# Quick Start

Minimal path to push metrics and see them in Prometheus or ClickHouse.

## 1. Build

```bash
go build -o epimetheus cmd/epimetheus/main.go
# Or: mage build
```

## 2. Run (Prometheus path)

**Realtime mode** (Pushgateway + Prometheus):

1. Deploy and expose Pushgateway (see [Kubernetes](../operations/kubernetes.md) or run Pushgateway locally).
2. Ensure Prometheus scrapes Pushgateway (see [Setup: Prometheus](../operations/setup-prometheus.md)).
3. Port-forward if needed, then run:

```bash
kubectl port-forward -n monitoring svc/pushgateway 9091:9091 &
./epimetheus -mode=realtime -continuous
```

Metrics are pushed every 15 seconds. Stop with Ctrl+C.

**Watch mode** (Remote Write; preserves timestamps):

1. Enable the Prometheus Remote Write receiver (see [Setup: Prometheus](../operations/setup-prometheus.md)).
2. Port-forward Prometheus, then run:

```bash
kubectl port-forward -n monitoring svc/prometheus-kube-prometheus-prometheus 9090:9090 &
./epimetheus -mode=watch -file=mydata.csv -metric-name=myapp \
  -prometheus=http://localhost:9090/api/v1/write
```

## 3. View

- **Pushgateway:** http://localhost:9091  
- **Prometheus:** http://localhost:9090 (e.g. query `epimetheus_test_requests_total` or your metric name)  
- **Grafana:** Add Prometheus as a datasource and import the Epimetheus dashboard (see [Grafana Dashboard](../reference/grafana-dashboard.md)).

## ClickHouse path (watch only)

1. Run ClickHouse (e.g. `sudo systemctl start clickhouse-server` or Docker). See [Setup: ClickHouse](../operations/setup-clickhouse.md).
2. Run watch mode with ClickHouse:

```bash
./epimetheus -mode=watch -file=test-data/watch-clickhouse-test.csv \
  -metric-name=watch_test -clickhouse=http://localhost:8123 -prometheus=
```

3. Verify: `./scripts/verify-clickhouse.sh`

For all modes and options see [Operating Modes](modes.md) and [CLI Reference](../reference/cli.md).