=== CMD: kubectl apply -f manifest.yaml && kubectl -n istio-vt-t31 wait --for=condition=Ready pod/client --timeout=90s ===
pod/client created
deployment.apps/echo created
service/echo created
pod/client condition met
=== CMD: kubectl -n istio-vt-t31 rollout status deploy/echo --timeout=120s ===
deployment "echo" successfully rolled out
=== CMD: kubectl -n istio-vt-t31 get pods -o wide ===
NAME                    READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE   IP              NODE          NOMINATED NODE   READINESS GATES
client                  2/2     Running   0          9s    10.255.194.84   k8s-worker1   <none>           <none>
echo-5767bbcc56-hbtv9   2/2     Running   0          9s    10.255.194.83   k8s-worker1   <none>           <none>
=== CMD: kubectl -n istio-vt-t31 exec client -c istio-proxy -- curl -s localhost:15000/stats/prometheus | grep -c 'envoy_http_downstream_rq_active'   # expect 0 by default ===
0

=== ADDITIONAL CHECK: grep -c 'envoy_cluster_upstream_rq_active' before_stats.txt ===
4

=== CMD: kubectl -n istio-vt-t31 annotate pod client proxy.istio.io/config='{"proxyStatsMatcher":{"inclusionRegexps":[".*downstream_rq_active.*"]}}' --overwrite ===
pod/client annotated

=== CMD: kubectl -n istio-vt-t31 delete pod client --wait=true ===
pod "client" deleted from istio-vt-t31 namespace

=== CMD: kubectl apply -f manifest.yaml   # NOTE: client pod manifest now includes proxy.istio.io/config annotation baked in before re-applying, since annotations on a bare Pod require recreation to take effect ===
pod/client created
deployment.apps/echo unchanged
service/echo unchanged

=== CMD: kubectl -n istio-vt-t31 wait --for=condition=Ready pod/client --timeout=90s ===
pod/client condition met

NAME     READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE   IP              NODE          NOMINATED NODE   READINESS GATES
client   2/2     Running   0          3s    10.255.126.34   k8s-worker2   <none>           <none>
=== CMD: kubectl -n istio-vt-t31 exec client -c istio-proxy -- curl -s localhost:15000/stats/prometheus | grep -c 'envoy_http_downstream_rq_active'   # expect >0 now ===
13

=== SUPPORTING DETAIL: matched lines in after_stats.txt ===
# TYPE envoy_http_downstream_rq_active gauge
envoy_http_downstream_rq_active{http_conn_manager_prefix="InboundPassthroughCluster"} 0
envoy_http_downstream_rq_active{http_conn_manager_prefix="outbound_0.0.0.0_15010"} 0
envoy_http_downstream_rq_active{http_conn_manager_prefix="outbound_0.0.0.0_15014"} 0
envoy_http_downstream_rq_active{http_conn_manager_prefix="outbound_0.0.0.0_18180"} 0
envoy_http_downstream_rq_active{http_conn_manager_prefix="outbound_0.0.0.0_8000"} 0
envoy_http_downstream_rq_active{http_conn_manager_prefix="outbound_0.0.0.0_8080"} 0
envoy_http_downstream_rq_active{http_conn_manager_prefix="outbound_0.0.0.0_80"} 0
envoy_http_downstream_rq_active{http_conn_manager_prefix="outbound_10.250.0.3_9153"} 0
envoy_http_downstream_rq_active{http_conn_manager_prefix="outbound_10.250.13.92_15021"} 0
envoy_http_downstream_rq_active{http_conn_manager_prefix="outbound_10.250.173.46_15021"} 0
envoy_http_downstream_rq_active{http_conn_manager_prefix="outbound_10.250.188.49_15021"} 0
envoy_http_downstream_rq_active{http_conn_manager_prefix="outbound_10.250.50.85_15021"} 0