address review comments

Signed-off-by: JAYICE <1185430411@qq.com>

app/vmagent/remotewrite/remotewrite.go

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/mdx"
 	"github.com/cespare/xxhash/v2"
 
 	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/metrics"
@@ -103,6 +104,9 @@ var (
 		"cannot be pushed into the configured -remoteWrite.url systems in a timely manner. See https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#disabling-on-disk-persistence")
 	disableMetadataPerURL = flagutil.NewArrayBool("remoteWrite.disableMetadata", "Whether to disable sending metadata to the corresponding -remoteWrite.url. "+
 		"By default, metadata sending is controlled by the global -enableMetadata flag")
+
+	enableMdx = flagutil.NewArrayBool("remoteWrite.mdx.enable", "Whether to only retain metrics from VictoriaMetrics services before sending them to the corresponding -remoteWrite.url. "+
+		"Please see https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#monitoring-data-exchange")
 )
 
 var (
@@ -304,6 +308,10 @@ func initRemoteWriteCtxs(urls []string) {
 	}
 	fs.RegisterPathFsMetrics(*tmpDataPath)
 
+	if slices.Contains(*enableMdx, true) && *shardByURL {
+		logger.Fatalf("-remoteWrite.mdx.enable and -remoteWrite.shardByURL cannot be set to true simultaneously.")
+	}
+
 	if *shardByURL {
 		consistentHashNodes := make([]string, 0, len(urls))
 		for i, url := range urls {
@@ -859,6 +867,7 @@ type remoteWriteCtx struct {
 
 	sas          atomic.Pointer[streamaggr.Aggregators]
 	deduplicator *streamaggr.Deduplicator
+	mdxFilter    *mdx.Filter
 
 	streamAggrKeepInput bool
 	streamAggrDropInput bool
@@ -873,6 +882,7 @@ type remoteWriteCtx struct {
 
 	rowsPushedAfterRelabel *metrics.Counter
 	rowsDroppedByRelabel   *metrics.Counter
+	mdxRowsPreserved       *metrics.Counter
 
 	pushFailures                 *metrics.Counter
 	metadataDroppedOnPushFailure *metrics.Counter
@@ -959,7 +969,6 @@ func newRemoteWriteCtx(argIdx int, remoteWriteURL *url.URL, sanitizedURL string)
 	for i := range pss {
 		pss[i] = newPendingSeries(fq, &c.useVMProto, sf, rd)
 	}
-
 	rwctx := &remoteWriteCtx{
 		idx:            argIdx,
 		fq:             fq,
@@ -976,6 +985,16 @@ func newRemoteWriteCtx(argIdx int, remoteWriteURL *url.URL, sanitizedURL string)
 	}
 	rwctx.initStreamAggrConfig()
 
+	if enableMdx.GetOptionalArg(argIdx) {
+		mdxFilter := mdx.NewFilter()
+		rwctx.mdxFilter = mdxFilter
+		rwctx.mdxRowsPreserved = metrics.GetOrCreateCounter(fmt.Sprintf(`vmagent_remotewrite_mdx_rows_preserved_total{path=%q,url=%q}`, queuePath, sanitizedURL))
+		_ = metrics.NewGauge(fmt.Sprintf(`vmagent_mdx_tracked_vm_instances{path=%q,url=%q}`, queuePath, sanitizedURL), func() float64 {
+			return float64(mdxFilter.VmInstancesCount())
+		})
+
+	}
+
 	return rwctx
 }
 
@@ -989,6 +1008,11 @@ func (rwctx *remoteWriteCtx) MustStop() {
 		rwctx.deduplicator.MustStop()
 		rwctx.deduplicator = nil
 	}
+	if rwctx.mdxFilter != nil {
+		rwctx.mdxFilter.MustStop()
+		rwctx.mdxFilter = nil
+		rwctx.mdxRowsPreserved = nil
+	}
 
 	for _, ps := range rwctx.pss {
 		ps.MustStop()
@@ -1004,6 +1028,7 @@ func (rwctx *remoteWriteCtx) MustStop() {
 
 	rwctx.rowsPushedAfterRelabel = nil
 	rwctx.rowsDroppedByRelabel = nil
+
 }
 
 // TryPushTimeSeries sends tss series to the configured remote write endpoint
@@ -1021,6 +1046,20 @@ func (rwctx *remoteWriteCtx) TryPushTimeSeries(tss []prompb.TimeSeries, forceDro
 		putRelabelCtx(rctx)
 	}()
 
+	if rwctx.mdxFilter != nil {
+		tssResP := tssPool.Get().(*[]prompb.TimeSeries)
+		tssRes := rwctx.mdxFilter.Filter(tss, *tssResP)
+		defer func() {
+			*tssResP = prompb.ResetTimeSeries(tssRes)
+			tssPool.Put(tssResP)
+		}()
+
+		if len(tssRes) == 0 {
+			return true
+		}
+		tss = tssRes
+	}
+
 	// Apply relabeling
 	rcs := allRelabelConfigs.Load()
 	pcs := rcs.perURL[rwctx.idx]

docs/victoriametrics/changelog/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ See also [LTS releases](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/lts-rel
 * FEATURE: [vmsingle](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/single-server-victoriametrics/) and `vmselect` in [VictoriaMetrics cluster](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/cluster-victoriametrics/): log calls to [/api/v1/admin/tsdb/delete_series](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/url-examples/#apiv1admintsdbdelete_series) API handler. This should help to identify events of metrics deletion from the database. See [#11104](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/11104).
 * FEATURE: [vmctl](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmctl/): add `-vm-headers` and `-vm-bearer-token` flags for authenticating requests to the VictoriaMetrics import destination. The flags are available in `opentsdb`, `influx`, `remote-read`, `prometheus`, `mimir`, and `thanos` vmctl sub-commands. See [#8897](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/8897).
 * FEATURE: [vmui](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/single-server-victoriametrics/#vmui): add the `last` value to graph legend statistics. See [#10759](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/10759).
+* FEATURE: [vmagent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/): add support for [Monitoring Data eXchange (MDX)](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#monitoring-data-exchange): the ability to route only metrics from VictoriaMetrics services to a specific `-remoteWrite.url`. MDX is useful for building monitoring-of-monitoring where one remote storage should receive the full metric stream and another should receive only VictoriaMetrics metrics. Enable per destination with `-remoteWrite.mdx.enable=true`. See [#10600](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/10600).
 
 * BUGFIX: [stream aggregation](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/stream-aggregation/): fix issue with producing aggregated samples with identical timestamps between flushes. See [#10808](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/10808).
 * BUGFIX: [vmalert](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmalert/),[vmauth](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmauth/),[vmagent](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/) and [vmsingle](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/single-server-victoriametrics/): fix rare unbounded shutdown delay when config reload takes longer than `-configCheckInterval`. See [#11107](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/11107). Thanks to @PleasingFungus for contribution.
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ See also [LTS releases](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/lts-rel
 * BUGFIX: [vmbackup](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/vmbackup/), [vmbackupmanager](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmbackupmanager/): do not fail backup list if directory is absent while using `fs://` destination to align with other protocols. See [6c3c548](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/commit/6c3c548ddb0385b749e731f52276f130e2a4e4a8)
 * BUGFIX: [vmsingle](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/single-server-victoriametrics/) and `vmstorage` in [VictoriaMetrics cluster](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/cluster-victoriametrics/): prevent more cases of panic during directory deletion on `NFS`-based mounts. See [#11060](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/11060).
 
+
 ## [v1.145.0](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/releases/tag/v1.145.0)
 
 Released at 2026-06-08

docs/victoriametrics/vmagent.md

@@ -268,6 +268,39 @@ for the collected samples. Examples:
   ```sh
   ./vmagent -remoteWrite.url=http://remote-storage/api/v1/write -streamAggr.dropInputLabels=replica -streamAggr.dedupInterval=60s
   ```
+  
+### Monitoring Data eXchange
+
+The Monitoring Data eXchange (MDX) feature allows `vmagent` to forward only VictoriaMetrics metrics to selected `-remoteWrite.url` destinations while dropping metrics from non-VictoriaMetrics services.
+
+To enable MDX, set `-remoteWrite.mdx.enable=true` for the target URL and `-remoteWrite.mdx.enable=false` for other URLs:
+
+```sh
+./vmagent \
+  -remoteWrite.url=http://service-to-keep-all-metrics:8428/api/v1/write \
+  -remoteWrite.mdx.enable=false \
+  -remoteWrite.url=http://service-to-keep-only-vm-metrics:8428/api/v1/write \
+  -remoteWrite.mdx.enable=true 
+```
+When MDX is enabled for a `-remoteWrite.url`, `vmagent` forwards only metrics that:
+- come from the target that exposes the `vm_app_version` metric (emitted by all VictoriaMetrics components)
+- contain the `victoriametrics_app=true` label, which will be added automatically to the metrics if the instance was deployed via [VictoriaMetrics Operator](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/operator/).
+
+`victoriametrics_app=true` label will be added to all metrics that are preserved by MDX if it's absent.
+
+- contain the label specified via `-mdx.label`.
+
+```sh
+./vmagent \
+  -remoteWrite.url=http://service-to-keep-only-vm-metrics:8428/api/v1/write \
+  -remoteWrite.mdx.enable=true \
+  -mdx.label="service=victoriametrics"
+```
+In this configuration, metrics with the label `service=victoriametrics` are preserved even if their scrape targets do not expose `vm_app_version` metric.
+
+The number of VictoriaMetrics metrics preserved by MDX is exposed as `vmagent_remotewrite_mdx_rows_preserved_total`.
+
+The scope of MDX is at the per-url level, so it works after global level mechanisms, such as stream aggregation, relabeling, complexity limiter, and cardinality limiter. See [Life of a sample](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#life-of-a-sample).
 
 ### Life of a sample
 
@@ -285,18 +318,20 @@ flowchart TB
     F --> G[<a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#replication-and-high-availability">replicate</a> to each <b>-remoteWrite.url</b><br/>or <a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#sharding-among-remote-storages">shard</a> if <b>-remoteWrite.shardByURL</b> is set]
 
       %% Left branch
-      G --> H1[per-url <a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/relabeling/">relabeling</a><br><b>-remoteWrite.urlRelabelConfig</b>]
-      H1 --> H2[per-url <a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/stream-aggregation">aggregation</a><br><b>-remoteWrite.streamAggr.config</b><br><b>-remoteWrite.streamAggr.dedupInterval</b>]
-      H2 --> H3["per-url <a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#calculating-disk-space-for-persistence-queue">queue</a> (default: enabled)<br><b>-remoteWrite.disableOnDiskQueue</b>"]
-      H3 --> H4[<a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#adding-labels-to-metrics">add extra labels</a><br><b>-remoteWrite.label</b>]
-      H4 --> H5[[push to <b>-remoteWrite.url</b>]]
+      G --> H1[per-url <a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#monitoring-data-exchange/">mdx filter</a><br><b>-remoteWrite.mdx.enable</b>]
+      H1 --> H2[per-url <a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/relabeling/">relabeling</a><br><b>-remoteWrite.urlRelabelConfig</b>]
+      H2 --> H3[per-url <a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/stream-aggregation">aggregation</a><br><b>-remoteWrite.streamAggr.config</b><br><b>-remoteWrite.streamAggr.dedupInterval</b>]
+      H3 --> H4["per-url <a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#calculating-disk-space-for-persistence-queue">queue</a> (default: enabled)<br><b>-remoteWrite.disableOnDiskQueue</b>"]
+      H4 --> H5[<a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#adding-labels-to-metrics">add extra labels</a><br><b>-remoteWrite.label</b>]
+      H5 --> H6[[push to <b>-remoteWrite.url</b>]]
 
       %% Right branch
-      G --> R1[per-url <a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/relabeling/">relabeling</a><br><b>-remoteWrite.urlRelabelConfig</b>]
-      R1 --> R2[per-url <a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/stream-aggregation">aggregation</a><br><b>-remoteWrite.streamAggr.config</b><br><b>-remoteWrite.streamAggr.dedupInterval</b>]
-      R2 --> R3["per-url <a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#calculating-disk-space-for-persistence-queue">queue</a> (default: enabled)<br><b>-remoteWrite.disableOnDiskQueue</b>"]
-      R3 --> R4[<a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#adding-labels-to-metrics">add extra labels</a><br><b>-remoteWrite.label</b>]
-      R4 --> R5[[push to <b>-remoteWrite.url</b>]]
+      G --> R1[per-url <a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#monitoring-data-exchange">mdx filter</a><br><b>-remoteWrite.mdx.enable</b>]
+      R1 --> R2[per-url <a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/relabeling/">relabeling</a><br><b>-remoteWrite.urlRelabelConfig</b>]
+      R2 --> R3[per-url <a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/stream-aggregation">aggregation</a><br><b>-remoteWrite.streamAggr.config</b><br><b>-remoteWrite.streamAggr.dedupInterval</b>]
+      R3 --> R4["per-url <a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#calculating-disk-space-for-persistence-queue">queue</a> (default: enabled)<br><b>-remoteWrite.disableOnDiskQueue</b>"]
+      R4 --> R5[<a href="https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victoriametrics/vmagent/#adding-labels-to-metrics">add extra labels</a><br><b>-remoteWrite.label</b>]
+      R5 --> R6[[push to <b>-remoteWrite.url</b>]]
 ```
 
 Scraping has additional settings that can be applied before samples are pushed to the processing pipeline above:

lib/mdx/filter.go

@@ -0,0 +1,183 @@
+package mdx
+
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"sync/atomic"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/bytesutil"
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/logger"
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/prompb"
+)
+
+var (
+	vmLabel = flag.String("mdx.label", "", "Optional label in the form 'name=value' used to identify VictoriaMetrics metrics for MDX. Metrics containing the specified label are forwarded to `-remoteWrite.url` endpoints configured with `-remoteWrite.mdx.enable=true`.")
+
+	vmAppLabelName = "victoriametrics_app"
+)
+
+// Filter manages the list of VictoriaMetrics instances discovered from previous data flow, and uses it to filter out metrics that are not from VictoriaMetrics instances.
+type Filter struct {
+	mu                 sync.RWMutex
+	wg                 sync.WaitGroup
+	stopCh             chan struct{}
+	vmInstance         map[string]*atomic.Int64
+	filterByLabelName  string
+	filterByLabelValue string
+}
+
+func NewFilter() *Filter {
+	filter := &Filter{
+		vmInstance: make(map[string]*atomic.Int64),
+		stopCh:     make(chan struct{}),
+	}
+
+	if len(*vmLabel) != 0 {
+		n := strings.IndexByte(*vmLabel, '=')
+		if n < 0 {
+			logger.Fatalf("missing '=' in `-mdx.label`. It must contain label in the form `name=value`; got %q", *vmLabel)
+		}
+		filter.filterByLabelName = (*vmLabel)[:n]
+		filter.filterByLabelValue = (*vmLabel)[n+1:]
+	}
+
+	filter.wg.Go(filter.cleanStale)
+	return filter
+}
+
+func (filter *Filter) VmInstancesCount() int {
+	if filter == nil {
+		return 0
+	}
+	filter.mu.RLock()
+	defer filter.mu.RUnlock()
+	return len(filter.vmInstance)
+
+}
+
+func (filter *Filter) cleanStale() {
+	entryTTL := time.Hour * 1
+	ttlSec := int64(entryTTL.Seconds())
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(time.Minute)
+	defer ticker.Stop()
+
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-ticker.C:
+			filter.mu.Lock()
+			currTs := time.Now().Unix()
+
+			dst := make(map[string]*atomic.Int64, len(filter.vmInstance))
+			for k, v := range filter.vmInstance {
+				if currTs-v.Load() < ttlSec {
+					dst[k] = v
+				}
+			}
+			if len(dst) != len(filter.vmInstance) {
+				filter.vmInstance = dst
+			}
+			filter.mu.Unlock()
+		case <-filter.stopCh:
+			return
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func (filter *Filter) MustStop() {
+	if filter == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	close(filter.stopCh)
+	filter.wg.Wait()
+}
+
+func (filter *Filter) Filter(tss []prompb.TimeSeries, resTss []prompb.TimeSeries) []prompb.TimeSeries {
+	currTs := time.Now().Unix()
+	var identicalKey []byte
+
+	maybeAddVmAppLabel := func(idx int, labels []prompb.Label) []prompb.Label {
+		for j := idx + 1; j < len(labels); j++ {
+			if labels[j].Name == vmAppLabelName && labels[j].Value == "true" {
+				return labels
+			}
+		}
+
+		copyLabels := make([]prompb.Label, len(labels)+1)
+		copy(copyLabels, labels)
+
+		copyLabels[len(copyLabels)-1] = prompb.Label{Name: vmAppLabelName, Value: "true"}
+		return copyLabels
+	}
+
+nextTss:
+	for _, ts := range tss {
+		var hasVersionLabel, triedJobInstance bool
+		var job, instance string
+		for i, label := range ts.Labels {
+			if label.Name == vmAppLabelName && label.Value == "true" {
+				resTss = append(resTss, ts)
+				continue nextTss
+			}
+			if filter.filterByLabelName != "" && label.Name == filter.filterByLabelName && label.Value == filter.filterByLabelValue {
+				ts.Labels = maybeAddVmAppLabel(i, ts.Labels)
+				resTss = append(resTss, ts)
+				continue nextTss
+			}
+
+			if label.Name == "__name__" && label.Value == "vm_app_version" {
+				hasVersionLabel = true
+			}
+			if instance == "" && label.Name == "instance" {
+				if label.Value == "" {
+					continue
+				}
+
+				instance = label.Value
+			}
+			if job == "" && label.Name == "job" {
+				if label.Value == "" {
+					continue
+				}
+
+				job = label.Value
+			}
+			if !triedJobInstance && job != "" && instance != "" {
+				identicalKey = identicalKey[:0]
+				identicalKey = strconv.AppendQuote(identicalKey, job)
+				identicalKey = append(identicalKey, ':')
+				identicalKey = strconv.AppendQuote(identicalKey, instance)
+				filter.mu.RLock()
+				ptr, found := filter.vmInstance[bytesutil.ToUnsafeString(identicalKey)]
+				filter.mu.RUnlock()
+				if found {
+					ptr.Store(currTs)
+					ts.Labels = maybeAddVmAppLabel(i, ts.Labels)
+					resTss = append(resTss, ts)
+					continue nextTss
+				}
+				triedJobInstance = true
+			}
+
+			if hasVersionLabel && job != "" && instance != "" {
+				identicalKey = identicalKey[:0]
+				identicalKey = strconv.AppendQuote(identicalKey, job)
+				identicalKey = append(identicalKey, ':')
+				identicalKey = strconv.AppendQuote(identicalKey, instance)
+
+				v := &atomic.Int64{}
+				v.Store(currTs)
+
+				filter.mu.Lock()
+				filter.vmInstance[string(identicalKey)] = v
+				filter.mu.Unlock()
+				ts.Labels = maybeAddVmAppLabel(i, ts.Labels)
+				resTss = append(resTss, ts)
+				continue nextTss
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return resTss
+}

lib/mdx/filter_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,356 @@
+package mdx
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"sort"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"testing/synctest"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/prompb"
+	"github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/lib/promrelabel"
+)
+
+func timeSeriessToString(tss []prompb.TimeSeries) string {
+	a := make([]string, len(tss))
+	for i, ts := range tss {
+		a[i] = timeSeriesToString(ts)
+	}
+	sort.Strings(a)
+	return strings.Join(a, "")
+}
+
+func timeSeriesToString(ts prompb.TimeSeries) string {
+	labelsString := promrelabel.LabelsToString(ts.Labels)
+
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s\n", labelsString)
+}
+
+func TestMdxInstanceFilter(t *testing.T) {
+	originalVmLabel := *vmLabel
+	*vmLabel = "service=victoriametrics"
+	filter := NewFilter()
+	defer filter.MustStop()
+	f := func(input []prompb.TimeSeries, expectedOutput []prompb.TimeSeries, expectedInstanceMap map[string]int64) {
+		t.Helper()
+		output := filter.Filter(input, nil)
+		outputString := timeSeriessToString(output)
+		expectedOutputString := timeSeriessToString(expectedOutput)
+		if outputString != expectedOutputString {
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected output; got %s; want %s", outputString, expectedOutputString)
+		}
+		if filter.VmInstancesCount() != len(expectedInstanceMap) {
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected instance map length; got %d; want %d", len(filter.vmInstance), len(expectedInstanceMap))
+		}
+		for k := range expectedInstanceMap {
+			if filter.vmInstance[k] == nil {
+				t.Fatalf("missing instance in filter.vmInstance: %q", k)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	// the first call
+	f([]prompb.TimeSeries{
+		// 1. metrics with vm_app_version and different order of labels.
+		{
+			Labels: []prompb.Label{
+				{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_app_version"},
+				{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics1:8428"},
+				{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			Labels: []prompb.Label{
+				{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics2:8428"},
+				{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_app_version"},
+				{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			Labels: []prompb.Label{
+				{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+				{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics3:8428"},
+				{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_app_version"},
+			},
+		},
+		// 2.
+		// metrics without vm_app_version but with service=victoriametrics that is specified in `-vm.label`.
+		// it will be preserved, but won't be registered in instance map in MDX
+		{
+			Labels: []prompb.Label{
+				{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_slow_queries_total"},
+				{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+				{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics4:8428"},
+				{Name: "service", Value: "victoriametrics"},
+			},
+		},
+
+		// 3. metrics with vm_app_version and service=victoriametrics should be preserved.
+		{
+			Labels: []prompb.Label{
+				{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics5:8428"},
+				{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+				{Name: "service", Value: "victoriametrics"},
+				{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_app_version"},
+			},
+		},
+		// 4. metrics without vm_app_version and `service=victoriametrics` but with `victoriametrics_app=true`, which should be preserved.
+		{
+			Labels: []prompb.Label{
+				{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics6:8428"},
+				{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+				{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_slow_queries_total"},
+				{Name: "victoriametrics_app", Value: "true"},
+			},
+		},
+
+		// 5. metrics without vm_app_version and service=victoriametrics and `victoriametrics_app=true`, which should be filtered out.
+		{
+			Labels: []prompb.Label{
+				{Name: "__name__", Value: "go_gc_duration_seconds"},
+				{Name: "instance", Value: "node-exporter1"},
+				{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			Labels: []prompb.Label{
+				{Name: "__name__", Value: "http_request_duration_seconds"},
+				{Name: "instance", Value: "service1"},
+				{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+			},
+		},
+
+		// 6. metrics with vm_app_version but job or instance is empty (or missing), they should be dropped.
+		{
+			Labels: []prompb.Label{
+				{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_app_version"},
+				{Name: "instance", Value: ""},
+				{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			Labels: []prompb.Label{
+				{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_app_version"},
+				{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			Labels: []prompb.Label{
+				{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_app_version"},
+				{Name: "instance", Value: "vmagent2:8429"},
+				{Name: "job", Value: ""},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			Labels: []prompb.Label{
+				{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_app_version"},
+				{Name: "instance", Value: "vmagent2:8429"},
+			},
+		},
+	},
+		// `victoriametrics_app=true` should be added to all preserved metrics if absent.
+		[]prompb.TimeSeries{
+			{
+				Labels: []prompb.Label{
+					{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_app_version"},
+					{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics1:8428"},
+					{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+					{Name: "victoriametrics_app", Value: "true"},
+				},
+			},
+			{
+				Labels: []prompb.Label{
+					{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_app_version"},
+					{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics2:8428"},
+					{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+					{Name: "victoriametrics_app", Value: "true"},
+				},
+			},
+			{
+				Labels: []prompb.Label{
+					{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_app_version"},
+					{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics3:8428"},
+					{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+					{Name: "victoriametrics_app", Value: "true"},
+				},
+			},
+			{
+				Labels: []prompb.Label{
+					{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_slow_queries_total"},
+					{Name: "service", Value: "victoriametrics"},
+					{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics4:8428"},
+					{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+					{Name: "victoriametrics_app", Value: "true"},
+				},
+			},
+			{
+				Labels: []prompb.Label{
+					{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics5:8428"},
+					{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+					{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_app_version"},
+					{Name: "service", Value: "victoriametrics"},
+					{Name: "victoriametrics_app", Value: "true"},
+				},
+			},
+			{
+				Labels: []prompb.Label{
+					{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics6:8428"},
+					{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+					{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_slow_queries_total"},
+					{Name: "victoriametrics_app", Value: "true"},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		// only instances that are discovered via `vm_app_version` will be registered in instance map in MDX.
+		map[string]int64{
+			"\"test\":\"victoria-metrics1:8428\"": 0,
+			"\"test\":\"victoria-metrics2:8428\"": 0,
+			"\"test\":\"victoria-metrics3:8428\"": 0,
+		})
+
+	// the second call
+	f([]prompb.TimeSeries{
+		// 1. metrics without vm_app_version, but the instances were already registered in the previous call, so it will be preserved.
+		{
+			Labels: []prompb.Label{
+				{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_rows_inserted_total"},
+				{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics1:8428"},
+				{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			Labels: []prompb.Label{
+				{Name: "__name__", Value: "vminsert_request_duration_seconds_bucket"},
+				{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics2:8428"},
+				{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+			},
+		},
+		// 2. metrics without vm_app_version, `service=victoriametrics` and `victoriametrics_app=true`, and the instance wasn't already registered in the previous call, so it will be dropped.
+		{
+			Labels: []prompb.Label{
+				{Name: "__name__", Value: "vminsert_request_duration_seconds_bucket"},
+				{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics7:8428"},
+				{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+			},
+		},
+		// 3. metrics with service=victoriametrics.
+		{
+			Labels: []prompb.Label{
+				{Name: "service", Value: "victoriametrics"},
+				{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics4:8428"},
+				{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+			},
+		},
+	},
+		[]prompb.TimeSeries{
+			{
+				Labels: []prompb.Label{
+					{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_rows_inserted_total"},
+					{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics1:8428"},
+					{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+					{Name: "victoriametrics_app", Value: "true"},
+				},
+			},
+			{
+				Labels: []prompb.Label{
+					{Name: "__name__", Value: "vminsert_request_duration_seconds_bucket"},
+					{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics2:8428"},
+					{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+					{Name: "victoriametrics_app", Value: "true"},
+				},
+			},
+			{
+				Labels: []prompb.Label{
+					{Name: "service", Value: "victoriametrics"},
+					{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics4:8428"},
+					{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+					{Name: "victoriametrics_app", Value: "true"},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		// only instances that are discovered via `vm_app_version` will be registered in instance map in MDX.
+		map[string]int64{
+			"\"test\":\"victoria-metrics1:8428\"": 0,
+			"\"test\":\"victoria-metrics2:8428\"": 0,
+			"\"test\":\"victoria-metrics3:8428\"": 0,
+		})
+
+	*vmLabel = originalVmLabel
+}
+
+func TestMdxInstanceCleanup(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	synctest.Test(t, func(t *testing.T) {
+		filter := NewFilter()
+		defer filter.MustStop()
+		filter.Filter([]prompb.TimeSeries{
+			{
+				Labels: []prompb.Label{
+					{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_app_version"},
+					{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics1:8428"},
+					{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+				},
+			},
+			{
+				Labels: []prompb.Label{
+					{Name: "__name__", Value: "go_gc_duration_seconds"},
+					{Name: "instance", Value: "node-exporter1"},
+					{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+				},
+			},
+			{
+				Labels: []prompb.Label{
+					{Name: "__name__", Value: "http_request_duration_seconds"},
+					{Name: "instance", Value: "service1"},
+					{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+				},
+			},
+			{
+				Labels: []prompb.Label{
+					{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_app_version"},
+					{Name: "instance", Value: "vmagent1:8429"},
+					{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+				},
+			}}, []prompb.TimeSeries{},
+		)
+		f := func(expectedInstanceMap map[string]int64) {
+			t.Helper()
+			if filter.VmInstancesCount() != len(expectedInstanceMap) {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected instance map length; got %d; want %d", len(filter.vmInstance), len(expectedInstanceMap))
+			}
+			for k := range expectedInstanceMap {
+				if filter.vmInstance[k] == nil {
+					t.Fatalf("missing instance in filter.vmInstance: %q", k)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		time.Sleep(59 * time.Minute)
+		// the entries should not be cleaned.
+		f(map[string]int64{
+			"\"test\":\"victoria-metrics1:8428\"": 0,
+			"\"test\":\"vmagent1:8429\"":          0,
+		})
+
+		// receive samples from victoria-metrics1:8428 after 59 minutes.
+		// so the entry will be refreshed.
+		filter.Filter([]prompb.TimeSeries{
+			{
+				Labels: []prompb.Label{
+					{Name: "__name__", Value: "vm_app_version"},
+					{Name: "instance", Value: "victoria-metrics1:8428"},
+					{Name: "job", Value: "test"},
+				},
+			}}, []prompb.TimeSeries{},
+		)
+
+		time.Sleep(2 * time.Minute)
+
+		// no samples from vmagent1:8429 in the last hour, so it should be removed from the mdx instance list.
+		f(map[string]int64{
+			"\"test\":\"victoria-metrics1:8428\"": 0,
+		})
+	})
+
+}