Build a Spring Cloud Hystrix Dashboard to Monitor Circuit‑Breaker Metrics in Real Time

Hystrix records runtime metrics for each HystrixCommand and HystrixObservableCommand. These metrics are aggregated in a rolling time window and can be visualized with Hystrix Dashboard. This article shows how to build a Hystrix Dashboard in Spring Cloud and monitor a single service instance.

Prerequisites

eureka-server – service registry

eureka-client – service provider

eureka-consumer-ribbon-hystrix – consumer that uses Ribbon and Hystrix; its /consumer endpoint is annotated with @HystrixCommand so calls are recorded.

Step‑by‑step: Create the Dashboard Application

Create a standard Spring Boot project named hystrix-dashboard.

Add the required dependencies to pom.xml:

<parent>
    <groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-cloud-starter-parent</artifactId>
    <version>Dalston.SR1</version>
    <relativePath />
</parent>
<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-cloud-starter-hystrix</artifactId>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-cloud-starter-hystrix-dashboard</artifactId>
    </dependency>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-actuator</artifactId>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Enable the dashboard by adding @EnableHystrixDashboard to the main class:

@EnableHystrixDashboard
@SpringCloudApplication
public class HystrixDashboardApplication {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(HystrixDashboardApplication.class, args);
    }
}

Optionally configure application.properties (e.g., change the port):

spring.application.name=hystrix-dashboard
server.port=1301

Run the application and open http://localhost:1301/hystrix. The dashboard page loads but shows no data yet.

Expose the Hystrix Stream on the Monitored Service

To make /hystrix.stream available, add spring-boot-starter-actuator and ensure Hystrix dependencies are present in the service’s pom.xml:

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-cloud-starter-hystrix</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-actuator</artifactId>
</dependency>

Also annotate the service’s main class with @EnableCircuitBreaker or @EnableHystrix to activate the circuit‑breaker.

Connect the Dashboard to the Stream

Enter the stream URL (for example http://localhost:2101/hystrix.stream) in the dashboard’s “Monitor Stream” field and click the button. The dashboard now displays real‑time metrics for the eureka-consumer-ribbon-hystrix instance.

Dashboard Controls

Delay

: polling interval in milliseconds (default 2000 ms). Reducing it lowers client CPU and network usage. Title: text shown next to “Hystrix Stream”. By default it is the stream URL but can be customized.

Key Visual Elements

Solid circle: color indicates health (green → yellow → orange → red) and size reflects request volume.

Curve: shows relative traffic over the last two minutes.

Additional numeric metrics are displayed below the chart.

With the dashboard configured, developers can quickly spot unhealthy instances, monitor traffic spikes, and adjust circuit‑breaker settings based on live data.