Grafana Readonly

Read existing Grafana dashboards and panels without modifying them. Use when answering questions about values already visible in Grafana, locating the right dashboard/panel, extracting panel queries, listing dashboard variables, or rerunning panel-backed queries with a different time range or variable set. Best for Grafana-first analytics workflows where read-only access is preferred.

Use this skill as the default Grafana entrypoint for analytics work.

Core workflow

1. Find the relevant dashboard.
2. Inspect its panels and variables.
3. Prefer reading or rerunning an existing panel before writing a new query.
4. Stay read-only unless the user explicitly asks for creation or modification work.

Default task order

1. Locate the dashboard

Use dashboard search/list actions first.

Prefer this when the user asks things like:

• “这个指标在哪个看板里？”
• “有没有收入/LTV/注册转化相关看板？”
• “帮我找睡眠内容消费的图表”

2. Inspect the dashboard structure

After finding a likely dashboard, read:

• dashboard title / uid
• panel list
• variable list
• default time range or refresh settings if available

Do this before answering confidently. Many mistakes come from grabbing the wrong panel.

3. Inspect the panel query

Before explaining a metric definition, extract the panel query/config.

Look for:

• datasource
• query language / query text
• ref IDs / multiple queries
• variable references
• transformations

Use this when the user asks:

• “这个图怎么算的？”
• “这个 DAU 的口径是什么？”
• “这个 panel 背后查的是哪张表/哪个 datasource？”

4. Rerun the panel query

When the user wants the same chart under another condition, rerun the existing panel query with:

• a different time range
• different variables
• a different format if supported

Prefer rerunning an existing panel over inventing a new query.

Read-only rules

• Do not create dashboards in this skill.
• Do not update dashboards in this skill.
• Do not delete dashboards, panels, alerts, or annotations.
• If the task requires new dashboard creation, hand off to a build-oriented skill or explicit implementation flow.

Answering rules

When replying after Grafana reads, provide:

• the answer first
• the panel/dashboard used
• any key variable or time-range assumptions
• uncertainty if the panel does not fully match the question

Do not dump raw Grafana JSON unless the user explicitly wants it.

Minimum action coverage

This skill is expected to support these read paths:

• search dashboards
• get dashboard details
• list panels
• get panel query
• list variables
• run panel query

If an installed Grafana skill does not cover most of these, treat it as partial coverage and plan a local supplement.

When Grafana is not enough

Escalate beyond this skill when:

• no matching dashboard/panel exists
• the user needs an arbitrary new SQL query
• the needed split is not supported by existing variables
• the user is asking for a new dashboard design

In those cases, switch to the analytics workflow skill and decide whether to use Grafana datasource queries or direct ClickHouse.

References

Read these only when needed:

• references/action-checklist.md for the concrete Grafana action matrix and MVP coverage
• references/evaluation-notes.md for why rpe-grafana is a lightweight candidate and where it likely falls short