Insights custom data requirements and limits

You can insert custom events and attributes into New Relic Insights using the New Relic Event API, APM agent APIs, Browser agent APIs, and the Mobile SDK.

This document contains general requirements and rules for inserting and using your custom data. Additional requirements may apply based on the method you use.

General requirements

Access to your custom data depends on your Insights subscription's data retention.

When inserting custom events and attributes to Insights follow these general requirements for supported data types, naming syntax, and size:

Requirement Description
Attribute data types

Attribute values can be either a string or a numeric (an integer or float). Insights does not support "coercion." A number stored as a string is treated as a string and cannot be operated on by functions expecting float values.

If your attribute values contain date information, define it as an unformatted Unix timestamp (in seconds or milliseconds) via the Insights' Data formatter.
Naming syntax

Event and attribute names can be a combination of alphanumeric characters, underscores _, and colons :.

Do not use words reserved for use by NRQL and Insights.
Maximum size or length
  • Payload total size: 1 MB maximum per POST. We highly recommend using compression.

  • Max attribute value size: 255 Bytes

    Alternatively, attributes with a value size limit of 4 KB can be sent with the New Relic Event API.

    Insights charts only show the first 255 characters of attribute values. Use the JSON chart type or Query API to read full attribute key/values.

  • Max total attributes per event: 254. If using the APM agent API, the max is 64.
  • The Event API also has HTTP rate limits.
Null values The database does not store any data with a null value.

Reserved words

Avoid using the following reserved words as names for events and attributes. Otherwise, unexpected results may occur.

This is not a complete list. In general, avoid using any MySQL reserved words as New Relic continues to add new features.

Keyword Description
accountId

This is a reserved attribute name. If it is included, it will be dropped during ingest.
appId

Value must be an integer. If it is not an integer, the attribute name and value will be dropped during ingest.
timestamp

Must be a Unix epoch timestamp. You can define timestamps either in seconds or in milliseconds. It must be +/-1 day (24 hours) of the current time on the server.
eventType

The event type as stored by New Relic Insights. New Relic agents and scripts normally report this as eventType. Can be a combination of alphanumeric characters, _ underscores, and :colons.
NRQL syntax terms

If you need to use NRQL syntax terms as attribute names, they must be enclosed in backticks; for example, `LIMIT`. Otherwise, avoid using these reserved words for NRQL:

ago, and, as, auto,

begin, begintime,

compare,

day, days,

end, endtime, explain,

facet, from,

hour, hours,

in, is,

like, limit,

minute, minutes, month, months,

not, null,

offset, or,

second, seconds, select, since,

timeseries,

until,

week, weeks, where, with
Metric Avoid using Metric as an EventType value. Events passed in with this event type will be dropped. This event type is reserved for use by New Relic.

Additional Browser PageAction requirements

For additional requirements for using New Relic Browser's custom PageAction event, see Insert custom data via New Relic Browser agent.

Additional Insights API requirements

See Insights Insert API for more requirements and details.

Event type limits

The current limit for total number of event types is 250 per sub-account, in a given 24-hour time period. If a user exceeds this limit, New Relic may filter or drop data. Event types include:

  • Default events from New Relic agents
  • Custom events from New Relic agents
  • Custom events from Insights custom event inserter

If you have a use case that requires to need to store more than 250 unique event types in a given 24-hour period, file a New Relic Support ticket at support.newrelic.com.

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