# Automation

You can send pgmetrics reports to pgDash regularly, to let pgDash extract and store metrics from those reports.

Typically, you’ll collect the metrics from all important/interesting/related databases from one server in one go, storing it under one name:

```
pgmetrics {options..} {dbs..} | pgdash prod-23
```

#### **Avoiding Password Prompt**

Running in an automated manner naturally requires avoiding the password prompt that pgmetrics brings up by default. You can use the `--no-password` option of pgmetrics to suppress this prompt, then setup alternate ways to authenticate. Using [.pgpass files](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/libpq-pgpass.html) to supply the password and/or configuring your [pg\_hba.conf](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/auth-pg-hba-conf.html) file to not require password for a particular host/user/database combination are common options.

For more information see [pgmetrics invocation options](https://pgmetrics.io/docs/invoke.html) and [client autentication chapter](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/client-authentication.html) in the Postgres docs.

#### **Collecting and Reporting Metrics Periodically**

How often you collect and report metrics depends on your database activity. We recommend a frequency of 5 minutes or so. The pgDash API is rate limited so that you have to wait a minimum of 60 seconds before reporting again -- the pgdash CLI will report an error code 429 if your request was rejected because of rate limit.

You can run the command above (“pgmetrics | pgdash”) as a cron job, or use a simple script:

```
#!/bin/sh
while true
do
    pgmetrics {options..} {dbs..} | pgdash -a APIKEY report NAME
    sleep 300
done
```

If you're using a cron job with an interval of one minute, remember that it may a few seconds for the job to complete. This might result in the job being invoked again before 60 seconds are up and may result in a rate-limit.


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.pgdash.io/automation.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.