Debug Uploaded Kibana Dashboard

Debug an uploaded Kibana dashboard

Pairs the generic chrome-devtools-debugging skill with mig-to-kbn's specific workflow: open the uploaded dashboard in Chrome, capture exactly what Kibana's Lens is sending to /_query, classify the failure mode against the mig-to-kbn migration report, and feed that back to the translator pipeline if it turns out to be a real bug.

Prerequisites: chrome-devtools MCP server configured with --autoConnect (see the generic skill). Chrome 144+ open, signed into the target Kibana, on the dashboard in question.

Faster bulk loops: For per-panel walks across all panels of a dashboard, structural snapshot diffs, or pixel diffs against a Grafana baseline, the agent-browser CLI is the right tool. See Workflow E below and the agent-browser companion reference. The Chrome DevTools MCP and agent-browser coexist; pick whichever has the better primitive for the task.

Decision tree

Always start by asking three questions in this order:

1. Does the panel actually render in Kibana right now? → If yes (just slow / wrong-looking), go to Workflow A (capture the actual query).
2. Does it render "No results found"? → Workflow B (data is missing or filter mismatch).
3. Does it render "Migration Required" markdown? → Workflow C (translator marked it not_feasible).

These three patterns cover ~95% of real reports. The workflow steps below all assume the user already has Chrome open on the dashboard.

Workflow A — "panel shows wrong values"

The Kibana Lens panel is rendering, but the numbers, labels, series count, or shape don't match what the user expected.

1. take_snapshot to map the panel. Find the panel's container element.

2. list_network_requests with resourceTypes: ["xhr","fetch"] (Lens dispatches /api/.../_query over fetch). Filter the list for entries whose URL ends in _query.

3. For each _query request: get_network_request with that reqid and requestFilePath: "/tmp/<panel-slug>.network-request", responseFilePath: "/tmp/<panel-slug>.network-response". The request body contains the exact ES|QL Lens sent (this is the one source of truth — not the YAML, which is pre-Lens).

4. Compare the request body's query field with the YAML at /tmp/mig-to-kbn-e2e/parity-out-<slug>/dashboards/yaml/<dash>.yaml. If they differ, Kibana is doing its own column-rewriting (it sometimes adds BUCKET(@timestamp,...) or aliases) — note that as a downstream Kibana transform, not a translator bug.

5. Re-run the exact query via the cluster directly to confirm Kibana isn't lying:

   # Point OBS_MIGRATE_CREDS at your own creds file (exports KEY,
   # ELASTICSEARCH_ENDPOINT, KIBANA_ENDPOINT); defaults to ./serverless_creds.env.
   set -a; source "${OBS_MIGRATE_CREDS:-./serverless_creds.env}"; set +a
   curl -s -H "Authorization: ApiKey $KEY" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     "$ELASTICSEARCH_ENDPOINT/_query" \
     -d @/tmp/<panel-slug>.network-request | jq .
   

6. If the cluster's response is correct but Lens displays something wrong → Kibana / Lens visual-mapping issue. Inspect with take_screenshot and document. Don't blame the translator.

7. If the cluster's response is wrong → real translator/data bug. Move to Workflow B/C as appropriate.

Workflow B — "No results found"

The panel renders but has no rows. Three causes in order of frequency:

B1: Filter doesn't match any docs (~70% of cases)

Common in NEF / Kubernetes panels that filter on mountpoint == "/", device != "rootfs", cluster == "$cluster", etc. The metric exists; the filter excludes everything.

1. Capture the query as in Workflow A step 3.
2. Run the query without the filter to confirm data exists:

   # Strip the WHERE that's filtering on the dimension you suspect, then re-run.
   

3. Inspect the actual distinct values for the filter field:

   FROM <index> | WHERE <metric> IS NOT NULL | STATS n = COUNT(*) BY <field> | SORT n DESC | LIMIT 20
   

4. Translator fix vs rig fix: if the dashboard's filter value is a sensible production assumption (mountpoint="/", fstype="ext4") but the rig's data doesn't have it, fix the producer in parity-rig/producer/app.py (synthesize a row matching the filter) rather than mutating the translator.

B2: Field name resolved wrong

The translator's SchemaResolver rewrote a label to an OTEL name (instance → service.instance.id) but the data is using the original name (or vice versa).

1. Pull the cluster's actual fields with _field_caps:

   curl -s -H "Authorization: ApiKey $KEY" \
     "$ELASTICSEARCH_ENDPOINT/<index>/_field_caps?fields=instance,service.instance.id" | jq .
   

2. Compare against what the YAML query filters on.
3. Fix is in observability_migration/adapters/source/grafana/schema.py (SchemaResolver) — usually a missing OTEL mapping or a label that should be source-faithful.

B3: Aggregation collapses everything to null

Seen on multi-target TS queries where each IRATE returns null on the rows for other metrics. The collapse LAST(field, time_bucket) then picks a null-only row. This was fixed in commit 90c3f23 — collapse now uses MAX(field) for null safety. If you see this pattern recurring on a new shape, replicate the fix in _collapse_summary_ts_query (observability_migration/adapters/source/grafana/promql.py).

Workflow C — "Migration Required" markdown placeholder

The translator emitted markdown rather than ES|QL because the source PromQL hit a known unsupported pattern. The markdown body lists the reason.

1. take_snapshot then take_screenshot of just the panel for the user.
2. Read the markdown body via the snapshot or evaluate_script if you need the raw text:

   evaluate_script:
     function: (el) => el.innerText
     args: ["<uid of the markdown panel>"]
   

3. Look up the source PromQL in the migration report:

   /tmp/mig-to-kbn-e2e/parity-out-<slug>/dashboards/migration_report.json
   

   Find the panel by title and read promql + notes.
4. Classify against the documented gaps (from parity-rig/RESULTS.md):
   • histogram_quantile, topk, bottomk, label_replace, vector(), predict_linear — out of scope, documented.
   • A or B, A unless B between different metrics — refused by design (commit a6f4932).
   • A / B between distinct vectors with no explicit on() — should fall through to ES|QL translation (commit ea49d15); if it didn't, the gate is missing a case.
   • "Divergent filters/groupings cannot be translated safely" — by design when operands have incompatible filter or BY shapes.
5. If the pattern is a new class that mig-to-kbn could plausibly translate, file an issue and link to the captured panel screenshot. Otherwise this is working as intended; report it back to the user as expected.

Workflow D — runtime error popup (red toast in Kibana)

Kibana shows a red toast like [parent] Data too large, ... or Found 1 problem: line 2:54: Unknown column [...].

1. list_console_messages with types: ["error"] — Kibana logs the full error to the console with stack trace.
2. get_console_message to drill into the message; the response body contains the literal ES error (much richer than the toast text).
3. Classify:
   • Data too large / circuit_breaker → transient cluster heap pressure. Not a translator bug. Re-run, narrow the time range, or report to the cluster operator.
   • Unknown column [X] where X is in the query → data gap. If X is a synthetic metric, add it to the producer; if it's a real metric the user has, the index they're pointing the data view at is wrong.
   • Unknown column [Y] where Y is not in the query → translator emitted an alias-mismatched filter (the canonical symptom of the SchemaResolver bug class).
   • function [rate] requires a counter metric → ingest typed the field as gauge. Translator fix in commit bd68f61 handles this for ES|QL emission; if it's hitting from a native-PROMQL panel, the gate in _translate_panel_native_promql is missing the case.
   • verification_exception with cannot infer label set / binary operator → Elastic PROMQL preview can't evaluate this expression shape. can_use_native_promql let it through; narrow that gate to reject the shape so the panel degrades to ES|QL translation instead of emitting a PROMQL command the cluster rejects.

Workflow E — per-panel walker via agent-browser

When the question is broader than a single panel — "compare every NEF panel against Grafana", "capture every /_query Lens sent for this dashboard", "find which Suspense boundaries are stuck" — switch from the Chrome DevTools MCP to agent-browser. It runs as a CLI from a shell or a Python harness; the daemon keeps the browser warm across the loop.

One-time setup (per cluster):

# from repo root
KIBANA_URL=https://<cluster>.kb.us-central1.gcp.staging.elastic.cloud \
  bash parity-rig/verifier/bootstrap.sh

The bootstrap script launches Chrome headed, waits for you to SAML through once, then snapshots the auth state to ~/.agent-browser/state/mig-to-kbn-verifier.json. From then on every verifier loop reuses it without SAML.

E1: capture every /_query Lens dispatches during a dashboard load

STATE=$HOME/.agent-browser/state/mig-to-kbn-verifier.json
HAR=/tmp/<slug>.har

agent-browser close --all
agent-browser --state "$STATE" network har start
agent-browser open "$KIBANA_URL/app/dashboards#/view/$DASHBOARD_ID"
agent-browser wait --load networkidle
agent-browser wait 5000   # let Lens dispatch its queries
agent-browser network har stop "$HAR"

# extract every _query
jq '.log.entries[] | select(.request.url | test("/_query$")) | {url:.request.url, body:.request.postData.text, status:.response.status}' "$HAR"

This is the deterministic equivalent of "page through list_network_requests and get_network_request for each _query" — the HAR file is the single source of truth for every query Lens sent during that load, including ones that fired after networkidle.

E2: pixel-diff a Kibana panel against the Grafana panel

PANEL="Memory Basic"
# Grafana baseline
agent-browser --state "$STATE" open "http://localhost:3000/d/$GRAFANA_UID?viewPanel=$GRAFANA_PANEL_ID"
agent-browser wait 4000
agent-browser screenshot --selector ".panel-container" /tmp/grafana-$PANEL.png

# Kibana candidate (same time range, same data, same panel)
agent-browser open "$KIBANA_URL/app/dashboards#/view/$KIBANA_DASHBOARD_ID"
agent-browser wait 4000
agent-browser screenshot --selector "[data-test-subj='dashboardPanel-$KIBANA_PANEL_ID']" /tmp/kibana-$PANEL.png

# pixel diff
agent-browser diff screenshot --baseline /tmp/grafana-$PANEL.png /tmp/kibana-$PANEL.png \
  -o /tmp/diff-$PANEL.png -t 0.15

Threshold 0.15 is tolerant of Grafana/Kibana's different chrome (legend layout, axis fonts). Tighten when you only care about the chart area.

E3: which Lens panels are still stuck in a React Suspense fallback

agent-browser close --all
agent-browser --state "$STATE" --enable react-devtools open \
  "$KIBANA_URL/app/dashboards#/view/$KIBANA_DASHBOARD_ID"
agent-browser wait 8000
agent-browser react suspense --only-dynamic --json | jq .

A panel that is visually empty but the _query returns rows is almost always a Suspense / hydration problem. This points at the exact boundary.

E4: batch — walk every panel and collect (snapshot, screenshot, _query body)

For a comprehensive sweep, use batch --json so the daemon processes the whole iteration in one IPC. Build the JSON from a Python loop that knows your panel list:

python3 -c '
import json, subprocess
panels = [{"id": "p1", "selector": "[data-test-subj=\"dashboardPanel-p1\"]"}, ...]
cmds = [["open", f"{KIBANA_URL}/app/dashboards#/view/{DASH}"], ["wait", "6000"]]
for p in panels:
    cmds.append(["screenshot", "--selector", p["selector"], f"/tmp/{p['id']}.png"])
    cmds.append(["snapshot", "-i", "-s", p["selector"], "--json"])
subprocess.run(["agent-browser", "--state", STATE, "batch", "--json", "--bail"], input=json.dumps(cmds).encode())
'

This is the foundation of parity-rig/verifier/ (the framework in flight). The Python wrapper joins HAR entries with snapshots and screenshots into a single per-panel record.

For any panel, the agent has two sources of truth besides Kibana:

1. The migration report: /tmp/mig-to-kbn-e2e/parity-out-<slug>/dashboards/migration_report.json. Find the panel by title. Useful fields: status, feasibility, promql, esql, reasons, notes, query_ir.source_expression, query_ir.target_query. The esql here is what mig-to-kbn emitted; the actual Kibana query (from Workflow A step 3) may differ.
2. The compiled NDJSON: /tmp/mig-to-kbn-e2e/parity-out-<slug>/dashboards/compiled/.../compiled_dashboards.ndjson. The dashboard saved-object IDs live here. Useful when the agent needs to construct deep-link Kibana URLs (<kibana>/app/dashboards#/view/<id>).

After diagnosis

If a real translator gap is identified:

1. Reproduce in the unit test suite with a red→green test (tests/test_migrate.py).
2. Implement the smallest change that makes the new test pass.
3. Run .venv/bin/python -m pytest tests/ -q to confirm no regression.
4. Re-migrate just the affected dashboard:

   bash parity-rig/upload-all.sh   # or run the single-dashboard equivalent manually
   

5. Re-run validation:

   .venv/bin/grafana-validate-uploaded \
     --kibana-url "$KIBANA_ENDPOINT" --kibana-api-key "$KEY" \
     --es-url "$ELASTICSEARCH_ENDPOINT" --es-api-key "$KEY" \
     --dashboard-title "<dashboard title>" \
     --output /tmp/upload-validate-<slug>.json
   

6. Open the dashboard back up in Chrome and re-run the failing panel's workflow to confirm the fix is visible end-to-end.

Things not to do

• Don't run evaluate_script against the user's logged-in Kibana session in a way that reads credentials, API keys, or other org secrets. Tool calls execute in the page's security context.
• Don't loop on wait_for past a 30 s timeout — re-snapshot and look at the actual page state.
• Don't blame the translator without first reproducing the failing query via curl against /_query. Kibana sometimes mutates queries client-side; the YAML alone isn't enough evidence.
• Don't paste full network response bodies into the chat — save with responseFilePath and quote a 1–3 sentence summary plus the path.

See also

• ~/.cursor/skills/chrome-devtools-debugging/SKILL.md — the generic foundation this skill builds on.
• ~/.cursor/skills/chrome-devtools-debugging/agent-browser.md — agent-browser CLI reference for the bulk / diff / HAR primitives used by Workflow E.
• parity-rig/verifier/bootstrap.sh — one-time agent-browser SAML + persistent state setup.
• parity-rig/RESULTS.md — known translator gaps and what each commit fixed.
• docs/command-contract.md — canonical mig-to-kbn CLIs (obs-migrate, grafana-validate-uploaded).