> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.siftstack.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Visualize Sift telemetry in Grafana

> Connect Sift as a Grafana data source to build persistent, team-facing dashboards for live monitoring and historical analysis.

Build persistent, team-facing Grafana dashboards that poll Sift for telemetry data on a configurable interval, making it suitable for both live monitoring and historical analysis.

## Before you begin

* A compatible version of Grafana
  * See [Sift Grafana plugin](https://grafana.com/grafana/plugins/sift-grafana-datasource/) for compatibility requirements
* An Asset with ingested telemetry data
* A [Sift API key](/documentation/manage/set-up-api-access)
* Your [Sift REST API base URL](/documentation/manage/set-up-api-access)

## How the Grafana plugin works

The Sift Grafana plugin adds Sift as a data source inside Grafana. Once configured, Grafana polls the Sift backend on a configurable interval, displaying data as soon as Sift has ingested it.
Panels can query raw Channel data or apply a Calculated Channel expression before plotting.

Sift is a standard Grafana data source and can be combined with any other Grafana-compatible source in the same dashboard.

## Install and configure the Sift plugin

1. In **Grafana**, install the **Sift** data source plugin.
2. Add **Sift** as a new data source.
3. Enter your Sift REST API base URL and API key.
4. Save the data source configuration and verify the connection.

## Build a dashboard panel

1. In **Grafana**, create a new dashboard and add a new panel.
2. Select **Sift** as the data source.
3. Select a query type:
   * **Channels** to plot raw telemetry from a specific Channel.
   * **Calculated Channels** to apply a Sift expression to one or more Channels before plotting.
4. Run the query to preview the data.
5. Save the panel and the dashboard.

## Verify

To verify the connection is working, confirm the panel displays a time-series plot with one trace per Channel query. If the panel shows no data, confirm the following:

* The Grafana time range overlaps with the Run's data window in Sift. Adjust the time range to match the timestamps of your Run.
* The data source configuration was saved successfully. If not, check that the REST base URL and API key were entered correctly.
* The selected Asset, Run, and Channel exist in your Sift workspace and contain ingested data.

## Visualizing enum and boolean channels

If you are using Grafana to visualize enum or boolean state data from Sift, the [Enum Panel](/documentation/reference/explore-settings#panel-types) in Explore provides the same capability natively. It renders discrete-state channels as a color-coded timeline without requiring a separate Grafana setup.

## Reference

* [Sift Grafana plugin](https://grafana.com/grafana/plugins/sift-grafana-datasource/)
* [Sift Grafana datasource](https://github.com/sift-stack/sift-grafana-datasource)