Grafana Datadog Datasource Plugin

An unofficial Grafana datasource plugin for Datadog metrics and logs with advanced query capabilities and intelligent autocomplete.

Note

This is an unofficial plugin that uses the Datadog API for metrics and logs queries. There is also an official Datadog plugin available for Grafana Enterprise subscriptions.

📊 Feature Implementation Status

Feature	Status	Description
Metrics	🟢 Stable	Full Datadog metrics API support with advanced querying
Logs	🟡 Beta	Complete logs search with automatic field parsing
Traces	🔴 Not Planned	Use official Datadog plugin or Jaeger/Tempo instead

🚀 Quick Start

1. Install the plugin - Multiple installation methods available
2. Configure your datasource - Set up Datadog API credentials
3. Write your first query - Learn the query syntax
4. Explore advanced features - Discover all capabilities

✨ Key Features

Feature	Description	Documentation
🎯 Smart Autocomplete	Context-aware suggestions for metrics and logs	Metrics • Logs
🔧 Advanced Query Editor	Boolean operators, formulas, and custom legends	Query Editor
📊 Formula Support	Mathematical expressions across multiple queries	Formulas & Expressions
📋 Logs Support	Full Datadog logs search with syntax highlighting	Getting Started
🔧 Automatic Field Parsing	Automatic parsing of structured log attributes and tags	JSON Parsing Guide
🏷️ Custom Legends	Template variables and dynamic series naming	Legend Configuration
🔍 Explore Integration	Full support for Grafana Explore mode	Using Explore
📈 Dashboard Variables	Complete variable support with autocomplete	Variables Guide
⚡ Performance Optimized	Caching, debouncing, and concurrent request limiting	Performance

📋 Requirements

• Grafana: Version 9.0+ (recommended: 10.0+)
• Datadog Account: Paid subscription with API access
• API Credentials: API Key and Application Key
• Supported Platforms: Linux, macOS, Windows (x86-64, ARM64)

🎯 What's Supported

✅ Supported

• Metrics queries with full Datadog query language
• Logs queries with Datadog logs search syntax and autocomplete
• Formulas and expressions ($A * 100 / $B)
• Boolean operators (OR, AND, IN, NOT IN)
• Custom legends with template variables
• Dashboard variables and templating
• Grafana Explore integration
• All visualization types (graphs, tables, stat panels, logs panels, etc.)
• Logs volume histograms for time-series visualization

❌ Not Supported

• Traces - Use official Datadog plugin or Jaeger/Tempo
• Events - Metrics and logs only
• Synthetic monitoring - Use official Datadog plugin

📚 Documentation

Getting Started

• Installation Guide - Install the plugin
• Configuration - Set up your datasource
• Getting Started - Your first queries
• Migration Guide - Upgrade from older versions

Metrics

• Query Editor - Advanced query capabilities
• Autocomplete - Smart suggestions system
• Formulas & Expressions - Mathematical operations
• Legend Configuration - Custom series naming

Logs

• Getting Started - Your first logs queries
• Autocomplete - Context-aware suggestions
• JSON Parsing - Automatic field parsing and filtering
• Correlation - Linking logs with metrics

Features

• Variables - Dashboard templating
• Explore Integration - Ad-hoc exploration

Examples

• Metrics Queries - Real-world metrics patterns
• Logs Queries - Common logs search patterns
• Logs Dashboards - Complete logs dashboard setups

Advanced Usage

• Performance Tuning - Optimization tips
• Troubleshooting - Common issues and solutions

Development

• Development Guide - Local development setup
• Architecture - Plugin architecture overview
• API Reference - Backend API documentation
• Contributing - How to contribute

🔧 Quick Configuration

# Environment variable installation
GF_INSTALL_PLUGINS=https://github.com/wasilak/grafana-datadog-datasource/releases/download/v0.4.2/wasilak-datadog-datasource-v0.4.2.zip;wasilak-datadog-datasource

# Allow unsigned plugins (required for localhost)
GF_PLUGINS_ALLOW_LOADING_UNSIGNED_PLUGINS=wasilak-datadog-datasource

📊 Example Queries

Metrics Queries

# Basic CPU usage
avg:system.cpu.user{*} by {host}

# Complex filtering with formulas
$A * 100 / $B
# Where A: sum:container.memory.usage{service:web}
# Where B: sum:container.memory.limit{service:web}

# Boolean operators
avg:system.load.1{env IN (prod,staging) AND service:web} by {host}

# Custom legends
CPU: {{host}} ({{availability_zone}})

Logs Queries

# Basic error logs
status:ERROR

# Service-specific logs with level filtering
service:web-app AND (status:ERROR OR status:WARN)

# Complex boolean operations
service:(web-app OR api-service) AND NOT host:test-*

# Facet filtering with wildcards
source:nginx AND @env:prod* AND message:"timeout"

🏆 Why Choose This Plugin?

Get full Datadog integration for free - while the official plugin requires Grafana Enterprise, this open-source alternative provides comprehensive metrics and logs support at no cost.

🤝 Community & Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Community: GitHub Issues
• Contributing: Contributing Guide
• Changelog: Release Notes

📄 License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

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Ready to get started? → Installation Guide