How I Got My First Internship Implementing Prometheus & Grafana (And Why You Should Learn It)

A startup founder reached out—his site was growing fast, and he had zero visibility. Six hours later, I had Prometheus and Grafana running, collecting metrics, and showing beautiful dashboards. Here's everything you need to get started.

Bhupesh Kumar

18 min read · January 4, 2026

The Contract That Opened My Eyes

What Are Prometheus and Grafana?

The 3 Core Metric Types You Need to Know

1. Counter (Always Goes Up)

2. Gauge (Goes Up and Down)

3. Histogram (Tracks Distributions)

Building a Simple Monitored API

Step 1: Setup Metrics (`metrics.ts`)

Step 2: Create Middleware (`middleware.ts`)

Step 3: Expose `/metrics` Endpoint

Setting Up Prometheus & Grafana Locally

Docker Compose Setup

Start Everything

Building Your First Dashboard in Grafana

Real-World Tips

✅ Do This:

❌ Don't Do This:

Why This Skill Matters

Next Steps

Final Thought

Filed under fieldnotesJanuary 4, 2026