Add start_timestamp field for unit tests#17636
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roidelapluie merged 3 commits intoprometheus:mainfrom Dec 4, 2025
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The return value of functions relating to the current time, e.g. time(), is set by promtool to start at timestamp 0 at the start of a test's evaluation. This has the very nice consequence that tests can run reliably without depending on when they are run. It does, however, mean that tests will give out results that can be unexpected by users. If this behaviour is documented, then users will be empowered to write tests for their rules that use time-dependent functions. (Closes: prometheus/docs#1464) Signed-off-by: Gabriel Filion <lelutin@torproject.org>
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krajorama
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krajorama
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Dec 3, 2025
This commit adds support for configuring a custom start timestamp for Prometheus unit tests, allowing tests to use realistic timestamps instead of starting at Unix epoch 0. Signed-off-by: Julien Pivotto <291750+roidelapluie@users.noreply.github.com>
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LGTM, this is exact, but minimalist. I'd be open to more PRs that add examples.
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Missing DCO on the latest commit, otherwise LGTM |
Remove redundant IsZero check since promqltest.LazyLoader already handles zero StartTime by defaulting to Unix epoch. Signed-off-by: Julien Pivotto <291750+roidelapluie@users.noreply.github.com>
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Just a note for future readers: I named the field start_timestamp and not start_time because I did not want confusion between one which is absolute and the other which is a relative duration. |
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##### [\`v3.9.0\`](https://github.com/prometheus/prometheus/releases/tag/v3.9.0) #### Note for users of Native Histograms In version 3.9, Native Histograms is no longer experimental, and the feature flag `native-histogram` has no effect. You must now turn on the config setting `scrape_native_histograms` to collect Native Histogram samples from exporters. #### Changelog - \[CHANGE] Native Histograms are no longer experimental! Make the `native-histogram` feature flag a no-op. Use `scrape_native_histograms` config option instead. [#17528](prometheus/prometheus#17528) - \[CHANGE] API: Add maximum limit of 10,000 sets of statistics to TSDB status endpoint. [#17647](prometheus/prometheus#17647) - \[FEATURE] API: Add /api/v1/features for clients to understand which features are supported. [#17427](prometheus/prometheus#17427) - \[FEATURE] Promtool: Add `start_timestamp` field for unit tests. [#17636](prometheus/prometheus#17636) - \[FEATURE] Promtool: Add `--format seriesjson` option to `tsdb dump` to output just series labels in JSON format. [#13409](prometheus/prometheus#13409) - \[FEATURE] Add `--storage.tsdb.delay-compact-file.path` flag for better interoperability with Thanos. [#17435](prometheus/prometheus#17435) - \[FEATURE] UI: Add an option on the query drop-down menu to duplicate that query panel. [#17714](prometheus/prometheus#17714) - \[ENHANCEMENT]: TSDB: add flag `--storage.tsdb.block-reload-interval` to configure TSDB Block Reload Interval. [#16728](prometheus/prometheus#16728) - \[ENHANCEMENT] UI: Add graph option to start the chart's Y axis at zero. [#17565](prometheus/prometheus#17565) - \[ENHANCEMENT] Scraping: Classic protobuf format no longer requires the unit in the metric name. [#16834](prometheus/prometheus#16834) - \[ENHANCEMENT] PromQL, Rules, SD, Scraping: Add native histograms to complement existing summaries. [#17374](prometheus/prometheus#17374) - \[ENHANCEMENT] Notifications: Add a histogram `prometheus_notifications_latency_histogram_seconds` to complement the existing summary. [#16637](prometheus/prometheus#16637) - \[ENHANCEMENT] Remote-write: Add custom scope support for AzureAD authentication. [#17483](prometheus/prometheus#17483) - \[ENHANCEMENT] SD: add a `config` label with job name for most `prometheus_sd_refresh` metrics. [#17138](prometheus/prometheus#17138) - \[ENHANCEMENT] TSDB: New histogram `prometheus_tsdb_sample_ooo_delta`, the distribution of out-of-order samples in seconds. Collected for all samples, accepted or not. [#17477](prometheus/prometheus#17477) - \[ENHANCEMENT] Remote-read: Validate histograms received via remote-read. [#17561](prometheus/prometheus#17561) - \[PERF] TSDB: Small optimizations to postings index. [#17439](prometheus/prometheus#17439) - \[PERF] Scraping: Speed up relabelling of series. [#17530](prometheus/prometheus#17530) - \[PERF] PromQL: Small optimisations in binary operators. [#17524](prometheus/prometheus#17524), [#17519](prometheus/prometheus#17519). - \[BUGFIX] UI: PromQL autocomplete now shows the correct type and HELP text for OpenMetrics counters whose samples end in `_total`. [#17682](prometheus/prometheus#17682) - \[BUGFIX] UI: Fixed codemirror-promql incorrectly showing label completion suggestions after the closing curly brace of a vector selector. [#17602](prometheus/prometheus#17602) - \[BUGFIX] UI: Query editor no longer suggests a duration unit if one is already present after a number. [#17605](prometheus/prometheus#17605) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix some "vector cannot contain metrics with the same labelset" errors when experimental delayed name removal is enabled. [#17678](prometheus/prometheus#17678) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix possible corruption of PromQL text if the query had an empty `ignoring()` and non-empty grouping. [#17643](prometheus/prometheus#17643) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix resets/changes to return empty results for anchored selectors when all samples are outside the range. [#17479](prometheus/prometheus#17479) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Check more consistently for many-to-one matching in filter binary operators. [#17668](prometheus/prometheus#17668) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix collision in unary negation with non-overlapping series. [#17708](prometheus/prometheus#17708) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix collision in label\_join and label\_replace with non-overlapping series. [#17703](prometheus/prometheus#17703) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix bug with inconsistent results for queries with OR expression when experimental delayed name removal is enabled. [#17161](prometheus/prometheus#17161) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Ensure that `rate`/`increase`/`delta` of histograms results in a gauge histogram. [#17608](prometheus/prometheus#17608) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Do not panic while iterating over invalid histograms. [#17559](prometheus/prometheus#17559) - \[BUGFIX] TSDB: Reject chunk files whose encoded chunk length overflows int. [#17533](prometheus/prometheus#17533) - \[BUGFIX] TSDB: Do not panic during resolution reduction of invalid histograms. [#17561](prometheus/prometheus#17561) - \[BUGFIX] Remote-write Receive: Avoid duplicate labels when experimental type-and-unit-label feature is enabled. [#17546](prometheus/prometheus#17546) - \[BUGFIX] OTLP Receiver: Only write metadata to disk when experimental metadata-wal-records feature is enabled. [#17472](prometheus/prometheus#17472)
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##### [\`v3.9.1\`](https://github.com/prometheus/prometheus/releases/tag/v3.9.1) - \[BUGFIX] Agent: fix crash shortly after startup from invalid type of object. [#17802](prometheus/prometheus#17802) - \[BUGFIX] Scraping: fix relabel keep/drop not working. [#17807](prometheus/prometheus#17807) --- ##### [\`v3.9.0\`](https://github.com/prometheus/prometheus/releases/tag/v3.9.0) #### Note for users of Native Histograms In version 3.9, Native Histograms is no longer experimental, and the feature flag `native-histogram` has no effect. You must now turn on the config setting `scrape_native_histograms` to collect Native Histogram samples from exporters. #### Changelog - \[CHANGE] Native Histograms are no longer experimental! Make the `native-histogram` feature flag a no-op. Use `scrape_native_histograms` config option instead. [#17528](prometheus/prometheus#17528) - \[CHANGE] API: Add maximum limit of 10,000 sets of statistics to TSDB status endpoint. [#17647](prometheus/prometheus#17647) - \[FEATURE] API: Add /api/v1/features for clients to understand which features are supported. [#17427](prometheus/prometheus#17427) - \[FEATURE] Promtool: Add `start_timestamp` field for unit tests. [#17636](prometheus/prometheus#17636) - \[FEATURE] Promtool: Add `--format seriesjson` option to `tsdb dump` to output just series labels in JSON format. [#13409](prometheus/prometheus#13409) - \[FEATURE] Add `--storage.tsdb.delay-compact-file.path` flag for better interoperability with Thanos. [#17435](prometheus/prometheus#17435) - \[FEATURE] UI: Add an option on the query drop-down menu to duplicate that query panel. [#17714](prometheus/prometheus#17714) - \[ENHANCEMENT]: TSDB: add flag `--storage.tsdb.block-reload-interval` to configure TSDB Block Reload Interval. [#16728](prometheus/prometheus#16728) - \[ENHANCEMENT] UI: Add graph option to start the chart's Y axis at zero. [#17565](prometheus/prometheus#17565) - \[ENHANCEMENT] Scraping: Classic protobuf format no longer requires the unit in the metric name. [#16834](prometheus/prometheus#16834) - \[ENHANCEMENT] PromQL, Rules, SD, Scraping: Add native histograms to complement existing summaries. [#17374](prometheus/prometheus#17374) - \[ENHANCEMENT] Notifications: Add a histogram `prometheus_notifications_latency_histogram_seconds` to complement the existing summary. [#16637](prometheus/prometheus#16637) - \[ENHANCEMENT] Remote-write: Add custom scope support for AzureAD authentication. [#17483](prometheus/prometheus#17483) - \[ENHANCEMENT] SD: add a `config` label with job name for most `prometheus_sd_refresh` metrics. [#17138](prometheus/prometheus#17138) - \[ENHANCEMENT] TSDB: New histogram `prometheus_tsdb_sample_ooo_delta`, the distribution of out-of-order samples in seconds. Collected for all samples, accepted or not. [#17477](prometheus/prometheus#17477) - \[ENHANCEMENT] Remote-read: Validate histograms received via remote-read. [#17561](prometheus/prometheus#17561) - \[PERF] TSDB: Small optimizations to postings index. [#17439](prometheus/prometheus#17439) - \[PERF] Scraping: Speed up relabelling of series. [#17530](prometheus/prometheus#17530) - \[PERF] PromQL: Small optimisations in binary operators. [#17524](prometheus/prometheus#17524), [#17519](prometheus/prometheus#17519). - \[BUGFIX] UI: PromQL autocomplete now shows the correct type and HELP text for OpenMetrics counters whose samples end in `_total`. [#17682](prometheus/prometheus#17682) - \[BUGFIX] UI: Fixed codemirror-promql incorrectly showing label completion suggestions after the closing curly brace of a vector selector. [#17602](prometheus/prometheus#17602) - \[BUGFIX] UI: Query editor no longer suggests a duration unit if one is already present after a number. [#17605](prometheus/prometheus#17605) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix some "vector cannot contain metrics with the same labelset" errors when experimental delayed name removal is enabled. [#17678](prometheus/prometheus#17678) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix possible corruption of PromQL text if the query had an empty `ignoring()` and non-empty grouping. [#17643](prometheus/prometheus#17643) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix resets/changes to return empty results for anchored selectors when all samples are outside the range. [#17479](prometheus/prometheus#17479) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Check more consistently for many-to-one matching in filter binary operators. [#17668](prometheus/prometheus#17668) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix collision in unary negation with non-overlapping series. [#17708](prometheus/prometheus#17708) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix collision in label\_join and label\_replace with non-overlapping series. [#17703](prometheus/prometheus#17703) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix bug with inconsistent results for queries with OR expression when experimental delayed name removal is enabled. [#17161](prometheus/prometheus#17161) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Ensure that `rate`/`increase`/`delta` of histograms results in a gauge histogram. [#17608](prometheus/prometheus#17608) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Do not panic while iterating over invalid histograms. [#17559](prometheus/prometheus#17559) - \[BUGFIX] TSDB: Reject chunk files whose encoded chunk length overflows int. [#17533](prometheus/prometheus#17533) - \[BUGFIX] TSDB: Do not panic during resolution reduction of invalid histograms. [#17561](prometheus/prometheus#17561) - \[BUGFIX] Remote-write Receive: Avoid duplicate labels when experimental type-and-unit-label feature is enabled. [#17546](prometheus/prometheus#17546) - \[BUGFIX] OTLP Receiver: Only write metadata to disk when experimental metadata-wal-records feature is enabled. [#17472](prometheus/prometheus#17472)
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##### [\`v3.9.1\`](https://github.com/prometheus/prometheus/releases/tag/v3.9.1) - \[BUGFIX] Agent: fix crash shortly after startup from invalid type of object. [#17802](prometheus/prometheus#17802) - \[BUGFIX] Scraping: fix relabel keep/drop not working. [#17807](prometheus/prometheus#17807) --- ##### [\`v3.9.0\`](https://github.com/prometheus/prometheus/releases/tag/v3.9.0) #### Note for users of Native Histograms In version 3.9, Native Histograms is no longer experimental, and the feature flag `native-histogram` has no effect. You must now turn on the config setting `scrape_native_histograms` to collect Native Histogram samples from exporters. #### Changelog - \[CHANGE] Native Histograms are no longer experimental! Make the `native-histogram` feature flag a no-op. Use `scrape_native_histograms` config option instead. [#17528](prometheus/prometheus#17528) - \[CHANGE] API: Add maximum limit of 10,000 sets of statistics to TSDB status endpoint. [#17647](prometheus/prometheus#17647) - \[FEATURE] API: Add /api/v1/features for clients to understand which features are supported. [#17427](prometheus/prometheus#17427) - \[FEATURE] Promtool: Add `start_timestamp` field for unit tests. [#17636](prometheus/prometheus#17636) - \[FEATURE] Promtool: Add `--format seriesjson` option to `tsdb dump` to output just series labels in JSON format. [#13409](prometheus/prometheus#13409) - \[FEATURE] Add `--storage.tsdb.delay-compact-file.path` flag for better interoperability with Thanos. [#17435](prometheus/prometheus#17435) - \[FEATURE] UI: Add an option on the query drop-down menu to duplicate that query panel. [#17714](prometheus/prometheus#17714) - \[ENHANCEMENT]: TSDB: add flag `--storage.tsdb.block-reload-interval` to configure TSDB Block Reload Interval. [#16728](prometheus/prometheus#16728) - \[ENHANCEMENT] UI: Add graph option to start the chart's Y axis at zero. [#17565](prometheus/prometheus#17565) - \[ENHANCEMENT] Scraping: Classic protobuf format no longer requires the unit in the metric name. [#16834](prometheus/prometheus#16834) - \[ENHANCEMENT] PromQL, Rules, SD, Scraping: Add native histograms to complement existing summaries. [#17374](prometheus/prometheus#17374) - \[ENHANCEMENT] Notifications: Add a histogram `prometheus_notifications_latency_histogram_seconds` to complement the existing summary. [#16637](prometheus/prometheus#16637) - \[ENHANCEMENT] Remote-write: Add custom scope support for AzureAD authentication. [#17483](prometheus/prometheus#17483) - \[ENHANCEMENT] SD: add a `config` label with job name for most `prometheus_sd_refresh` metrics. [#17138](prometheus/prometheus#17138) - \[ENHANCEMENT] TSDB: New histogram `prometheus_tsdb_sample_ooo_delta`, the distribution of out-of-order samples in seconds. Collected for all samples, accepted or not. [#17477](prometheus/prometheus#17477) - \[ENHANCEMENT] Remote-read: Validate histograms received via remote-read. [#17561](prometheus/prometheus#17561) - \[PERF] TSDB: Small optimizations to postings index. [#17439](prometheus/prometheus#17439) - \[PERF] Scraping: Speed up relabelling of series. [#17530](prometheus/prometheus#17530) - \[PERF] PromQL: Small optimisations in binary operators. [#17524](prometheus/prometheus#17524), [#17519](prometheus/prometheus#17519). - \[BUGFIX] UI: PromQL autocomplete now shows the correct type and HELP text for OpenMetrics counters whose samples end in `_total`. [#17682](prometheus/prometheus#17682) - \[BUGFIX] UI: Fixed codemirror-promql incorrectly showing label completion suggestions after the closing curly brace of a vector selector. [#17602](prometheus/prometheus#17602) - \[BUGFIX] UI: Query editor no longer suggests a duration unit if one is already present after a number. [#17605](prometheus/prometheus#17605) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix some "vector cannot contain metrics with the same labelset" errors when experimental delayed name removal is enabled. [#17678](prometheus/prometheus#17678) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix possible corruption of PromQL text if the query had an empty `ignoring()` and non-empty grouping. [#17643](prometheus/prometheus#17643) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix resets/changes to return empty results for anchored selectors when all samples are outside the range. [#17479](prometheus/prometheus#17479) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Check more consistently for many-to-one matching in filter binary operators. [#17668](prometheus/prometheus#17668) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix collision in unary negation with non-overlapping series. [#17708](prometheus/prometheus#17708) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix collision in label\_join and label\_replace with non-overlapping series. [#17703](prometheus/prometheus#17703) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Fix bug with inconsistent results for queries with OR expression when experimental delayed name removal is enabled. [#17161](prometheus/prometheus#17161) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Ensure that `rate`/`increase`/`delta` of histograms results in a gauge histogram. [#17608](prometheus/prometheus#17608) - \[BUGFIX] PromQL: Do not panic while iterating over invalid histograms. [#17559](prometheus/prometheus#17559) - \[BUGFIX] TSDB: Reject chunk files whose encoded chunk length overflows int. [#17533](prometheus/prometheus#17533) - \[BUGFIX] TSDB: Do not panic during resolution reduction of invalid histograms. [#17561](prometheus/prometheus#17561) - \[BUGFIX] Remote-write Receive: Avoid duplicate labels when experimental type-and-unit-label feature is enabled. [#17546](prometheus/prometheus#17546) - \[BUGFIX] OTLP Receiver: Only write metadata to disk when experimental metadata-wal-records feature is enabled. [#17472](prometheus/prometheus#17472)
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support for configuring a custom start timestamp for Prometheus unit tests, allowing tests to use realistic timestamps instead of starting at Unix epoch 0.
Which issue(s) does the PR fix:
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