Git Sync in a Grafana instance shared by multiple teams

Use a single Grafana instance with multiple Repository resources, one per team. Each team manages its own dashboards while sharing Grafana.

Use it for

• Team autonomy: Different teams manage their own dashboards independently.
• Organizational structure: Dashboard organization aligns with team structure.
• Resource efficiency: Multiple teams share Grafana infrastructure.
• Cost optimization: You reduce infrastructure costs while maintaining team separation.
• Collaboration: Teams can view each other’s dashboards while managing their own.

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────────────┐
│  Platform Team Repo     │  │  Data Team Repo         │
│  platform-dashboards    │  │  data-dashboards        │
│                         │  │                         │
│  platform-dashboards/   │  │  data-dashboards/       │
│  └── grafana/           │  │  └── grafana/           │
│      ├── k8s.json       │  │      ├── pipeline.json  │
│      └── infra.json     │  │      └── analytics.json │
└─────────────────────────┘  └─────────────────────────┘
           ↕                            ↕
    Git Sync (grafana/)          Git Sync (grafana/)
           ↕                            ↕
        ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
        │       Grafana Instance               │
        │                                      │
        │  Repository 1:                       │
        │  - repo: platform-dashboards         │
        │  → Creates "platform-dashboards"     │
        │                                      │
        │  Repository 2:                       │
        │  - repo: data-dashboards             │
        │  → Creates "data-dashboards"         │
        └──────────────────────────────────────┘

Repository structure

In Git (separate repositories):

Platform team repository:

your-org/platform-dashboards
└── grafana/
    ├── dashboard-k8s.json
    └── dashboard-infra.json

Data team repository:

your-org/data-dashboards
└── grafana/
    ├── dashboard-pipeline.json
    └── dashboard-analytics.json

In Grafana Dashboards view:

Dashboards
├── 📁 platform-dashboards/
│   ├── Kubernetes Dashboard
│   └── Infrastructure Dashboard
└── 📁 data-dashboards/
    ├── Pipeline Dashboard
    └── Analytics Dashboard

• Two separate folders created (one per Repository resource).
• Folder names derived from repository names.
• Each team has complete control over their own repository.
• Teams can independently manage permissions, branches, and workflows in their repos.
• All teams can view each other's dashboards in Grafana but manage only their own.

Configuration parameters

Platform team repository:

• Repository: your-org/platform-dashboards
• Branch: main
• Path: grafana/

Data team repository:

• Repository: your-org/data-dashboards
• Branch: main
• Path: grafana/

How it works

1. Each team has their own Git repository for complete autonomy.
2. Each repository resource in Grafana creates a separate folder.
3. Platform team dashboards sync from your-org/platform-dashboards repository.
4. Data team dashboards sync from your-org/data-dashboards repository.
5. Teams can independently manage their repository settings, access controls, and workflows.
6. All teams can view each other's dashboards in Grafana but edit only their own.

Scale to more teams

Adding additional teams is straightforward. For a third team, create a new repository and configure:

• Repository: your-org/security-dashboards
• Branch: main
• Path: grafana/

This creates a new "security-dashboards" folder in the same Grafana instance.

Alternative: Shared repository with different paths

For teams that prefer sharing a single repository, use different paths to separate team dashboards:

In Git:

your-org/grafana-manifests
├── team-platform/
│   ├── dashboard-k8s.json
│   └── dashboard-infra.json
└── team-data/
    ├── dashboard-pipeline.json
    └── dashboard-analytics.json

Configuration:

Platform team:

• Repository: your-org/grafana-manifests
• Branch: main
• Path: team-platform/

Data team:

• Repository: your-org/grafana-manifests
• Branch: main
• Path: team-data/

This approach provides simpler repository management but less isolation between teams.

Alternative: Different branches per team

For teams wanting their own branch in a shared repository:

Platform team:

• Repository: your-org/grafana-manifests
• Branch: team-platform
• Path: grafana/

Data team:

• Repository: your-org/grafana-manifests
• Branch: team-data
• Path: grafana/

This allows teams to use Git branch workflows for collaboration while sharing the same repository.