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Grafana Cloud Enterprise
Last reviewed: July 10, 2026

Drone query editor

This document explains how to use the Drone query editor to build queries against your Drone repositories and builds.

Before you begin

Query actions

Select the query type with the Action selector. The query editor supports the following actions:

  • Repo List: Returns the active repositories registered to Drone.
  • Repo Info: Returns the details of a single repository.
  • Build List: Returns the recent builds for a repository.
  • Build Info: Returns the details of a single build.

The repository drop-downs include only repositories that are active in Drone. Inactive repositories are filtered out.

Get the repository list

The Repo List action returns the active repositories registered to Drone. It takes no parameters.

To create a Repo List query:

  1. Select the Drone data source.
  2. Select Repo List from the Action selector.

Get repository details

The Repo Info action returns the details of a single repository.

To create a Repo Info query:

  1. Select the Drone data source.
  2. Select Repo Info from the Action selector.
  3. Select a repository.
FieldDescription
RepositoryRequired. The repository to query. The drop-down lists active repositories by name.

Get the build list

The Build List action returns the recent builds for a repository.

To create a Build List query:

  1. Select the Drone data source.
  2. Select Build List from the Action selector.
  3. Select a repository.
FieldDescription
RepositoryRequired. The repository whose builds you want to return. The drop-down lists active repositories by name.

Note

The Build List action returns at most the 100 most recent builds, not all builds for the repository.

Get a specific build

The Build Info action returns the details of a single build.

To create a Build Info query:

  1. Select the Drone data source.
  2. Select Build Info from the Action selector.
  3. Select a repository.
  4. Select or enter a build number.
FieldDescription
RepositoryRequired. The repository that contains the build. The drop-down lists active repositories by name.
Build numberRequired. The build to query. This field appears after you select a repository.

Note

The Build number drop-down contains at most 100 recent builds, but you can type in a build number that isn’t in the list, and the plugin returns data for that build.

Data reference

Repository and build queries return the fields provided by the Drone API. The following tables describe the most useful fields for building panels, transformations, and template variables. The plugin converts timestamp fields from epoch seconds to Grafana time values.

Repository fields

The Repo List and Repo Info actions return these fields:

FieldDescription
slugThe repository identifier in owner/name form. Use this value when you reference a repository, such as in a template variable.
nameThe repository name.
createdThe time the repository was registered in Drone.
updatedThe time the repository record was last updated.
syncedThe time Drone last synced the repository.

Build fields

The Build List and Build Info actions return these fields, among others:

FieldDescription
numberThe build number, unique within the repository.
statusThe build outcome, such as success, failure, running, or killed.
eventThe event that triggered the build, such as push, pull_request, or tag.
sourceThe source branch.
targetThe target branch.
refThe Git reference for the build.
messageThe commit message.
author_loginThe commit author’s username.
author_nameThe commit author’s display name.
linkA link to the build’s source.
triggerThe user or system that triggered the build.
startedThe time the build started.
finishedThe time the build finished.
createdThe time the build was created.
updatedThe time the build was last updated.

Note

The exact set of build fields depends on your Drone version and the event that triggered the build. To compute build duration, subtract started from finished with a transformation.

Query examples

The following examples show common query configurations and the panels that best suit them.

Example: Audit active repositories

To list every repository registered to Drone:

  1. Select the Drone data source.
  2. Select Repo List from the Action selector.

This query returns one row per active repository, including its name, slug, and created, updated, and synced timestamps. Use a Table panel to review which repositories are registered and when they were last synced.

Example: Track recent build activity for a repository

To review the most recent builds for a repository:

  1. Select the Drone data source.
  2. Select Build List from the Action selector.
  3. Select a repository.

This query returns up to the 100 most recent builds with their status and started, finished, created, and updated timestamps. Use a Table panel to browse the builds, and sort by started to see the latest activity first.

Example: Visualize build status distribution

To see how many builds succeed compared to those that fail:

  1. Create a Build List query for a repository, as shown in the previous example.
  2. Add a Group by transformation on the status field and calculate a count.
  3. Visualize the result in a Pie chart or Bar chart panel.

Example: Calculate build duration

To measure how long builds take:

  1. Create a Build List query for a repository.
  2. Add an Add field from calculation transformation that subtracts started from finished.
  3. Visualize the result in a Time series or Table panel.

Example: Inspect a single build

To drill into the details of one build:

  1. Select the Drone data source.
  2. Select Build Info from the Action selector.
  3. Select a repository.
  4. Select or enter a build number.

This query returns the full details for a single build, which is useful for a focused Stat or Table panel, or as a target when you drill down from a Build List panel.

Use cases

The following scenarios show how to combine these queries into useful dashboards. Because the data source doesn’t support alerting, use dashboard panels to monitor CI activity visually.

Monitor repository CI health

Build a dashboard that surfaces the state of a repository’s pipeline:

  • Recent builds panel: Use Build List in a Table panel to show the latest builds and their status.
  • Success rate panel: Use Build List with a Group by transformation on status to show the success-to-failure ratio in a Pie chart.
  • Build duration panel: Use Build List with a calculated finished minus started field to track how build times trend.

Correlate builds with other signals

Use annotations to overlay Drone build events on panels from other data sources. This helps you correlate deployments and CI activity with changes in application metrics, such as error rates or latency.

Known limitations

  • The Build List action returns at most the 100 latest builds, not all builds.
  • The data source doesn’t support alerting.