---
title: Datadog Metrics
description: Learn how to set up the Datadog Metrics destination.
breadcrumbs: Docs > Observability Pipelines > Destinations > Datadog Metrics
---

# Datadog Metrics

{% callout %}
# Important note for users on the following Datadog sites: app.ddog-gov.com, us2.ddog-gov.com

{% alert level="danger" %}
This product is not supported for your selected [Datadog site](https://docs.datadoghq.com/getting_started/site.md). ().
{% /alert %}

{% /callout %}
Available for:
{% icon name="icon-metrics" /%}
 Metrics 
{% callout %}
##### Join the Preview!

Sending metrics to Observability Pipelines is in Preview. Fill out the form to request access.

[Request Access](https://www.datadoghq.com/product-preview/metrics-ingestion-and-cardinality-control-in-observability-pipelines/)
{% /callout %}

## Overview{% #overview %}

Use Observability Pipelines' Datadog Metrics destination (Preview (PREVIEW indicates an early access version of a major product or feature that you can opt into before its official release.)) to send metrics to Datadog. You can also use AWS PrivateLink to send metrics from Observability Pipelines to Datadog.

## Setup{% #setup %}

Configure the Datadog Metrics destination when you [set up a pipeline](https://docs.datadoghq.com/observability_pipelines/configuration/set_up_pipelines.md). You can set up a pipeline in the [UI](https://app.datadoghq.com/observability-pipelines), using the [API](https://docs.datadoghq.com/api/latest/observability-pipelines.md), or with [Terraform](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/datadog/datadog/latest/docs/resources/observability_pipeline). The steps in this section are configured in the UI.

{% image
   source="https://docs.dd-static.net/images/observability_pipelines/destinations/datadog_metrics_settings.f4d160b1696590cc5e16867a6edb3b26.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850 1x, https://docs.dd-static.net/images/observability_pipelines/destinations/datadog_metrics_settings.f4d160b1696590cc5e16867a6edb3b26.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850&dpr=2 2x"
   alt="The Datadog Metrics destination settings" /%}

### Optional buffering{% #optional-buffering %}

After you select the Datadog Metrics destination in the pipeline UI, you can configure buffering.

Toggle the switch to enable **Buffering Options**. Enable a configurable buffer on your destination to ensure intermittent latency or an outage at the destination doesn't create immediate backpressure, and allow events to continue to be ingested from your source. Disk buffers can also increase pipeline durability by writing data to disk, ensuring buffered data persists through a Worker restart. See [Destination buffers](https://docs.datadoghq.com/observability_pipelines/scaling_and_performance/buffering_and_backpressure.md#destination-buffers) for more information.

- If left unconfigured, your destination uses a memory buffer with a capacity of 500 events.
- To configure a buffer on your destination:
  1. Select the buffer type you want to set (**Memory** or **Disk**).
  1. Enter the buffer size and select the unit.
     1. Maximum memory buffer size is 128 GB.
     1. Maximum disk buffer size is 500 GB.
  1. In the **Behavior on full buffer** dropdown menu, select whether you want to **block** events or **drop new events** when the buffer is full.

## Secret defaults{% #secret-defaults %}

These are the defaults used for secret identifiers and environment variables.

**Note**: If you enter secret identifiers and then choose to use environment variables, the environment variable is the identifier entered and prepended with `DD_OP`. For example, if you entered `PASSWORD_1` for a password identifier, the environment variable for that password is `DD_OP_PASSWORD_1`.

{% tab title="Secrets Management" %}
There are no secret identifiers for this destination.
{% /tab %}

{% tab title="Environment Variables" %}
No environment variables required.
{% /tab %}

## How the destination works{% #how-the-destination-works %}

A batch of events is flushed when one of these parameters is met. See [event batching](https://docs.datadoghq.com/observability_pipelines/destinations.md#event-batching) for more information.

| Maximum Events | Maximum Size (MB) | Timeout (seconds) |
| -------------- | ----------------- | ----------------- |
| 100,000        | None              | 2                 |

## AWS PrivateLink{% #aws-privatelink %}

To send metrics from Observability Pipelines to Datadog using AWS PrivateLink, see [Connect to Datadog over AWS PrivateLink](https://docs.datadoghq.com/agent/guide/private-link.md?tab=crossregionprivatelinkendpoints) for setup instructions. The two endpoints you need to set up are:

- Metrics:
- Remote Configuration:

**Note**: The `obpipeline-intake.datadoghq.com` endpoint is used for Live Capture and is not available as a PrivateLink endpoint.