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doc: add automated metrics documentation generator#3585

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Pittu-Sharma wants to merge 3 commits intoprometheus:masterfrom
Pittu-Sharma:issue-2302-metrics-doc
Open

doc: add automated metrics documentation generator#3585
Pittu-Sharma wants to merge 3 commits intoprometheus:masterfrom
Pittu-Sharma:issue-2302-metrics-doc

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Summary

This PR introduces an automated approach to generate metrics documentation directly from the node_exporter collector source code.

Problem

Currently, maintaining docs/METRICS.md is a manual process, which can become outdated as new metrics are added or modified. This creates inconsistency between the actual exported metrics and the documentation.

Solution

This PR adds a tool that parses the collector source files using Go AST (go/ast) to extract:

  • Metric names
  • Help descriptions
  • Metric types

The extracted information is used to automatically generate the metrics documentation.

Changes Made

  • Added a script to generate metrics documentation from collector code
  • Updated docs/METRICS.md with generated content
  • Added a Makefile target to automate documentation updates

Benefits

  • Ensures documentation is always consistent with the code
  • Reduces manual maintenance effort
  • Improves reliability of metrics documentation

Related Issue

Fixes #2302

Notes

This approach avoids requiring a running exporter instance and instead relies on static analysis of the source code.

This adds a tool to statically analyze collectors and generate a
comprehensive metrics list in docs/METRICS.md. This ensures the
documentation remains accurate and maintainable.

Signed-off-by: pittu sharma <pittusharma47@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: pittu sharma <pittusharma47@gmail.com>
@Pittu-Sharma Pittu-Sharma force-pushed the issue-2302-metrics-doc branch 5 times, most recently from 788b99f to cbe0e90 Compare March 24, 2026 13:01
…h separators, and adding DCO sign-off

Signed-off-by: pittu sharma <pittusharma47@gmail.com>
@Pittu-Sharma Pittu-Sharma force-pushed the issue-2302-metrics-doc branch from cbe0e90 to a81ffe5 Compare March 24, 2026 13:19
@Pittu-Sharma
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I have resolved the persistent CI failures and DCO issues. Please review the changes

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Complete Documentation of the Metrics

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