TestData data source

Every dashboard starts with data, and the TestData data source gives you data instantly. TestData is bundled with Grafana, so it’s ready to use out of the box with no installation required. It generates simulated time series, logs, traces, and more for any panel, with no external connection required. Use it to prototype dashboards, put visualizations through their paces with tricky edge cases, experiment with alert rules, and reproduce issues in a way that others can replicate.

Supported features

Feature	Supported
Metrics	Yes
Logs	Yes
Alerting	Yes
Annotations	Yes

Get started

The following pages help you set up and use the TestData data source:

Configure the TestData data source for setup and provisioning instructions.
TestData query editor for a reference of all 33 available scenarios and their options.
TestData alerting for prototyping and testing alert rules with simulated data.
TestData template variables for using TestData with dashboard variables.
TestData annotations for generating simulated annotation events.
Troubleshoot TestData for solutions to common issues.

Additional features

After adding the data source, you can:

Use Explore to run scenarios without building a dashboard.
Add transformations to manipulate query results.
Build dashboards with simulated data for prototyping and demos.

Pre-built dashboard

TestData includes a bundled dashboard that demonstrates streaming data scenarios.

To import the dashboard:

Navigate to the data source’s configuration page.
Select the Dashboards tab.
Click Import for the Streaming Example dashboard.

To customize the imported dashboard, save it under a different name first. Otherwise, upgrading Grafana can overwrite your customizations.

Report issues with test data

If you report an issue on GitHub involving time-series data rendering, use the TestData data source to replicate the problem. This makes it easier for developers to reproduce and resolve the issue.

Use a custom version of TestData

If you want to use a version of TestData different from the one shipped with Grafana, you can configure Grafana to skip loading the bundled version. This lets you install TestData as an external plugin and manage its lifecycle independently.

To enable this:

Set the as_external configuration field for the plugin to true:
ini
```
[plugin.grafana-testdata-datasource]
as_external = true
```
Restart Grafana.

With the default configuration, Grafana loads the bundled core version of TestData. An externally installed version has no effect unless as_external is set to true.