import-dashboards

name

import-dashboards

description

Imports existing Grafana dashboards as Go builder code via gcx. Use when the user wants to convert live dashboards to builder code, migrate dashboards to code, or reverse-engineer a dashboard from a Grafana instance. Triggers on "import dashboard", "convert to code", "dashboard as code", "export dashboard". For pulling dashboards as YAML/JSON resource files rather than Go code, use manage-dashboards instead.

Import Dashboards as Code

Import existing dashboards from a Grafana instance and convert them to Go builder code using gcx dev import.

Prerequisites

1. gcx installed and configured with a Grafana connection (gcx config check should show a valid context)
2. The target Grafana instance must be reachable

Import Commands

Import All Dashboards

gcx dev import dashboards

Writes Go files to imported/ (default). Each dashboard becomes a function returning *resource.ManifestBuilder.

Import a Specific Dashboard

gcx dev import dashboards/my-dashboard-uid

Import to a Custom Directory

gcx dev import dashboards --path src/grafana

Import Multiple Resource Types

gcx dev import dashboards folders

How It Works

Grafana Instance
    │
    ▼
gcx dev import dashboards/foo
    │
    ├── 1. Fetches resource via K8s API (/apis endpoint)
    ├── 2. Detects the resource API version
    ├── 3. Runs version-specific converter (JSON → SDK builder code)
    ├── 4. Wraps in resource.NewManifestBuilder()
    └── 5. Writes to imported/<snake_case_name>.go

The converter produces Go code using the grafana-foundation-sdk builder pattern — the same pattern used by dev generate and dev scaffold.

Output Format

Each imported file looks like:

package dashboards

import (
    "github.com/grafana/grafana-foundation-sdk/go/dashboardv2beta1"
    "github.com/grafana/grafana-foundation-sdk/go/resource"
)

func MyDashboard() *resource.ManifestBuilder {
    // ... builder code generated from the live dashboard
}

Workflow: Import → Edit → Push

# 1. Import from Grafana
gcx dev import dashboards --path internal/dashboards

# 2. Review and edit the generated code
#    (fix up builder calls, add variables, etc.)

# 3. Render manifests from the builders. In a gcx-scaffolded project,
#    `go run .` writes JSON manifests to ./resources
go run .

# 4. Push back to Grafana
gcx resources push

Common Issues

Issue	Fix
"no converter found"	The resource's API version has no converter; the error message names the unsupported version
Auth error (401/403)	Run gcx config check to verify credentials
Empty import	The selector matched no resources; check UID with gcx resources get dashboards
Build fails with undefined: cog (or another lowercase SDK identifier)	Older gcx versions omit SDK imports from generated files. Add the missing import github.com/grafana/grafana-foundation-sdk/go/<pkg> for each undefined identifier — variants is nested at go/cog/variants. Newer gcx emits complete imports
Imported code doesn't compile for other reasons	Complex dashboards can produce converter output that needs manual fixup: build, read the first error, fix, repeat