Grafana MCP Server

Project

Author: grafana
Repository: github.com/grafana/mcp-grafana
License: Apache-2.0
Category: Data & Analytics

Tech

Runtime / language: goGo
Transports: stdio
Remote available: No
Authentication: Not specified

Activity

GitHub stars: 3,568
Last commit: Oct 16, 2026
Data as of: Oct 16, 2026

Overview

Grafana MCP Server gives assistants access to a Grafana instance and related observability services. Its scope spans dashboard inspection, datasource information, metric and log queries, traces, alerts, incidents, and on-call workflows. This makes it relevant to engineers investigating operational problems as well as teams maintaining dashboards and alert configuration. The README documents both local Grafana and Grafana Cloud connection settings.

Dashboard access includes full retrieval, compact summaries, selected properties, and panel-query extraction. Those alternatives matter because a complete dashboard can occupy substantial assistant context. Targeted patching is also described as a way to avoid sending full dashboard payloads for small changes. Query capabilities cover Prometheus and Loki, with additional datasource families available through explicitly enabled tool groups. The supplied tool data also includes annotation, snapshot, plugin, and general Grafana API operations, extending the server beyond read-only dashboard exploration.

The quick-start configuration launches through uvx and supplies a Grafana URL plus a service-account token. Full feature coverage needs at least Grafana version 9.0. Several groups, including administrative operations and specific query integrations, are disabled by default and must be enabled deliberately. Some capabilities have their own service prerequisites: image rendering needs the Grafana Image Renderer, and datasource-specific queries depend on the corresponding Grafana configuration. Operational write tools can change alerts or create incidents, so selecting the needed tool groups is part of deployment planning.

Install & configure

Requirements

uv
Grafana 9.0 or later for full functionality
An MCP client
A configured Grafana connection and service-account token

Documented launch / install command

uvx mcp-grafana

The README's quick start uses uvx. Set the instance URL for local Grafana or Grafana Cloud. Several optional query groups and administrative tools are disabled by default.

Claude Desktop

Cursor

VS Code

Windsurf

Claude Code

Config file · macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Use Settings → Developer → Edit Config when available. Do not assume a Linux configuration path; check the client documentation for your platform. Remote servers use the app’s connector flow when supported, not the local stdio file shown here. Merge this example with existing settings; do not overwrite unrelated servers.

Claude Desktop configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-grafana": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-grafana"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GRAFANA_URL": "<URL of your Grafana instance>",
        "GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN": "<Grafana service-account token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Read the Claude Desktop setup guide

Config file · Project: .cursor/mcp.json

User: ~/.cursor/mcp.json

The project path is relative to the workspace root. The tilde denotes your user home directory. Use Cursor’s MCP settings to confirm which configuration and scope your installed version is reading. Merge this example with existing settings; do not overwrite unrelated servers.

Cursor configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-grafana": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-grafana"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GRAFANA_URL": "<URL of your Grafana instance>",
        "GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN": "<Grafana service-account token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Read the Cursor setup guide

Config file · Workspace: .vscode/mcp.json

For user scope, use the “MCP: Open User Configuration” command if available. Do not guess a user configuration path across operating systems, profiles, containers, or remote workspaces; check the client documentation. Merge this example with existing settings; do not overwrite unrelated servers.

VS Code configuration

{
  "servers": {
    "mcp-grafana": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-grafana"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GRAFANA_URL": "<URL of your Grafana instance>",
        "GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN": "<Grafana service-account token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Read the VS Code setup guide

Config file · macOS/Linux: ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.codeium\windsurf\mcp_config.json

Open the MCP configuration through Windsurf’s settings when possible to confirm the active file. Paths can differ in managed or future releases; check the client documentation if this location is not present. Merge this example with existing settings; do not overwrite unrelated servers.

Windsurf configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-grafana": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-grafana"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GRAFANA_URL": "<URL of your Grafana instance>",
        "GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN": "<Grafana service-account token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Read the Windsurf setup guide

Config file · Project scope: .mcp.json at the repository root

The project file uses mcpServers. For user scope, use claude mcp add --scope user rather than assuming .mcp.json in your home directory is the user configuration. Check the client documentation for managed settings and storage details. Merge this example with existing settings; do not overwrite unrelated servers.

Claude Code configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-grafana": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-grafana"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GRAFANA_URL": "<URL of your Grafana instance>",
        "GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN": "<Grafana service-account token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Read the Claude Code setup guide

Examples are translated from the published configuration. Supply your own credentials and verify requirements in the upstream README. Remote connectors are shown only where a supported configuration format is known.

Tools

Source: repository tool metadata. Tool descriptions are a documented snapshot, not a live capability check.

Tool	What it does
add_activity_to_incident	Append an investigation note and optional URL context to an incident.
alerting_manage_routing	Manage notification policies, destinations, and active or muted time intervals.
alerting_routing_write	Create Grafana-managed alert contact points with integration settings.
alerting_rules_read	Find and inspect alert rules using configuration and state filters.
alerting_rules_write	Create, replace, or remove Grafana alert rules.
alerting_silences_read	List or retrieve alert notification silences.
alerting_silences_write	Create, update, or remove temporary notification suppression rules.
analyze_loki_labels	Assess Loki labels and optionally investigate query performance using live cardinality.
check_datasources_health	Test datasource health with optional type or UID filtering.
create_annotation	Add dashboard or panel annotations, including Graphite-format entries.
create_datasource	Review a datasource plugin schema, then create a datasource from approved field values.
create_folder	Add a Grafana folder with a title and optional identifier.
create_incident	Open an incident with severity and contextual fields; creation may notify responders.
create_snapshot	Generate a dashboard snapshot with optional expiry settings.
delete_annotation	Permanently remove an annotation by identifier.
delete_snapshot	Remove a snapshot using its key.
diff_tempo_traces	Compare complete traces and return a summary with optional span-level differences.
generate_deeplink	Build links to dashboards, panels, or preconfigured Explore queries.
get_alert_group	Inspect an OnCall alert group and the latest available alert payload.
get_annotation_tags	Retrieve annotation tags with optional name matching.
get_annotations	Find annotations by dashboard, time window, or tags.
get_assertions	Retrieve an entity's assertion summary for a time range.
get_current_oncall_users	Identify the people currently covering an OnCall schedule.
get_dashboard_by_uid	Fetch a complete dashboard or a specified saved version.
get_dashboard_panel_queries	Extract dashboard panel queries with optional panel and variable selection.
get_dashboard_property	Select dashboard sections through JSONPath instead of fetching all content.
get_dashboard_summary	Read compact dashboard metadata, panel counts, types, and variables.
get_datasource	Inspect a datasource by name or UID, including connection and secure-field status.
get_doc	Fetch Grafana documentation as an outline or a selected section.
get_incident	Retrieve one incident's status, severity, labels, and metadata.
get_oncall_shift	Read the details of a specific scheduled OnCall shift.
get_panel_image	Render a panel, dashboard, or Explore view as a PNG using Grafana Image Renderer.
get_plugin	Check a Grafana plugin's installation and version details.
get_snapshot	Retrieve a snapshot's metadata and dashboard payload by key.
get_tempo_trace	Fetch a Tempo trace using its identifier.
get_tempo_traceql_docs	Read TraceQL syntax guidance and examples before composing trace queries.
grafana_api_request	Call Grafana API endpoints with authentication and optional response filtering.
install_plugin	Look up a plugin's latest version or install an explicitly supplied version.
list_alert_groups	Find OnCall alert groups by state, integration, team, labels, or time range.
list_dashboard_versions	List saved dashboard versions and their authors, timestamps, and messages.

Names, permissions, and defaults can change. Check the current upstream documentation before granting access.

Use cases

Inspect a dashboard without loading its complete JSON.
Investigate service behavior using Grafana metrics, logs, and traces.
Manage alert rules and temporary notification silences.
Add investigation notes to incidents and inspect on-call coverage.

Strengths

Covers multiple observability workflows through one Grafana connection.
Offers context-saving dashboard summaries and property selection.
Provides configurable tool groups rather than enabling every integration by default.

Limitations

Full functionality requires Grafana 9.0 or newer.
Some query and administrative groups need explicit enabling.
Rendering and datasource features have additional service prerequisites.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. The README instructs users to supply their Grafana Cloud instance URL.

Use the compact summary or JSONPath property tool rather than requesting the entire dashboard.

No. The README marks several datasource groups as disabled until explicitly enabled.

The supplied tool description requires the Grafana Image Renderer service.

Independent listing, not an affiliation or security review. Grant the least access needed and verify the upstream instructions before running code.

Server facts

Project

Tech

Activity

Tags

Overview

Install & configure

Requirements

Tools

Use cases

Strengths

Limitations

Frequently asked questions

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Server facts

Project

Tech

Activity

Tags

Overview

Install & configure

Requirements

Tools

Use cases

Strengths

Limitations

Frequently asked questions

Does it work with Grafana Cloud?

How can dashboard retrieval use less context?

Are all datasource query tools enabled initially?

What is needed to render a panel image?

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