diff --git a/.env b/.env
index 71c1871..a19e0c7 100644
--- a/.env
+++ b/.env
@@ -40,9 +40,9 @@ TEST_PROXY_SERVICE_EVM_RPC_HOSTNAME=localhost:7777
 TEST_PROXY_SERVICE_EVM_RPC_PRUNING_URL=http://localhost:7778
 TEST_PROXY_BACKEND_EVM_RPC_HOST_URL=http://localhost:8545
 TEST_DATABASE_ENDPOINT_URL=localhost:5432
-TEST_PROXY_BACKEND_HOST_URL_MAP=localhost:7777>http://kava-validator:8545,localhost:7778>http://kava-pruning:8545
+TEST_PROXY_BACKEND_HOST_URL_MAP=localhost:7777 >http://kava-validator:8545,localhost:7778 >http://kava-pruning:8545
 TEST_PROXY_HEIGHT_BASED_ROUTING_ENABLED=true
-TEST_PROXY_PRUNING_BACKEND_HOST_URL_MAP=localhost:7777>http://kava-pruning:8545,localhost:7778>http://kava-pruning:8545
+TEST_PROXY_PRUNING_BACKEND_HOST_URL_MAP=localhost:7777 >http://kava-pruning:8545,localhost:7778 >http://kava-pruning:8545
 # What level of logging to use for service objects constructed during
 # unit tests
 TEST_SERVICE_LOG_LEVEL=ERROR
@@ -51,10 +51,13 @@ TEST_SERVICE_LOG_LEVEL=ERROR
 TEST_EVM_QUERY_SERVICE_URL=http://kava-validator:8545
 # TEST_REDIS_ENDPOINT_URL is an url of redis
 TEST_REDIS_ENDPOINT_URL=localhost:6379
+# tests for metrics look for metrics created within a given window of time.
+# TEST_EXTEND_METRIC_WINDOW_MS allows extending that window which is useful
+# for when tests fail because the metrics hadn't finished being created in the window.
+TEST_EXTEND_METRIC_WINDOW_MS=100
 
 ##### Kava Node Config
 
-
 ##### Kava Proxy Config
 # What port the proxy service listens on
 PROXY_SERVICE_PORT=7777
@@ -62,12 +65,12 @@ LOG_LEVEL=DEBUG
 HTTP_READ_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=30
 HTTP_WRITE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=60
 # Address of the origin server to proxy all requests to
-PROXY_BACKEND_HOST_URL_MAP=localhost:7777>http://kava-validator:8545,localhost:7778>http://kava-pruning:8545
+PROXY_BACKEND_HOST_URL_MAP=localhost:7777 >http://kava-validator:8545,localhost:7778 >http://kava-pruning:8545
 # height-based routing will look at the height of an incoming EVM request
 # iff. the height is "latest", it routes to the corresponding PROXY_PRUNING_BACKEND_HOST_URL_MAP value
 # otherwise, it falls back to the value in PROXY_BACKEND_HOST_URL_MAP
 PROXY_HEIGHT_BASED_ROUTING_ENABLED=true
-PROXY_PRUNING_BACKEND_HOST_URL_MAP=localhost:7777>http://kava-pruning:8545,localhost:7778>http://kava-pruning:8545
+PROXY_PRUNING_BACKEND_HOST_URL_MAP=localhost:7777 >http://kava-pruning:8545,localhost:7778 >http://kava-pruning:8545
 # PROXY_MAXIMUM_REQ_BATCH_SIZE is a proxy-enforced limit on the number of subrequest in a batch
 PROXY_MAXIMUM_REQ_BATCH_SIZE=100
 # Configuration for the servcie to connect to it's database
@@ -150,7 +153,6 @@ HOSTNAME_TO_ACCESS_CONTROL_ALLOW_ORIGIN_VALUE_MAP=
 ##### Database Config
 POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password
 
-
 ##### Redis Config
 # for local development don't require a password to connect to the redis server
 ALLOW_EMPTY_PASSWORD=yes
diff --git a/main_test.go b/main_test.go
index d0d2167..18f589a 100644
--- a/main_test.go
+++ b/main_test.go
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ var (
 		}
 		return logger
 	}()
+	testExtendMetricWindowMs, _ = strconv.ParseInt(os.Getenv("TEST_EXTEND_METRIC_WINDOW_MS"), 10, 0)
 
 	proxyUnconfiguredUrl = os.Getenv("TEST_UNCONFIGURED_PROXY_URL")
 
@@ -88,7 +89,8 @@ var (
 // search for any request metrics between startTime and time.Now() for particular request methods
 // if testedmethods is empty, all metrics in timeframe are returned.
 func findMetricsInWindowForMethods(db database.PostgresClient, startTime time.Time, testedmethods []string) []database.ProxiedRequestMetric {
-	endTime := time.Now()
+	// add small buffer into future in case metrics are still being created
+	endTime := time.Now().Add(time.Duration(testExtendMetricWindowMs) * time.Millisecond)
 
 	var nextCursor int64
 	var proxiedRequestMetrics []database.ProxiedRequestMetric
@@ -151,7 +153,7 @@ func waitForMetricsInWindow(
 
 	// besides verification, waiting for the metrics ensures future tests don't fail b/c metrics are being processed
 	require.Eventually(t, func() bool {
-		metrics = findMetricsInWindowForMethods(db, startTime, []string{})
+		metrics = findMetricsInWindowForMethods(db, startTime, testedmethods)
 		return len(metrics) >= expected
 	}, timeout, time.Millisecond,
 		fmt.Sprintf("failed to find %d metrics in %f seconds from start %s", expected, timeout.Seconds(), startTime))