GitLab

The GitLab data source allows you to keep track of detailed GitLab statistics, such as top contributors, commits per day, or deployments per day. You can also use template variables, such as projects, to set up filters for your dashboards. You can combine data from the GitLab API with data from other sources.

Note

This data source is for Grafana Enterprise only. For more information, see Manage access to Enterprise plugins.

Additionally, in workspaces that support version 9 or newer, this data source might require you to install the appropriate plugin. For more information, see Grafana plugins.

Known limitations

Alerting is not supported yet on this plugin because transformations are not supported in alert queries and transformations is the only way to obtain meaningful aggregate metrics from GitLab API raw data.

Adding the data source

1. Open the Grafana console in the Amazon Managed Grafana workspace and make sure you are logged in.

2. In the side menu under Configuration (the gear icon), choose Data Sources.

3. Choose Add data source.

   Note

   If you don't see the Data Sources link in your side menu, it means that your current user does not have the Admin role.

4. Select GitLab from the list of data sources.

5. Enter the following information:

   • For Name, enter a name for this GitLab data source.

   • For URL, enter the root URL for your GitLab instance, such as https://gitlab.com/api/v4.

   • For Access token, enter your GitLab personal access token.

Query the GitLab data source

From the GitLab Query Editor you can select different resource types, such as commits, issues, or releases.

Filter and view projects

1. From the dropdown menu, choose Projects.

2. (Optional) Filter by the projects that you own.

3. Use the dropdown and select Yes or No to filter the results.

   Note

   Fetching all the projects Owned = No can take a long time.

Filter and view commits

1. From the dropdown menu, choose Commits.

2. Use the input field to add the project ID.

3. (Optional) To filter by branch/tag use the input field to add a branch/tag reference.

Filter and view issues

1. From the dropdown menu, choose Issues.

2. Use the input field to add the project ID.

3. (Optional) To filter by title/description, use the input field to search issues based on their title and description.

View releases

1. From the dropdown menu, choose Deployments.

2. Use the input field to add the project ID.

3. (Optional) To filter by environment/status, use the input fields. The status attribute can be one of the following values: created, running, success, failed, or canceled.

View labels

1. From the dropdown menu, choose Labels.

2. Use the input field to add the project ID.

Templates and variables

To add a new GitLab query variable, see Adding a query variable. Use your GitLab data source as the data source. Choose a resource type: Releases, Projects, or Labels.

To get a dynamic list of projects, labels, and so on to choose from, create a Query type variable. Query type variables use the GitLab Query Editor to query and return Projects, Labels, and so on. The following example creates a Project variable to parameterize your queries

Create a Project variable to parameterize your queries

1. Add a variable of type Query named project.

2. Select your GitLab data source and refresh On Dashboard Load.

3. Select the Projects resource type, Yes for Owned, name for display field and id for value field .

4. Choose Update to add the variable to the dashboard.

5. Add a new panel to the dashboard and use $project as the project ID.

   Now, when choosing from the dropdown, you get the results that belong to that project.

Using transformations from Grafana to answer common questions

Now that you can perform basic GitLab queries to find commits, issues, etc, you can use Transformations to visualize, aggregate, group, and join datasets, along with many other types of transformations to transform simple results into answers for complex questions. Below are a few common questions and how to use transformations to answer them.

How many commits/issues/deployments per day in my project?

1. Add a query. Select Commits for the resource type and add the project ID.

2. Add a new Group by transformation: for Group by, select created_at_date and then calculate (Count)=id

3. Choose the Graph visualization.

What is the average time to close issues in my project?

1. Add a query. Select Issues for the resource type and add the project ID.

2. Add a new Add field from calculation transformation: for Mode, select Binary Operation, for Operation, select closed_at = created_at and for Alias choose resolution_time.

3. Add a new Add field from calculation transformation: for Mode, select Binary Operation, for Operation, select resolution_time / 86400000 and for Alias choose resolution_time.

   For Replace all fields, choose True.

4. Choose the Stat visualization.

   • Show = Calculate

   • Calculation = Mean

   • Fields = resolution_time