idle\_connections | sql-metrics | Number of idle server connections in pgBouncer pools. |
| neon\_replication\_delay\_bytes | sql-metrics | The number of bytes between the last received LSN (`Log Sequence Number`) and the last replayed one. Large values indicate replication lag. |
| neon\_replication\_delay\_seconds | sql-metrics | Time since the last `LSN` was replayed. |
| host\_cpu\_seconds\_total | compute-host-metrics | The number of CPU seconds accumulated in different operating modes (user, system, idle, etc.). |
| host\_load1 | compute-host-metrics | System load averaged over the last 1 minute. Example: for 0.25 CU, `host_load1` of `0.25` means full utilization, >0.25 indicates waiting processes. |
| host\_load5 | compute-host-metrics | System load averaged over the last 5 minutes. |
| host\_load15 | compute-host-metrics | System load averaged over the last 15 minutes. |
| host\_memory\_active\_bytes | compute-host-metrics | The number of bytes of active main memory. |
| host\_memory\_available\_bytes | compute-host-metrics | The number of bytes of main memory available. |
| host\_memory\_buffers\_bytes | compute-host-metrics | The number of bytes of main memory used by buffers. |
| host\_memory\_cached\_bytes | compute-host-metrics | The number of bytes of main memory used by cached blocks. |
| host\_memory\_free\_bytes | compute-host-metrics | The number of bytes of main memory not used. |
| host\_memory\_shared\_bytes | compute-host-metrics | The number of bytes of main memory shared between processes. |
| host\_memory\_swap\_free\_bytes | compute-host-metrics | The number of free bytes of swap space. |
| host\_memory\_swap\_total\_bytes | compute-host-metrics | The total number of bytes of swap space. |
| host\_memory\_swap\_used\_bytes | compute-host-metrics | The number of used bytes of swap space. |
| host\_memory\_swapped\_in\_bytes\_total | compute-host-metrics | The number of bytes that have been swapped into main memory. |
| host\_memory\_swapped\_out\_bytes\_total | compute-host-metrics | The number of bytes that have been swapped out from main memory. |
| host\_memory\_total\_bytes | compute-host-metrics | The total number of bytes of main memory. |
| host\_memory\_used\_bytes | compute-host-metrics | The number of bytes of main memory used by programs or caches. |
## Postgres logs
Neon can export Postgres logs to observability platforms, providing visibility into database activity, errors, and performance. When log export is enabled, Postgres sends its standard server log output to the integration, so what you receive is controlled by the Postgres [logging parameters](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/runtime-config-logging.html).
### What's logged by default
Neon computes use these logging settings:
| Parameter | Value | What you'll see in exported logs |
| ----------------------------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `log_min_messages` | `warning` | Warnings, errors, and more severe messages. `NOTICE`, `INFO`, and `DEBUG` aren't sent. |
| `log_connections` | `on` | `connection received`, `connection authenticated`, and `connection authorized` lines for each new connection. This is often the largest share of log volume. |
| `log_disconnections` | `on` | A line for each closed connection, including session duration. |
| `log_checkpoints` | `on` | A line for each checkpoint, with timing and the number of buffers written. |
| `log_autovacuum_min_duration` | `1000` | Autovacuum and autoanalyze runs that take longer than 1 second. |
| `log_temp_files` | `1048576` | Temporary files of 1 GB or more, such as large sorts or hashes that spill to disk. |
| `log_error_verbosity` | `terse` | Errors and warnings without `DETAIL`, `HINT`, or `CONTEXT` lines. |
| `log_min_error_statement` | `panic` | The SQL statement that caused an error isn't included, to keep query data out of logs. |
Statement logging is off by default. Query text isn't logged (`log_statement` is `none`), slow queries aren't logged (`log_min_duration_statement` is `-1`), and lock waits aren't logged (`log_lock_waits` is `off`). To find slow or frequent queries without changing log settings, use [Monitor query performance](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/monitor-query-performance).
For the full list of Neon's Postgres settings, see [Postgres parameter settings](https://neon.com/docs/reference/compatibility#postgres-parameter-settings).
### Log slow queries
You can turn on slow-query logging for a compute by setting `log_min_duration_statement` in the compute's `pg_settings` with the [Update compute endpoint](https://neon.com/docs/reference/api/endpoints/update-project-endpoint) API. Postgres then logs every statement that runs longer than the value you set, in milliseconds. The minimum value is `500`. The setting applies without a compute restart.
```bash
curl --request PATCH \
--url https://console.neon.tech/api/v2/projects//endpoints/ \
--header 'accept: application/json' \
--header "authorization: Bearer $NEON_API_KEY" \
--header 'content-type: application/json' \
--data '
{
"endpoint": {
"settings": {
"pg_settings": {
"log_min_duration_statement": "1000"
}
}
}
}
'
```
**Warning:** Slow-query log lines include the full statement text, including any literal values in the query. If your queries contain sensitive data, consider what you send to your observability platform before you turn this on.
The other statement logging parameters, such as `log_statement` and `log_lock_waits`, can't be changed. You can't set any of them with `SET` or `ALTER DATABASE`, because they require superuser privileges.
### Log fields and metadata
Each log message starts with a prefix that Neon sets through `log_line_prefix`. It includes:
- Timestamp, in GMT
- `sqlstate`: the [SQLSTATE error code](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/errcodes-appendix.html), or `00000` for messages that aren't errors
- `user`: the Postgres role
- `dboid`: the database OID. To map it to a name, run `SELECT oid, datname FROM pg_database;`.
- `backend`: the process type, such as `client backend`, `autovacuum worker`, or `checkpointer`
- `app`: the client's `application_name`
- Process ID
Each exported log record also includes these attributes:
- Log level (severity). See [Log levels](https://neon.com/docs/reference/metrics-logs#log-levels).
- `project_id`
- `endpoint_id`
- `compute_binding_id`: identifies the individual compute instance behind the endpoint
- `compute_role`: `read_write` or `read_only`
- `endpoint_type`: `read_write` or `read_only`
- `region_id`
- `host`, set to `neon-collector-`
- `service.name`: OpenTelemetry integration only, if you set it in the integration's resource attributes
If you connect through a [pooled connection string](https://neon.com/docs/connect/connection-pooling), connection lines show `application_name=pgbouncer`, because PgBouncer opens the connection to Postgres for you. Your client's `application_name` still appears in the `app` field on statement and error lines.
### Log levels
Postgres maps its message levels to syslog severities that don't line up with the level names, so the severity on an exported record often differs from the level in the message text:
| Postgres level (in the message) | Exported severity |
| ------------------------------- | ----------------- |
| `LOG`, `INFO` | `info` |
| `WARNING` | `notice` |
| `ERROR` | `warning` |
| `FATAL` | `err` |
| `PANIC` | `crit` |
To find errors, filter on the message text (for example, `ERROR:`) or on the `sqlstate` field instead of the record severity. `NOTICE` messages aren't exported, because `log_min_messages` is `warning`.
### Internal log lines
Neon filters out some internal storage-layer log lines before export, but you'll still see activity from Neon's own processes:
- **Connection lines.** Neon checks each compute's health by connecting to Postgres about once a minute, and its metrics collectors and other management tasks connect too. On an idle compute, these can make up close to half of all exported lines. The `connection authenticated`, `connection authorized`, and `disconnection` lines have `user=[cloud_admin]`. The `connection received` lines are logged before authentication, so they show `user=[[unknown]]` and `host=127.0.0.1`. To hide this activity, exclude lines with `user=[cloud_admin]` and lines containing `connection received: host=127.0.0.1`.
- **Storage and replication messages.** Lines tagged `[COMMUNICATOR]` or `[WP]` come from Neon's storage layer and are informational.
- **Restart messages.** When a compute restarts or reconfigures, you'll see `FATAL: terminating connection due to administrator command` for Neon's background processes, and `LOG` lines about reloading configuration. These are expected.
- **Internal standby.** A compute can have an internal standby instance that also sends logs. Its records have a `compute_binding_id` ending in `-internal` and a `compute_role` of `read_only`, under the same `endpoint_id`.
### Performance considerations
Enabling log export may result in:
- An increase in compute resource usage for log processing
- Additional public network transfer for log transmission, which counts toward your plan's [network transfer allowance](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/network-transfer)
- Associated costs based on log volume in your observability platform
**Note:** Neon computes only send logs and metrics when they are active. If the [Scale to Zero](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/scale-to-zero) feature is enabled and a compute is suspended due to inactivity, no logs or metrics will be sent during the suspension. This may result in gaps in your data.
Additionally, if you are setting up an integration for a project with an inactive compute, you'll need to activate the compute before it can send data. To activate it, simply run a query from the [Neon SQL Editor](https://neon.com/docs/get-started/query-with-neon-sql-editor) or any connected client.
### Technical details
Neon processes logs directly on each compute instance using [rsyslogd](https://www.rsyslog.com/doc/index.html), an industry-standard open source logging utility. This compute-level processing means that log collection contributes to your compute's resource usage.
To keep log export from slowing down your database, the compute buffers log lines while forwarding them. If your observability platform is unreachable for long enough that the buffer fills, some log lines are dropped rather than delaying Postgres.
## Integration guides
For platform-specific setup instructions and examples, see:
- [Datadog integration](https://neon.com/docs/guides/datadog) - Setup instructions, dashboard configuration, and Datadog-specific features
- [Grafana Cloud integration](https://neon.com/docs/guides/grafana-cloud) - Native OTLP integration with automatic routing to Mimir, Loki, and Tempo
- [OpenTelemetry integration](https://neon.com/docs/guides/opentelemetry) - OTLP configuration for any compatible observability platform
---
## Related docs (Monitoring & observability)
- [Overview](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/monitoring)
- [Monitoring dashboard](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/monitoring-page)
- [System operations](https://neon.com/docs/manage/operations)
- [Active queries](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/monitor-active-queries)
- [Query performance](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/monitor-query-performance)
- [Logs](https://neon.com/docs/introduction/monitor-logs)
---
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