Grafana Connector | OpenMetadata Integration Guide

In this section, we provide guides and references to use the Grafana connector. Configure and schedule Grafana metadata workflows from the OpenMetadata UI:

• Requirements
• Metadata Ingestion
• Troubleshooting

​

Requirements

To access the Grafana APIs and import dashboards and panels into OpenMetadata, you need a Service Account Token with sufficient permissions (Admin role is recommended) and API access enabled on your Grafana instance.

​

Metadata Ingestion

To ingest metadata from Grafana, you need to create a service connection. The service connects Grafana with OpenMetadata. Once you create a service, OpenMetadata automatically starts ingesting metadata.

​

Step 1: Add New Service

1. Navigate to Settings > Services.
2. Click Add New Service.

​

Step 2: Select a Service and Connector

From the service type dropdown, select Dashboard Services, then click the Grafana connector tile.

​

Step 3: Add Service Name and Description

• Enter a unique, descriptive Service Name. OpenMetadata identifies services by their service name. Enter a name that distinguishes this deployment from other Grafana services you are ingesting metadata from.
• Optional: Enter a Description for the service.

​

Step 4: Configure Connection Options

Specify your source credentials and verify the connection.

​

Enter Connection Details

Enter the connection details for Grafana. The right-hand panel in the UI displays inline help for each field.

• Host and Port: URL to the Grafana instance.
• API Token: Service Account Token with sufficient permissions (Admin role recommended).

​

Test Connection

Once the credentials have been added, click on Test Connection and Save the changes.

​

Step 5: Configure Ingestion Options

In the What to Ingest step, use filter patterns to control which assets OpenMetadata ingests from your dashboard service. Filter patterns use regular expressions applied to asset names.

​

How Filter Patterns Work

• Include: Add one or more comma-separated regular expressions. OpenMetadata ingests only assets whose names match at least one expression. Leave blank to include all assets.
• Exclude: Add one or more comma-separated regular expressions. OpenMetadata skips any asset whose name matches an expression. Leave blank to exclude nothing.

Rules match asset names using one of five expressions:

• contains: matches any name containing the value. For example, sales matches my_sales_data and sales_2024.
• starts with: matches names beginning with the value. For example, prod_ matches prod_db and prod_schema.
• ends with: matches names ending with the value. For example, _raw matches events_raw and logs_raw.
• is exactly: matches the exact name only. For example, analytics matches only analytics.
• matches regex: matches names using a regular expression. For example, ^prod_.*_v\d+$ matches prod_events_v1.

When both Include and Exclude are set, Exclude takes priority. Filter Options The Dashboard, Chart, and Data Model sections each include the following filter options:

• Dashboard: Controls which dashboards OpenMetadata ingests from the source.
• Chart: Controls which charts within the ingested dashboards are included.
• Data Model: Controls which data models are included in metadata ingestion.

Each section provides the following controls:

• Scan Mode: You can choose between the following scan modes:
  • Scan all: Ingests every asset of that type the connector can access. This is the default.
  • Only specific: Enables include rules so only assets matching at least one rule are ingested.
• Always exclude: Add permanent exclusion rules (shown in red). Assets matching these rules are never ingested, regardless of include rules.
• Preview: Shows a real-time summary of what will be in scope based on your current rules.
• Include rules (available only in Only specific mode): Click + Add to define a rule. Added rules appear as chips; an asset is included if it matches any rule.

​

Step 6: Create & Deploy

Click Create & Deploy to deploy the agent and start the first metadata ingestion run. OpenMetadata saves the service configuration and immediately begins pulling metadata from the source. To monitor ingestion progress or view the service you just added, go to Settings > Services and select your service.

​

Configure Metadata Agent and Schedule Ingestion

The Metadata Agent extracts dashboards, charts, data models, and other structural metadata from your source and keeps your OpenMetadata catalog in sync. It powers discovery, lineage, and governance across your data assets. When you click Create & Deploy, OpenMetadata automatically deploys a Metadata Agent for this service and triggers the first ingestion run. View its status and run history from the Agents tab on the service detail page. To configure the additional Metadata Agent and schedule ingestion, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Settings > Services and select the service type.
2. Click the service you have added.
3. Select the Agents tab and click Add Agent > Metadata. For some services, the dropdown is not available and clicking Add Agent takes you directly to the agent configuration page.
4. On the Configure Ingestion page, do the following and click Next.
   • Name this Ingestion: Enter a unique recognizable name for this ingestion pipeline.
   • Agent Setup: Configure ingestion parameters. The following fields are available:

     Field	Default	Description
     Db Service Prefixes	—	List of database service name prefixes used to resolve lineage between dashboards and database assets. Accepted formats: DBService, DBService.Database, DBService.Database.Schema, DBService.Database.Schema.Table.
     Query Parser Type	Auto	Select the SQL parser used for lineage extraction from dashboard queries. Auto selects the best available parser automatically. SqlGlot is a high-performance parser with excellent dialect support; falls back to SqlParse on failure. SqlFluff is a comprehensive parser with strong dialect support; falls back to SqlParse on failure.
     Mark Deleted Dashboards	On	Soft-delete dashboards in OpenMetadata when they are removed from the source. Associated lineage is also deleted.
     Mark Deleted Data Models	On	Soft-delete data models in OpenMetadata when they are removed from the source. Associated lineage is also deleted.
     Mark Deleted Charts	On	Soft-delete charts in OpenMetadata when they are removed from the source.
     Include Data Models	On	Ingest data model metadata.
     Include Draft Dashboards	On	Ingest dashboards that are in draft state.
     Include Usage	On	Collect and ingest usage statistics for dashboards.

     
   • Filter Patterns: Apply include or exclude rules to scope which dashboards, charts, data models, and projects this agent ingests. These follow the same filter options described in Step 5: Configure Ingestion Options.
   • Scope & Behaviour: Control what metadata to include and how to handle deletions. Toggle each option on or off based on your needs:

     Toggle	Default	Description
     Enable Debug Log	Off	Sets the ingestion log level to DEBUG. Useful for troubleshooting.
     Include Current Owners	Off	When enabled, replaces the current owner with a new owner from the source if the current owner is null. Recommended to keep enabled during the first metadata ingestion to capture owner information.
     Include Tags	On	Ingest tags from the source.
     Override Metadata	Off	When on, source values overwrite existing descriptions, tags, owners, and display names in OpenMetadata. When off, OpenMetadata only updates fields that have no existing value.
     Override Lineage	Off	When on, existing lineage is replaced with newly extracted lineage on each run.

     
5. On the Schedule Interval page, set when the agent runs:
   • Schedule: Choose a preset interval (Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly) or enter a custom cron expression.
   • On-Demand: No automatic schedule; trigger the agent manually when needed.
   
6. Click Add to deploy the agent.

​

Related