Grafana Provisioning

Make Grafana resources reproducible. Pick the right tool for each resource type and team workflow, then keep the runtime configuration in sync with version control. Wrong tool choices don't cause errors immediately — they show up months later as drift, brittle CI, or notification policies overwritten by a partial config push.

References

• File provisioning — [${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/file-provisioning.md] Directory layout, env var interpolation, full datasource / dashboard / plugin / alerting YAML schemas, reload behavior, UI edit semantics
• HTTP API — [${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/http-api.md] New /apis/ Kubernetes-style surface vs. legacy /api/, dashboard / folder / datasource CRUD, alerting provisioning endpoints, annotation API, pagination, authentication
• Terraform — [${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/terraform.md] Provider setup, full resource catalog, dashboards / datasources / alerting examples, provenance and UI-edit toggle, GitHub Actions workflow, import workflow
• gcx — [${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/gcx.md] Grafana CLI install, contexts, resource pull/push/serve, telemetry queries, agentic features and skills, CI integration, migration from grafanactl
• Observability as code — [${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/observability-as-code.md] Tool comparison, decision matrix, how to compose tools, migration paths (Grizzly → gcx, legacy API → new API, file → Terraform)

Tool selection

Pick the primary tool based on resource type and team workflow. The references above contain a full decision matrix — quick selection rules:

• Self-managed Grafana, simple setup → file provisioning
• Dev → staging → prod resource migration → gcx (Grafana ≥ v12)
• Dashboards generated programmatically → Foundation SDK + gcx
• Agentic coding tools driving Grafana from the terminal → gcx
• Git as source of truth, edits via Grafana UI → Git Sync
• Already running Terraform → Grafana Terraform provider
• Kubernetes-native GitOps shop → Grafana Operator or Crossplane
• One-off scripts and custom integrations → HTTP API directly
• Grafana Cloud only with existing Ansible → Grafana Ansible Collection
• Existing grafanactl deployment, Grafana < v12 → continue with grafanactl until upgrading; the binary keeps working through the 2026-06-01 archive date

Compose tools where natural: Foundation SDK generates, gcx pushes; Terraform owns alerting + data sources, file provisioning ships fixed dashboards.

Tool status notes

• gcx is the current Grafana CLI. Requires Grafana ≥ v12. Public preview as of 2026. Inherits grafanactl's design and adds telemetry queries, agentic-driver auto-detection, and broader Grafana Cloud product coverage.
• grafanactl is superseded by gcx. GitHub repo archives 2026-06-01. Migration is a binary rename plus one command rename (grafanactl resources serve → gcx dev serve). Don't adopt for new work unless on Grafana < v12.
• Grizzly is deprecated; mentioned only because some existing deployments still use it. Successor was grafanactl, now gcx. Don't adopt for new work.
• Grafonnet is deprecated for new work; use the Foundation SDK.
• API keys are deprecated; use service account tokens.
• /api/dashboards/db is legacy; use /apis/dashboard.grafana.app/v1/... where the new API supports the case (especially dashboards v2 / dynamic dashboards).

File provisioning

YAML files in provisioning/ directories read by Grafana at startup. Not available in Grafana Cloud.

Directory layout

provisioning/
├── datasources/        # *.yaml — data source configs
├── dashboards/         # *.yaml — dashboard provider configs (NOT dashboards themselves)
├── plugins/            # *.yaml — plugin app configs
└── alerting/           # *.yaml or *.json — alert resources

Dashboard JSON files live elsewhere (e.g., /var/lib/grafana/dashboards/) and the dashboard provider YAML points to them.

Environment variables

All provisioning YAML supports $VAR and ${VAR} for values (not keys, not dashboard JSON). Order: ${VAR} first, then $VAR. Escape literal $ as $$. Prefer $VAR when the substituted value contains $.

Datasource shape

apiVersion: 1
prune: true   # auto-delete provisioned datasources removed from this file

datasources:
  - name: Prometheus              # required, unique per org
    type: prometheus              # required
    access: proxy                 # proxy = Server, direct = Browser
    uid: prom_main
    url: http://prometheus:9090
    isDefault: true
    jsonData:
      prometheusType: Mimir
      manageAlerts: true
    secureJsonData:
      httpHeaderValue1: ${TENANT_TOKEN}
    editable: false

Secrets go in secureJsonData (encrypted at rest). For multi-instance Grafana with shared DB, set version and bump it on each change.

Dashboard shape

Provider YAML configures discovery; dashboard JSON files contain the dashboards:

apiVersion: 1
providers:
  - name: 'team-platform'
    folder: ''                         # '' = root
    type: file
    disableDeletion: false
    updateIntervalSeconds: 30          # poll if > 10, watch filesystem if ≤ 10
    allowUiUpdates: false              # let UI edits persist until next reprovision
    options:
      path: /var/lib/grafana/dashboards
      foldersFromFilesStructure: true

foldersFromFilesStructure: true maps subdirectory names to Grafana folders. Nested folders not supported.

Dashboard JSON must use the Kubernetes-style format for dashboards v2 / dynamic dashboards (apiVersion: dashboard.grafana.app/v1).

Alerting shape

provisioning/alerting/*.yaml can contain any combination of:

• groups — alert rule groups (with name, folder, interval, rules[])
• contactPoints — contact points with receivers[]
• policies — the notification policy tree (entire tree is one resource — replaces existing)
• templates — notification template groups
• muteTimes — mute time intervals

Plus deleteRules, deleteContactPoints, deleteTemplates, deleteMuteTimes, resetPolicies.

Variable interpolation does not apply in: alert rule annotations, relativeTimeRange, query data.model, mute timing names/intervals, template names/bodies. Escape $variable as $$variable where not wanted.

Reload behavior

Provisioning runs at startup. Reload at runtime via the Admin API (POST /api/admin/provisioning/{type}/reload) — requires admin permissions. Dashboard files have their own poll/watch loop independent of provisioning reload.

HTTP API

Two surfaces:

• New /apis/<group>.grafana.app/<version>/... — Kubernetes-style resources. Covers dashboards, folders, library panels, playlists; expanding over time. Built on these are gcx, Foundation SDK, Git Sync.
• Legacy /api/... — data sources, annotations, admin, alerting provisioning. Won't get new functionality but remains functional.

Authentication

Service account tokens (recommended) via Authorization: Bearer <token>. API keys still work but are deprecated.

Dashboard CRUD pattern

POST   /apis/dashboard.grafana.app/v1/namespaces/<ns>/dashboards
PUT    /apis/dashboard.grafana.app/v1/namespaces/<ns>/dashboards/<uid>
GET    /apis/dashboard.grafana.app/v1/namespaces/<ns>/dashboards/<uid>
GET    /apis/dashboard.grafana.app/v1/namespaces/<ns>/dashboards?limit=100
DELETE /apis/dashboard.grafana.app/v1/namespaces/<ns>/dashboards/<uid>

Namespace is default for single-org Grafana, stack-<id> for Grafana Cloud. Use pagination's metadata.continue token for list endpoints.

Alerting provisioning API

/api/v1/provisioning/{alert-rules,contact-points,policies,templates,mute-timings} — JSON CRUD.

Standard endpoints return JSON not compatible with file provisioning. For round-tripping via configuration files, use /export endpoints which return YAML / JSON / Terraform format.

Resources created via the API can't be edited in the UI by default. Send X-Disable-Provenance: true to allow UI edits.

Data sources

Legacy /api/datasources is the only data source surface. List defaults to 5000 max (no pagination). Always put secrets in secureJsonData.

Terraform

The Grafana Terraform provider has the broadest resource coverage of any IaC tool.

Setup

terraform {
  required_providers {
    grafana = {
      source  = "grafana/grafana"
      version = ">= 2.9.0"
    }
  }
}

provider "grafana" {
  url  = "https://grafana.example.com"
  auth = var.grafana_service_account_token
}

Authenticate with a service account token (Editor role minimum, plus fixed:alerting.provisioning.* for alerting resources).

Core resource map

• Folder / Dashboard / Library panel — grafana_folder, grafana_dashboard, grafana_apps_dashboard_dashboard_v1|v2, grafana_library_panel
• Data source — grafana_data_source (use json_data_encoded / secure_json_data_encoded)
• Alerting — grafana_rule_group, grafana_contact_point, grafana_message_template, grafana_notification_policy, grafana_mute_timing
• Users / teams / RBAC — grafana_user, grafana_team, grafana_service_account, grafana_role, grafana_role_assignment
• Cloud — grafana_cloud_stack and supporting Cloud resources

Bulk dashboards via for_each

resource "grafana_dashboard" "platform_dashboards" {
  for_each    = fileset("${path.module}/dashboards/platform", "*.json")
  folder      = grafana_folder.platform.id
  config_json = file("${path.module}/dashboards/platform/${each.key}")
}

Provenance

Terraform-managed resources are read-only in the UI by default. Set disable_provenance = true on a resource to allow UI edits. The next terraform apply overwrites UI changes — use sparingly.

State and CI

Never commit terraform.tfstate to Git. Use a remote backend (S3+DynamoDB, Terraform Cloud, GCS, Azure Blob). Typical CI: terraform fmt -check, plan on PRs (post plan as a comment), apply -auto-approve on main.

gcx

CLI for the new Kubernetes-style APIs plus telemetry queries. Resource pull/push/serve/edit between environments, PromQL/LogQL/trace queries, agentic-tool integration. Requires Grafana ≥ v12.

Configuration via contexts

gcx config set contexts.production.grafana.server https://prod.grafana.example
gcx config set contexts.production.grafana.org-id 1
gcx config set contexts.production.grafana.token <token>
gcx config use-context production
gcx config check

Self-managed uses org-id; Grafana Cloud uses stack-id. Pick one.

Migrate resources between environments

gcx config use-context development
gcx resources pull --path ./resources/ -o yaml

gcx config use-context production
gcx resources push -p ./resources/

Ad-hoc audits via jq

gcx resources get dashboards -o json | jq '.items | map({
  uid: .metadata.name,
  datasources: .spec.panels | map(.datasource.uid)
})'

gcx resources delete dashboards/test-from-stg,test-from-dev

Foundation SDK pipeline

gcx dev serve --script 'go run scripts/generate-dashboard.go' --watch ./scripts
go run scripts/generate-dashboard.go --generate-resource-manifests --output ./resources
gcx resources push -p ./resources/

Agentic features

gcx is designed for AI coding agents. Auto-detects drivers like Claude Code and Cursor, emits structured JSON/YAML output with stable field names, exposes a machine-readable command catalog, and bundles portable skills (gcx skills install --all) for alert investigation, SLO management, and observability setup.

Application

When deciding how to provision a new resource:

• Match the tool to volatility (Git Sync / gcx for volatile dashboards, Terraform / file for stable infra)
• One source of truth per resource type — don't have Terraform and file provisioning both manage the same alert rule
• Prefer gcx over grafanactl for new work (Grafana ≥ v12); grafanactl repo archives 2026-06-01
• Use service account tokens with minimum-required role

When writing provisioning files:

• Put secrets in secureJsonData (file) or secure_json_data_encoded (Terraform) — never in jsonData
• Always set a stable uid / metadata.name on dashboards for stable URLs
• The notification policy tree is a single resource — never push a partial tree
• Variable interpolation doesn't apply to alert rule annotations, query models, template content
• Set editable: false (datasources) or accept the default (alerting) for true source-of-truth behavior; enable UI edits explicitly when needed

When migrating between approaches:

• Use /export endpoints or the UI Export feature to dump current state in the target tool's format
• terraform import attaches existing resources without disruption
• Verify with terraform plan (or gcx dry-run if available) — should be a no-op after a successful import

When reviewing provisioning configuration:

• Cite the specific issue and the fix inline
• Check for secrets in plaintext fields (url with embedded creds, jsonData containing passwords)
• Check for partial policy-tree provisioning that would overwrite the broader tree
• Check updateIntervalSeconds is appropriate for the filesystem (raise above 10 if inotify events don't propagate)
• Check resource UIDs / names are stable across environments

Integration

The alerting skill (sibling) governs what alerting resources should contain and how they behave at runtime (state lifecycle, routing, templates). This skill governs how to deliver those resources to Grafana.

The dashboards skill (sibling) governs panel composition and dashboard design. This skill governs how dashboards are written to disk, pushed to Grafana, and version-controlled.

The prometheus, logsql/metricsql language skills cover query expressions inside provisioned resources. This skill does not.