---
title: "Build a dashboard with the Foundation SDK | Grafana Labs"
description: "Welcome to the learning path that shows you how to define a Grafana dashboard as strongly typed code and export it as deployment-ready JSON."
---

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

# Build a dashboard with the Foundation SDK

Welcome to the learning path that shows you how to define a Grafana dashboard as strongly typed code using the Foundation SDK. Instead of clicking through the UI, you write code that produces valid Grafana dashboard JSON, ready for version control, code review, and automated deployment.

The Grafana Foundation SDK provides builder classes in Go and TypeScript that let you compose dashboards step-by-step using chained method calls. Strong typing catches errors at compile time, and the output is standard Grafana dashboard JSON.

## Here’s what to expect

When you complete this journey, you’ll be able to:

- Set up a project with the Foundation SDK installed
- Create a dashboard definition using the builder pattern
- Add stat and time series panels with data queries
- Export your dashboard as deployment-ready JSON
- Verify the output is valid and contains the expected structure

## Before you begin

Before you build a dashboard with the Foundation SDK, ensure you have:

- **Go 1.21+** or **Node.js 18+** installed, depending on your language preference
- A terminal and code editor
- A Grafana Cloud account (for optional manual import verification). To create one, refer to [Grafana Cloud](/signup/cloud/connect-account).

## Troubleshooting

If you get stuck, we’ve got your back! Where appropriate, troubleshooting information is just a click away.

## More to explore

We understand you might want to explore other capabilities not strictly on this path. We’ll provide you opportunities where it makes sense.