# Flow counter

The *Flow counter* output plugin lets you count up records and their size.

## Configuration parameters

The plugin supports the following configuration parameters:

| Key       | Description                                                                                                                                      | Default  |
| --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------- |
| `Unit`    | The unit of duration. Allowed values: `second`, `minute`, `hour`, `day`                                                                          | `minute` |
| `Workers` | The number of [workers](https://docs.fluentbit.io/manual/4.1/administration/multithreading#outputs) to perform flush operations for this output. | `0`      |

## Get started

You can run the plugin from the command line or through the configuration file.

### Command line

From the command line you can let Fluent Bit count up data with the following options:

```shell
fluent-bit -i cpu -o flowcounter
```

### Configuration file

In your main configuration file append the following:

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="fluent-bit.yaml" %}

```yaml
pipeline:
  inputs:
    - name: cpu
      tag: cpu

  outputs:
    - name: flowcounter
      match: '*'
      unit: second
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="fluent-bit.conf" %}

```
[INPUT]
  Name cpu
  Tag  cpu

[OUTPUT]
  Name  flowcounter
  Match *
  Unit second
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

## Testing

When Fluent Bit is running, you will see the reports in the output interface similar to this:

```
...
[out_flowcounter] cpu.0:[1482458540, {"counts":60, "bytes":7560, "counts/minute":1, "bytes/minute":126 }]
...
```