Metabase documentation

Metabase is an open-source business intelligence platform. You can use Metabase to ask questions about your data, or embed Metabase in your app to let your customers explore their data on their own.

First steps

Metabase Cloud

The easiest way to get started with Metabase is to sign up for a free trial of Metabase Cloud. You get support, backups, upgrades, an SMTP server, SSL certificate, SoC2 Type 2 security auditing, and more (plus your money goes toward improving Metabase). Check out our quick overview of cloud vs self-hosting. If you need to, you can always switch to self-hosting Metabase at any time (or vice versa).

Installing Metabase

Run as a JAR, using Docker, or on Metabase Cloud.

Setting up Metabase

Once installed, set up your Metabase and connect to your data.

Getting started

With your data connected, get started asking questions, creating dashboards, and sharing your work.

A tour of Metabase

Metabase is a deep product with a lot of tools to simplify business intelligence, from embeddable charts and interactive dashboards, to GUI and SQL editors, to auditing and data sandboxing, and more.

Documentation topics

Metabase’s reference documentation.

Installation

• Installation overview
• Installing Metabase
• Upgrading Metabase
• Configuring the Metabase application database
• Backing up Metabase
• Migrating to a production application database
• Monitoring your Metabase
• Serialization
• Commands
• Supported browsers
• Privacy
• About the anonymous usage data we collect

Databases

• Databases overview
• Adding and managing databases
• Database users, roles, and privileges
• Syncing and scanning databases
• Encrypting your database connection
• SSH tunneling
• SSL certificate
• Uploading data

Questions

• Questions overview

Query builder

• Asking questions
• Visualizing data
• Custom expressions
• List of expressions
• Joining data

SQL and native queries

• The SQL editor
• SQL parameters
• Referencing models and saved questions
• SQL snippets
• SQL snippet folder permissions

Sharing

• Sharing answers
• Alerts
• Public sharing
• Exporting data

Dashboards

• Dashboards overview
• Introduction to dashboards
• Dashboard filters
• Interactive dashboards
• Charts with multiple series
• Dashboard subscriptions
• Actions on dashboards

Data modeling

• Data modeling overview
• Models
• Model persistence
• Metrics
• Table metadata admin settings
• Field types
• Formatting defaults
• Working with JSON
• Segments

Actions

• Actions overview
• Introduction to actions
• Basic actions
• Custom actions

Organization

• Organization overview
• Basic exploration
• Collections
• History
• Trash
• Data reference
• Events and timelines
• X-rays
• Content verification

People

• People overview
• Account settings
• Managing people and groups
• Password complexity
• Session expiration
• Google Sign-In or LDAP
• API keys

Paid SSO options

• JWT-based authentication
• SAML-based authentication
  • SAML with Auth0
  • SAML with Microsoft Entra ID
  • SAML with Google
  • SAML with Keycloak
  • SAML with Okta
• User provisioning with SCIM

Permissions

• Permissions overview
• Permissions introduction
• Data permissions
• Collection permissions
• Application permissions
• Data sandboxes
• Data sandbox examples
• SQL snippets folder permissions
• Notification permissions

Embedding

• Embedding overview
• Embedding introduction
• Interactive embedding
• Interactive embedding quick start
• Static embedding
• Parameters for static embeds

Configuration

• Configuration overview
• Setting up Metabase
• General settings
• Email
• Slack
• Webhooks
• Environment variables
• Configuration file
• Metabase log configuration
• Timezones
• Languages and localization
• Appearance
• Caching query results
• Custom maps
• Customizing the Metabase Jetty webserver

Tools

• Tools overview
• Usage analytics
• Admin tools

Cloud

• Documentation for Metabase Cloud and Store

Metabase API

• Metabase API documentation
• API tutorial

Troubleshooting

• Troubleshooting guides

Developer guide

• Developer guide

Paid features

Some Metabase plans offer additional features.

Getting help

Troubleshooting

• Troubleshooting guides
• Metabase forum
• Configuring logging

Tutorials and guides

Learn Metabase has a ton of articles on how to use Metabase, data best practices, and more.

More resources

Discussion

Share and connect with other Metabasers.

Metabase Cloud

For docs specific to Metabase Cloud plans.

Community stories

Practical advice from our community.

Metabase blog

News, updates, and ideas.

Customers

Real companies, real data, real stories.

Metabase Twitter

We tweet stuff.

Source code repository on GitHub

Follow us on GitHub.

List of releases

A list of all Metabase releases, including both the Enterprise Edition and the Open Source Edition.

Developers guide

Contribute to the Metabase open source project!

Data and Business Intelligence Glossary

Data jargon explained.

Metabase Experts

If you’d like more technical resources to set up your data stack with Metabase, connect with a Metabase Expert.