Metabase API

Use the Metabase API via direct curl calls to query data, manage dashboards, cards (questions), collections, databases, and users on your Metabase instance.

Official docs: https://www.metabase.com/docs/latest/api (live OpenAPI docs available at your instance's /api/docs)

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When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

• Run queries and retrieve data from connected databases
• Manage dashboards and their cards (questions)
• Create and update cards (saved questions)
• Organize content into collections
• Manage databases and their connections
• Administer users and permission groups

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Prerequisites

1. Log in to your Metabase instance as an admin
2. Go to Admin > Settings > Authentication > API Keys
3. Click Create API Key
4. Enter a name and select a group for the key
5. Copy the generated API key

export METABASE_TOKEN="your-api-key"
export METABASE_BASE_URL="https://mycompany.metabaseapp.com"  # or your self-hosted URL

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How to Use

All examples below assume you have METABASE_TOKEN set. Authentication uses the x-api-key header.

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1. Get Current User Info

Retrieve information about the authenticated user.

curl -s "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/user/current" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" | jq .

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2. List Databases

Retrieve all connected databases.

curl -s "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/database" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" | jq '.data[] | {id, name, engine}'

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3. Get Database Details

Retrieve details of a specific database including its tables.

curl -s "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/database/DATABASE_ID?include=tables" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" | jq .

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4. Run a Query (Dataset)

Execute a query and return results. This is the primary endpoint for running queries.

Write to /tmp/metabase_request.json:

{
  "database": 1,
  "type": "native",
  "native": {
    "query": "SELECT * FROM orders LIMIT 10"
  }
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/dataset" --header "Content-Type: application/json" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" -d @/tmp/metabase_request.json | jq '{columns: [.data.cols[].name], row_count: .row_count}'

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5. List Cards (Saved Questions)

Retrieve all saved questions.

curl -s "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/card" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" | jq '.[] | {id, name, display, database_id}'

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6. Get Card Details

Retrieve a specific card (question) by ID.

curl -s "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/card/CARD_ID" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" | jq '{id, name, display, dataset_query}'

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7. Run a Card Query

Execute a saved question and return its results.

curl -s -X POST "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/card/CARD_ID/query" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" | jq '{columns: [.data.cols[].name], row_count: .row_count}'

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8. Create a Card (Question)

Create a new saved question.

Write to /tmp/metabase_request.json:

{
  "name": "Total Orders by Status",
  "dataset_query": {
    "database": 1,
    "type": "native",
    "native": {
      "query": "SELECT status, COUNT(*) as total FROM orders GROUP BY status"
    }
  },
  "display": "table",
  "visualization_settings": {},
  "collection_id": null
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/card" --header "Content-Type: application/json" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" -d @/tmp/metabase_request.json | jq '{id, name}'

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9. Update a Card

Update a saved question's properties.

Write to /tmp/metabase_request.json:

{
  "name": "Updated Question Name",
  "description": "Updated description"
}

Then run:

curl -s -X PUT "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/card/CARD_ID" --header "Content-Type: application/json" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" -d @/tmp/metabase_request.json | jq .

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10. List Dashboards

Retrieve all dashboards.

curl -s "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/dashboard" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" | jq '.[] | {id, name, collection_id}'

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11. Get Dashboard Details

Retrieve a dashboard with all its cards.

curl -s "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/dashboard/DASHBOARD_ID" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" | jq '{id, name, dashcards: [.dashcards[] | {id, card_id, card: .card.name}]}'

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12. Create a Dashboard

Create a new dashboard.

curl -s -X POST "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/dashboard" --header "Content-Type: application/json" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" -d '{"name":"My Dashboard","collection_id":null}' | jq '{id, name}'

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13. Add a Card to Dashboard

Add an existing saved question to a dashboard.

Write to /tmp/metabase_request.json:

{
  "cardId": 1,
  "row": 0,
  "col": 0,
  "size_x": 6,
  "size_y": 4
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/dashboard/DASHBOARD_ID/cards" --header "Content-Type: application/json" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" -d @/tmp/metabase_request.json | jq .

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14. List Collections

Retrieve all collections (folders for organizing content).

curl -s "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/collection" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" | jq '.[] | {id, name, location}'

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15. Get Collection Items

Retrieve all items in a specific collection.

curl -s "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/collection/COLLECTION_ID/items" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" | jq '.data[] | {id, name, model}'

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16. Create a Collection

Create a new collection for organizing dashboards and questions.

curl -s -X POST "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/collection" --header "Content-Type: application/json" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" -d '{"name":"My Collection","parent_id":null}' | jq '{id, name}'

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17. Search

Search across cards, dashboards, and collections.

curl -s "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/search?q=revenue" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" | jq '.data[] | {id, name, model, collection}'

Filter by model type:

curl -s "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/search?q=revenue&models=card" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" | jq '.data[] | {id, name}'

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18. List Users

Retrieve all users in the Metabase instance.

curl -s "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/user" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" | jq '.data[] | {id, email, first_name, last_name, is_active}'

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19. Get Permission Groups

List all permission groups.

curl -s "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/permissions/group" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" | jq '.[] | {id, name, member_count}'

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20. Get Table Metadata

Retrieve metadata for a specific table including columns and types.

curl -s "$METABASE_BASE_URL/api/table/TABLE_ID/query_metadata" --header "x-api-key: $METABASE_TOKEN" | jq '{name, fields: [.fields[] | {name, base_type, semantic_type}]}'

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Guidelines

1. Instance URL: Set METABASE_BASE_URL to your Metabase instance URL
2. API keys vs sessions: API keys (via x-api-key header) are recommended over session tokens for programmatic access
3. Database IDs: Most query operations require a database ID. Use the list databases endpoint to find IDs
4. Native vs structured queries: The dataset endpoint supports both native (raw SQL) and query (structured MBQL) query types
5. Card terminology: In the Metabase API, "cards" refer to saved questions, not dashboard cards. Dashboard cards are referred to as "dashcards"
6. Collection organization: Use collections to organize dashboards and cards. The root collection has id: "root"
7. Query results format: Query results include data.cols (column metadata) and data.rows (row data as arrays)
8. Live API docs: Access interactive OpenAPI documentation at your instance's /api/docs endpoint for the complete API reference