Metabase

Automate Metabase via API: reports (cards), dashboards, and chart settings.

Quick Start Inputs (env vars) METABASE_URL (e.g., https://metabase.example.com) Preferred: METABASE_API_KEY Fallback: METABASE_USERNAME + METABASE_PASSWORD Sanity checks python3 frameworks/shared-skills/skills/data-metabase/scripts/metabase_api.py health python3 frameworks/shared-skills/skills/data-metabase/scripts/metabase_api.py whoami

Live API documentation

Your Metabase instance serves OpenAPI docs at /api/docs (e.g., https://metabase.example.com/api/docs). Use this to discover version-specific endpoints and request shapes.

Workflow Confirm API availability (GET /api/util/health). Authenticate with an API key (preferred) or a short-lived session (fallback). Discover IDs (prefer discovery over hardcoding across environments): collection_id for where to save database id for dataset_query source-table / field ids if using MBQL Create/update a card: Prefer native SQL for stable automation. Set display + visualization_settings explicitly. Create/update a dashboard and add cards with consistent layout. Validate by running/exporting results. Key Concepts UI "Question" == API card Chart configuration lives on the card as display + visualization_settings Most viz keys are easiest to manage by copying from an existing card JSON, then editing Guardrails Prefer Metabase "serialization" (Pro/Enterprise) for bulk, cross-environment migrations; use direct API for incremental upserts. Do not hardcode numeric IDs across environments when you can discover them or use serialization/entity IDs. Never commit METABASE_API_KEY, passwords, or session tokens. Prefer a dedicated, least-privileged automation account and collection. References (read only as needed) Topic File Authentication (API key + fallback) references/api-auth.md Reports (cards): create/edit patterns references/reports-cards.md Dashboards and card placement references/dashboards.md Charts and visualization_settings references/charts-settings.md Scripts

scripts/metabase_api.py is a small, dependency-free helper to test auth and upsert cards.

Examples:

Print authenticated user (tries API key, then session)

python3 frameworks/shared-skills/skills/data-metabase/scripts/metabase_api.py whoami

Export an existing card JSON (use as a template for visualization_settings)

python3 frameworks/shared-skills/skills/data-metabase/scripts/metabase_api.py export-card --id 123 --out card.json

Export an existing dashboard JSON (use as a template for layout)

python3 frameworks/shared-skills/skills/data-metabase/scripts/metabase_api.py export-dashboard --id 5 --out dashboard.json

Create/update a card from a JSON spec (see references/reports-cards.md)

python3 frameworks/shared-skills/skills/data-metabase/scripts/metabase_api.py upsert-card --spec card-spec.json

Create/update a dashboard from a JSON spec (base fields only)

python3 frameworks/shared-skills/skills/data-metabase/scripts/metabase_api.py upsert-dashboard --spec dashboard-spec.json