# Manage Dashboards

> Manages and inspects existing Grafana dashboards via gcx: list, get, search, audit what a saved dashboard actually contains (its panels and their types, the queries and expressions as saved, which datasource each panel uses, variables and what they are wired to), create or update from an already-authored manifest, delete, inspect and restore versions, pull/push/validate/promote dashboard resource files, manage dashboard folders, or render PNG snapshots. Trigger on "what's on dashboard X", "what is each panel querying", "audit this dashboard", "which datasource does each panel use", "does the dashboard have a service dropdown". Do NOT use when the task involves adding new panels, variables, or annotations - those require discovering real metrics or log schema, so use create-dashboard instead. For designing or creating a new dashboard, or for material visual/dashboard UX changes, also use create-dashboard.

- Skill: `grafana/manage-dashboards` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add grafana/manage-dashboards`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/grafana/manage-dashboards/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Security
- Author: grafana (https://skillmd.com/u/grafana)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/grafana/manage-dashboards

---


# Manage Dashboards

Use `gcx` dedicated commands first. Only use `gcx api` when a dedicated command
cannot perform the requested operation.

## Routing

| User intent | Use |
|-------------|-----|
| Build a new dashboard from an idea, service, SLO, incident, or set of metrics | `create-dashboard` |
| Redesign layout, choose panels/queries, or visually iterate dashboard quality | `create-dashboard` |
| Generate a Go builder skeleton only | `generate-resource-stubs` |
| Convert an existing live dashboard to Go code | `import-dashboards` |
| List, search, inspect, delete, restore, pull, push, validate, promote, or snapshot existing dashboards | this skill |
| Configure gcx/auth first | `setup-gcx` |

## Preflight for Mutations

Before any create/update/delete/push/restore operation:

```bash
gcx config current-context
gcx config check
```

Use `--context <name>` when the user named a target environment. Do not switch
the global context unless the user asked for it.

For writes, read current state first and preserve folder/manager intent:

```bash
gcx dashboards get <dashboard-name> -o json
gcx resources get folders -o json
```

Manager boundary: gcx protects resources managed by another tool. If a push
fails because of `grafana.app/managed-by`, stop and ask/confirm before using
`--include-managed`.

## Typical Update Workflow

1. Preflight — `gcx config check`, then fetch current state with `gcx dashboards get <name> -o json`
2. Edit — write the modified YAML locally
3. Validate and push — `gcx resources validate -p <path> -o json`, `gcx resources push -p <path> --dry-run`, `gcx resources push -p <path>`
4. Verify — `gcx dashboards get <name> -o json`

## Operation Reference

Use JSON/YAML for programmatic work and table/wide output for human summaries.

| Operation | Command pattern |
|-----------|-----------------|
| List datasources | `gcx datasources list -o json` |
| Prometheus metric names | `gcx datasources prometheus labels -d <uid> --label __name__` |
| Prometheus label values | `gcx datasources prometheus labels -d <uid> --label <label>` |
| Prometheus metric metadata | `gcx datasources prometheus metadata -d <uid>` |
| Loki label names | `gcx datasources loki labels -d <uid>` |
| Loki label values | `gcx datasources loki labels -d <uid> --label <label>` |
| Tempo attribute names | `gcx datasources tempo labels -d <uid>` |
| Tempo attribute values | `gcx datasources tempo labels -d <uid> -l resource.service.name --llm -o json` |
| Pyroscope profile types | `gcx datasources pyroscope list-profile-types -d <uid>` |
| Pyroscope label values | `gcx datasources pyroscope labels -d <uid> --label service_name` |
| Other datasource types | Check `gcx datasources <type> --help` for dedicated subcommands before using `gcx api` |
| List dashboards | `gcx dashboards list -o wide` |
| Search by text/tag/folder | `gcx dashboards search "<query>" --tag <tag> --folder <folder-name> -o json` |
| Get one dashboard | `gcx dashboards get <dashboard-name> -o json` |
| Create from finished file | `gcx dashboards create -f <dashboard.yaml>` |
| Update from finished file | `gcx dashboards update <dashboard-name> -f <dashboard.yaml>` |
| Delete with confirmation | `gcx dashboards delete <dashboard-name>` |
| Delete non-interactively | `gcx dashboards delete <dashboard-name> --force` |
| Version history | `gcx dashboards list-versions <dashboard-name>` |
| Restore version | `gcx dashboards versions restore <dashboard-name> <version> --message "<why>"` |
| Pull dashboards/folders | `gcx resources pull dashboards folders -p <dir> -o yaml` |
| Pull one dashboard | `gcx resources pull dashboards/<dashboard-name> -p <dir> -o yaml` |
| Validate local files | `gcx resources validate -p <path> -o json` |
| Preview push | `gcx resources push -p <path> --dry-run` |
| Push local files | `gcx resources push -p <path>` |
| Delete by selector | `gcx resources delete dashboards/<dashboard-name>` |
| Edit in `$EDITOR` | `gcx resources edit dashboards/<dashboard-name> -o yaml` |
| List resource kinds | `gcx resources list-types` |

`<dashboard-name>` is the dashboard resource name (`metadata.name`), which is
also the value accepted by `gcx dashboards snapshot`.

## Pull/Push Notes

- Pull output directories may include API version/group in their path. Use the
  paths printed by gcx; do not assume a fixed `dashboards/` directory shape.
- When a directory contains folders and dashboards, gcx pushes folders first.
- Use `--on-error abort` when later resources depend on earlier ones and partial
  progress would be confusing.
- Dry-run before writing to production unless the user explicitly opts out.

## Snapshots

```bash
GCX_AGENT_MODE=true gcx dashboards snapshot <dashboard-name> --output-dir ./snapshots --since 6h
# With variables:
GCX_AGENT_MODE=true gcx dashboards snapshot <dashboard-name> --output-dir ./snapshots --since 6h --var cluster=prod
```

Read the returned `file_path` PNG and summarize what you see; do not just report the path.

Troubleshooting: `plugin not found`/renderer 500 = image renderer unavailable; wrong data = inspect
template variables and rerun with `--var`; auth errors = check `gcx config check`.

## Version Restore Safety

Restore performs a read of historical content and writes a new current revision.
Always include a message and verify afterwards:

```bash
gcx dashboards list-versions <dashboard-name> --limit 10
gcx dashboards versions restore <dashboard-name> <version> \
  --message "Restore known-good dashboard after <reason>"
gcx dashboards get <dashboard-name> -o json
```

A conflict or 409 means someone changed the dashboard concurrently. Re-fetch,
review the newest version, and retry only if the restore is still correct.

## Common Failure Handling

| Symptom | Action |
|---------|--------|
| `gcx config check` fails | Use `setup-gcx` before dashboard operations |
| `gcx resources get datasources` selector error | Use `gcx datasources list` instead — `datasource.grafana.app` is not registered on all instances |
| Dashboard not found | Search first; confirm `metadata.name`, not just title |
| Folder filter does not work with list | Use `gcx dashboards search --folder <folder-name>` |
| Push blocked by manager metadata | Ask before `--include-managed` |
| Validation fails | Fix local file; do not push invalid resources |
| Snapshot returns wrong variables | Inspect templating and pass `--var name=value` |
| Snapshot unavailable | Report renderer/auth blocker; do not claim visual review |

## References

- For full flag sets, selector syntax, `--on-error` policy, and the
  `gcx dev serve` live-reload workflow, read
  [references/resource-operations.md](references/resource-operations.md).
- For resource structure, manager metadata, push ordering, and lifecycle
  behavior, read [references/resource-model.md](references/resource-model.md).