---
title: "Open source Grafana MCP server | Grafana Cloud documentation"
description: "Connect AI assistants and LLM clients to Grafana using the Model Context Protocol."
---

> For a curated documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). For the complete documentation index, see [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt).

# Open source Grafana MCP server

This documentation helps you install and run the open source [Grafana MCP server](https://github.com/grafana/mcp-grafana), connect MCP-compatible clients, and configure authentication, transports, and tools.

The Grafana MCP server is a [Model Context Protocol (MCP)](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/getting-started/intro) server that gives AI assistants and LLM clients access to your Grafana instance. You can query metrics and logs, search and manage dashboards, manage alert rules, work with Grafana Incident and Sift, and generate deeplinks to Grafana resources.

## Choose the right Grafana MCP option

Grafana offers two MCP server options:

Expand table

| Option                                                                          | Best for                                                                               | Authentication                                                        |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Open source Grafana MCP server                                                  | Running and managing the MCP server yourself for Grafana Cloud or self-managed Grafana | Service account token                                                 |
| [Grafana Cloud MCP server](/docs/grafana-cloud/ai-tools/mcp-servers/cloud-mcp/) | Connecting external AI agents to Grafana Cloud without installing a local server       | OAuth 2.1 browser authorization, scoped to the signed-in Grafana user |

Use this documentation for the open source server. For Grafana Cloud’s hosted MCP server, refer to [Grafana Cloud MCP server](/docs/grafana-cloud/ai-tools/mcp-servers/cloud-mcp/).

## Overview

Use the Grafana MCP server to let your preferred MCP-compatible client (for example, Claude Desktop, Cursor, or VS Code with Copilot) talk to Grafana. The server exposes tools for dashboards, datasources (Prometheus, Loki, and others), alerting, incidents, OnCall, and more. You configure which tools are enabled and how the server connects to Grafana (authentication and transport).

## Quick start

This quick start requires [uv](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/). Add this to your MCP client configuration (for example Claude Desktop or Cursor):

JSON ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "grafana": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["mcp-grafana"],
      "env": {
        "GRAFANA_URL": "http://localhost:3000",
        "GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN": "<your service account token>"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

When using this open source server with Grafana Cloud, set `GRAFANA_URL` to your instance URL (for example `https://myinstance.grafana.net`). Refer to [Clients](/docs/grafana-cloud/ai-tools/mcp-servers/oss-mcp/clients) and [Set up](/docs/grafana-cloud/ai-tools/mcp-servers/oss-mcp/set-up) for next steps.

Grafana **9.0 or later** is required for full functionality. Some features, particularly datasource-related operations, may not work correctly with earlier versions due to missing API endpoints.

## Explore the docs

- [Clients](/docs/grafana-cloud/ai-tools/mcp-servers/oss-mcp/clients) – Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, and more.
- [Set up](/docs/grafana-cloud/ai-tools/mcp-servers/oss-mcp/set-up) – uvx, Docker, binary, Helm, and [client configuration examples](/docs/grafana-cloud/ai-tools/mcp-servers/oss-mcp/set-up/client-configuration-examples).
- [Configure](/docs/grafana-cloud/ai-tools/mcp-servers/oss-mcp/configure) – Authentication, [command-line flags](/docs/grafana-cloud/ai-tools/mcp-servers/oss-mcp/configure/command-line-flags), transports, TLS, and tools.
- [Introduction](/docs/grafana-cloud/ai-tools/mcp-servers/oss-mcp/introduction) – MCP concepts and RBAC overview.
- [Reference](/docs/grafana-cloud/ai-tools/mcp-servers/oss-mcp/reference) – [MCP tools reference](/docs/grafana-cloud/ai-tools/mcp-servers/oss-mcp/reference/mcp-tools-table) (tools, permissions, scopes, and RBAC guidance).
- [Guides](/docs/grafana-cloud/ai-tools/mcp-servers/oss-mcp/guides) – Query metrics and logs, dashboards, alerts, deeplinks, incidents.
- [Troubleshooting](/docs/grafana-cloud/ai-tools/mcp-servers/oss-mcp/troubleshooting) – Common issues including Grafana version compatibility.
- [Developer](/docs/grafana-cloud/ai-tools/mcp-servers/oss-mcp/developer) – Go SDK, observability, build and test.

## License

The project is licensed under the [Apache License, Version 2.0](https://github.com/grafana/mcp-grafana/blob/main/LICENSE).