grafana-mcp

Expose a slice of the Grafana API as an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, focused on natural-language log querying. The main goal: say "show me error logs from the api service in the last 30 minutes" and get the actual log lines back — without juggling LogQL, labels, or datasource UIDs by hand.

Log datasources, Loki labels, and the mapping from a service name to its hosting datasource/label are cached on disk, so repeat calls skip redundant label scans.

한국어 문서 / Korean README

Installation & Setup

npx (no installation required)

Add the following to ~/.mcp.json.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "grafana": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@seungje.jun/grafana-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GRAFANA_URL": "https://grafana.example.com",
        "GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN": "glsa_xxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/ninanung/grafana-mcp.git
cd grafana-mcp
npm install
npm run build

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "grafana": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/grafana-mcp/dist/cli.js"],
      "env": {
        "GRAFANA_URL": "https://grafana.example.com",
        "GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN": "glsa_xxx"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Code to activate the MCP tools.

Authentication

One of the following is required. They are checked in the order below — the first one present wins.

Variable	When to use
GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN	Grafana 9.1+ (recommended)
GRAFANA_CLOUD_ACCESS_POLICY_TOKEN	Grafana Cloud
GRAFANA_API_KEY	Legacy API Keys (deprecated in 10.x)
GRAFANA_USERNAME + GRAFANA_PASSWORD	Basic Auth fallback

All bearer-style tokens are sent as Authorization: Bearer <token>. The server does not care which kind of token it is — it only picks the one that is set.

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
GRAFANA_URL	Grafana server URL (single-instance mode, required when GRAFANA_INSTANCES is unset)
GRAFANA_INSTANCES	(optional) JSON array for multi-instance mode. Example: [{"name":"prod","url":"...","service_account_token":"..."},{"name":"dev","url":"...","api_key":"..."}]. When set, pass instance: "prod" on any tool call to pick the target. Falls back to the first entry if omitted.
GRAFANA_ORG_ID	(optional) Sent as X-Grafana-Org-Id header. For multi-org setups.
GRAFANA_TLS_SKIP_VERIFY	(optional) true / 1 to skip TLS verification (self-signed Grafana).
GRAFANA_MCP_LOG	(optional) Log level: debug, info (default), warn, error, silent. Logs go to stderr to avoid corrupting the MCP stdio channel.
GRAFANA_MCP_AUDIT_LOG	(optional) Audit log file path. Defaults to ~/.grafana-mcp/audit.log. Set to off to disable. Each line is a JSON record with tool name, args, duration, status.
GRAFANA_MCP_CACHE	(optional) Set to off to disable the on-disk log cache.
GRAFANA_MCP_CACHE_PATH	(optional) Log cache file path. Defaults to ~/.grafana-mcp/log-cache.json.
GRAFANA_MCP_CACHE_TTL_DATASOURCES_MS	(optional) TTL for the log-datasource list cache. Default 86400000 (24h).
GRAFANA_MCP_CACHE_TTL_LABELS_MS	(optional) TTL for the Loki label-key cache. Default 86400000 (24h).
GRAFANA_MCP_CACHE_TTL_LABEL_VALUES_MS	(optional) TTL for the Loki label-value cache. Default 3600000 (1h).
GRAFANA_MCP_CACHE_TTL_SERVICE_MS	(optional) TTL for the {service → (ds_uid, label)} resolution cache. Default 3600000 (1h).

Tools

Tool	Description
self_test	Diagnostic check — connectivity, version, auth, and capability probes (list_datasources, proxy_uid, ds_query) with guidance on which arguments are required
list_datasources	List all configured datasources
search_dashboards	Search dashboards by query/tag/type
get_dashboard	Fetch a dashboard's full JSON by uid
extract_dashboard_queries	Extract panel queries (LogQL/PromQL) from a dashboard, with datasource_uid. Use to discover args for query_logs.raw_logql from a dashboard URL
list_log_datasources	List only log-type datasources (Loki, Elasticsearch, CloudWatch, OpenSearch, Splunk). Cached
list_services	List service names discoverable from Loki labels — useful before calling query_logs
query_logs	Query logs for a service/time-range/level. Auto-detects the log datasource and service label. Supports raw_logql for multi-label/advanced selectors. Falls back to /api/ds/query when uid-proxy is unavailable (Grafana <9.0). Output mode: raw / summarize / json
get_log_cache	Inspect what is currently cached (log datasources, labels, resolved services)
refresh_log_cache	Invalidate one service's resolution or clear all entries for the Grafana instance
export_log_cache	Export the log cache to a JSON file
import_log_cache	Import a log cache from a JSON file (merge/replace)

Usage Example

A typical natural-language flow, as orchestrated by the MCP client:

1. User: "Show me error logs from the api service in the last 30 minutes."
2. query_logs with service: "api", level: "error", time_from: "now-30m" → the server auto-detects which Loki datasource owns the service="api" label and runs LogQL.
3. (First call) the service → datasource/label mapping is saved to the cache; subsequent calls skip the detection step.
4. User: "Summarize those errors by pattern." → same call with output: "summarize" returns pattern-grouped counts.
5. User: "What other services do we have?" → list_services returns the full service list.

If the service name has a typo, query_logs surfaces close matches (e.g. Did you mean: checkout, checkout-api?).

How the Auto-Detection Works

query_logs picks the target datasource and label on its own:

1. Filter all datasources down to log types (Loki/ES/CloudWatch/OpenSearch/Splunk).
2. For each Loki datasource, fetch /loki/api/v1/labels and walk common service-label candidates (service, service_name, app, app_name, application, container, job) first, then any remaining labels.
3. For each candidate label, fetch its values and check whether the requested service name is in that list.
4. If exactly one (datasource, label) pair matches, use it. If multiple match, require datasource_uid to disambiguate. If none match, return close-name suggestions.
5. The resolved (service → ds_uid, label) is cached; refresh: true or refresh_log_cache forces re-detection.

Auto-detection currently supports Loki only. For Elasticsearch / CloudWatch / Splunk datasources, pass datasource_uid and service_label explicitly (and expect LogQL-specific filters not to apply).

Output Modes

query_logs accepts output:

• raw (default): <ISO timestamp> <log line> — good for direct reading in a terminal.
• summarize: groups lines by normalized pattern (numbers → N, UUIDs → UUID) with counts and a sample per pattern. Use when lines are noisy or too many.
• json: structured objects { ts, line, labels } — for downstream tooling.

Cache

• Log cache: persisted to ~/.grafana-mcp/log-cache.json. Keyed by Grafana base URL so multiple instances don't collide.
• Each category has its own TTL (datasources / labels / label values / service resolution) — see the env-var table above.
• A cached service resolution that later fails (e.g. label got renamed) is invalidated automatically so the next call re-detects.
• Use get_log_cache to inspect, refresh_log_cache to clear, and export_log_cache / import_log_cache to share with teammates.

Cache Location & Reset

Cache	Location	Reset
Log cache	~/.grafana-mcp/log-cache.json	call refresh_log_cache all=true, or delete the file

The cache file is a plain JSON document — safe to inspect, edit, or back up manually.

Safety & Constraints

• Read-only: the server does not expose any endpoint that mutates Grafana state. No dashboard/datasource CRUD, no alerting changes.
• Stdio logs: all logs go to stderr, keeping the MCP stdio channel clean.
• TLS skip: GRAFANA_TLS_SKIP_VERIFY=true sets NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=0 process-wide. Use only for self-signed Grafana in trusted networks.
• No secret logging: auth tokens are never written to audit logs.

License

MIT