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This is documentation for the next version of Grafana documentation. For the latest stable release, go to the latest version.
Enterprise
Open source
Windsurf
This guide helps you set up the mcp-grafana server for Windsurf.
Prerequisites
- Windsurf IDE installed
- Grafana 9.0+ with a service account token
mcp-grafanabinary in your PATH
Configuration
Configuration file location:
Add using the UI
- Open Windsurf Settings (Cmd+Shift+P -> Open Windsurf Settings)
- Scroll to Cascade section
- Click Add Server or View raw config
Manual configuration
Create or edit ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"grafana": {
"command": "mcp-grafana",
"args": [],
"env": {
"GRAFANA_URL": "http://localhost:3000",
"GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN": "<your-token>"
}
}
}
}Docker configuration
{
"mcpServers": {
"grafana": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"--rm",
"-i",
"-e",
"GRAFANA_URL",
"-e",
"GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN",
"grafana/mcp-grafana",
"-t",
"stdio"
],
"env": {
"GRAFANA_URL": "http://host.docker.internal:3000",
"GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN": "<your-token>"
}
}
}
}Debug mode
{
"mcpServers": {
"grafana": {
"command": "mcp-grafana",
"args": ["-debug"],
"env": {
"GRAFANA_URL": "http://localhost:3000",
"GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN": "<your-token>"
}
}
}
}Verify configuration
- Click the refresh button after adding the server
- Open Cascade view
- Click the hammer icon (MCP servers)
- Grafana should show green status
- Ask: “List my Grafana dashboards”
Tool limit
Windsurf limits total MCP tools to 100. If you hit the limit:
- Go to Windsurf Settings -> Manage plugins
- Disable unused servers
- Toggle off individual tools you don’t need
Troubleshooting
Server not connecting:
- Press refresh button in Cascade settings
- Check JSON syntax
- Verify binary exists:
which mcp-grafana
SSE transport (remote server):
If you need HTTP-based connection instead of stdio:
mcp-grafana --transport streamable-http --address localhost:8000Then configure with serverUrl:
{
"mcpServers": {
"grafana": {
"serverUrl": "http://localhost:8000/mcp"
}
}
}Read-only mode
{
"mcpServers": {
"grafana": {
"command": "mcp-grafana",
"args": ["--disable-write"],
"env": {
"GRAFANA_URL": "http://localhost:3000",
"GRAFANA_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_TOKEN": "<your-token>"
}
}
}
}Next steps
- Set up for other install options.
- Configure authentication for Grafana credentials.


