?q= param

GET or POST query string

GET /api/analyze?q=rate(...)

query field

JSON or form body

{"query": "rate(...)"}

raw body

text/plain request body

POST body: rate(...)

✗ invalid

Doesn't type-check — won't run.

● slow

Expensive whatever your data.

◑ runtime_dependent

Cost depends on cardinality.

◐ moderate

Noticeable but usually fine.

○ fast

No concerns found.

200

Analyzed — findings returned.

400

Empty query — nothing to analyze.

422

Could not parse or analyze the query.

matchers

BARE_SELECTOR

Selector with no label filters — scans every series for the metric.

REGEX_MATCHER

Uses =~ / !~ instead of equality; harder to index.

NEGATIVE_REGEX

!~ must scan all series just to exclude some.

CATCHALL_MATCHER

A .* / .+ value matches everything — no real filtering.

UNANCHORED_REGEX

Regex not anchored at both ends; can't shortcut the lookup.

range_vectors

LONG_RANGE_VECTOR

Window long enough to load a lot of samples (> 59m / > 2h).

SHORT_RANGE_VECTOR

Sub-minute window that may under-sample the metric.

NO_AGGREGATION_HIGH_CARD

A high-cardinality selector returned raw, with no aggregation.

SUBQUERY

A subquery re-evaluates the inner query at every step.

NESTED_SUBQUERY

A subquery inside a subquery multiplies that work.

aggregation

HIGH_CARD_GROUPING

Grouping by an unbounded label (request_id, trace_id, pod, …).

SORT_AGGREGATION

topk / bottomk / quantile must sort the full result set.

structure & type_error

VECTOR_JOIN

A binary op with empty on() matching.

REDUNDANT_SUBEXPR

The same sub-expression is computed more than once.

ARITY_MISMATCH

A function called with the wrong number of arguments.

ARG_TYPE_MISMATCH

An argument has the wrong type (e.g. instant where a range is required).