---
title: "After you connect | Grafana Labs"
description: "What to do after you connect a data source"
---

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

## After you connect

You’ve explored common data sources and connected one with a guided learning path. Connecting is only the start. After Grafana can reach your data, you can query it, visualize it, and alert on it, all where it already lives. In this section, you’ll:

1. **Build a dashboard**: Turn queries into panels you can reuse
2. **Alert on your data**: Get notified when something needs attention

## Before you continue

Already connected a data source? You’re ready. If not, you can still follow along and try it on your own stack afterward.

## Estimated time

5 minutes