These aren’t instant queries or range queries; they’re expressions evaluated as instant query. Evaluating http_requests_total[5m] as an instant query returns raw samples from T-5m to T. If you run this query in Grafana or any other editor that supports instant queries, from 00:00 to 23:00, the result might look a bit strange—it will only include samples from 22:55 to 23:00: query : http_requests_total [ 5 m ] // result: bad_data : invalid parameter "query" : invalid expression type "range vector" for range query , must be Scalar or instant Vector