Set up Grafana Assistant in self-managed Grafana

Install the Assistant app in a self-managed Grafana deployment and connect it to a Grafana Cloud stack. This article explains how it works, what you need before you start, and which features are available.

Understand how it works

Assistant uses a hybrid deployment model for self-managed installations.

The Assistant UI runs in your self-managed Grafana deployment. The backend, usage limits, and billing stay in the Grafana Cloud stack you connect during setup. If you run Grafana OSS or Grafana Enterprise, this is the supported way to use Assistant outside Grafana Cloud.

This means the self-managed experience doesn’t include every Grafana Cloud feature. Assistant keeps the core chat and dashboarding workflows, but some backend-dependent features remain available only in Grafana Cloud.

Understand what data goes to Grafana Cloud

When you use Assistant, the prompts you submit and the query context needed to generate a response are sent to the Grafana Cloud backend for processing. Your underlying data sources and infrastructure remain in your own environment. Grafana Cloud processes requests in the region associated with your connected stack.

For full details on data handling, refer to Manage your data privacy and security.

Before you begin

A Grafana Cloud stack with Assistant enabled
A self-managed Grafana 13.0.0+ deployment
Organization administrator access in the self-managed Grafana deployment
Administrator access in the Grafana Cloud stack that will back the deployment

Connect your deployment

Enable Grafana Assistant in your Grafana Cloud stack.
Sign in to your self-managed Grafana instance as an organization administrator.
Open Administration > Plugins and data > Plugins.
Search for Grafana Assistant or go directly to /plugins/grafana-assistant-app.
Click Install.
Open Connection.
Click Connect to Grafana Cloud and complete the authorization flow.

After the connection succeeds, the page reloads and Assistant becomes available in the self-managed Grafana UI.

To configure the connection manually, expand Manual configuration in Connection and enter the following values from your Grafana Cloud stack:

Backend URL
Instance ID
API Token

Note
Connect to Grafana Cloud sends your Grafana URL, including internal hostnames, to Grafana Cloud so the two deployments can be paired.

Review available features

Assistant in self-managed deployments keeps the main chat workflows available and hides features that depend on the full Grafana Cloud backend.

Available in self-managed deployments:

Chat and prompt-based assistance
Dashboard creation and editing
Query generation and explanation
Navigation across Grafana resources
Rules, quickstarts, and skills
MCP server integrations

Not available in self-managed deployments:

Investigations and investigation memory
Slack integration
Infrastructure memory
Grafana Cloud MCP connections
CLI auth tokens
SQL table discovery
Automations and sandbox settings
Anonymous access to the Assistant app

Understand pricing and limits

Self-managed deployments use the same usage limits and pricing as Assistant in Grafana Cloud. Limits apply per connected Grafana Cloud stack.

Refer to Grafana Assistant pricing to see the current tiers, included seats, and overage rates.

Note
If you’re evaluating Assistant for a large organization, contact your Grafana account team for a tailored plan.

Manage access

Assistant uses Grafana RBAC in the Grafana deployment where the plugin runs.

Use plugins.app:access scoped to plugins:id:grafana-assistant-app to control who can open Assistant in your self-managed deployment. Roles such as Assistant User and Assistant Admin also apply. Permissions alone don’t enable features that aren’t available in self-managed deployments.

Usage and limits are tracked against the connected Grafana Cloud stack. To review or change your plan, refer to Grafana Assistant pricing.