add_card_to_dashboard
Add a card/question to a dashboard.
LABSCO SUMMARY
Dashboard plumbing that normally takes a dozen clicks collapses into one sequence of calls.
The valuable half is what the Metabase UI makes tedious: template-tags on a native query, filter parameters on a dashboard, and the mapping between the two, all reachable through get_card, update_card and update_dashboard_cards. The other half is administration — users, groups, the permissions graph — which puts real authority behind the API key or account you connect with. Deletes lean toward archiving by default, with hard_delete the flag you have to set on purpose.
What it is
A server over a Metabase instance's API covering questions, dashboards, collections, permission groups and users in 33 tools.
What you get
- Cards read, run and rewritten — get_card returns the dataset_query including the template-tags that define each variable, and update_card writes them back
- Raw SQL against any Metabase-registered database through execute_query, with native_parameters and a max_rows cap
- Dashboard assembly end to end: create it, place cards at a row and column with a size, add filter parameters, then map those filters onto card variables with update_dashboard_cards
- Collections created, re-parented and permissioned, with the collection permissions graph readable and settable per group
- User administration that mirrors Metabase's own model — create, update, add to and remove from groups, and disable rather than delete
- Archiving as the default retirement path on cards, dashboards and collections, with hard_delete as a separate explicit flag
Requirements
METABASE_URL plus a Metabase API key in METABASE_API_KEY — the method the project recommends and checks first. Without a key, it signs in with METABASE_USERNAME and METABASE_PASSWORD instead. Whatever that key or account can reach in Metabase is what these tools can reach, including create_user and update_collection_permissions.
Setup effort
One command plus a key — npx -y @imlewc/metabase-server, then supply credentials
USE CASES
01
Adding a filter to a dashboard that already exists
Read the card to see which template-tags its query defines, add the variable if it is missing, put the filter parameter on the dashboard, and map the two together so the filter actually drives the card.
02
Answering a question Metabase has no card for
Find which registered database holds the data, then run the SQL directly with a row cap instead of building a saved question you will never open again.
03
Publishing a dashboard from questions that already exist
Find the cards worth surfacing, create the dashboard in the right collection, and place each card at a row and column with the size it needs.
04
Onboarding an analyst
Create the account, put it in the groups that match their role, and check the collection permissions graph to confirm what those groups actually open up.
05
Retiring a question nobody trusts any more
Run it once to see what it currently returns, then archive it — or set hard_delete when it should be gone rather than hidden.
06
Reorganising collections before a handover
See how collections are nested today, create the structure the next team will use, move things under it, and set which group can reach what.
33 tools
Counted once with only startup setup. Other versions, modes or optional credentials may expose a different list.
add_dashboard_filter
Add or update a filter parameter on a dashboard.
add_user_to_group
Add a user to a permission group.
create_card
Create a new Metabase question (card).
create_collection
Create a new collection in Metabase.
create_dashboard
Create a new Metabase dashboard.
create_permission_group
Create a new permission group in Metabase.
create_user
Create a new user in Metabase.
delete_card
Delete a Metabase question (card).
delete_dashboard
Delete a Metabase dashboard.
delete_permission_group
Delete a permission group in Metabase.
disable_user
Disable (deactivate) a user in Metabase. This prevents them from logging in but preserves their data.
execute_card
Execute a Metabase question/card and get results
execute_query
Execute a SQL query against a Metabase database
get_card
Get a single Metabase question/card by ID with full details including dataset_query with template-tags configuration for variables/filters. Use this to inspect a card before updating it.
get_collection_permissions
Get the collection permissions graph showing which groups have access to which collections.
get_dashboard
Get full dashboard details including cards and parameters.
get_dashboard_cards
Get all cards in a dashboard
get_user
Get details about a specific user including their group memberships.
list_cards
List all questions/cards in Metabase
list_collections
List all collections in Metabase.
list_dashboards
List all dashboards in Metabase
list_databases
List all databases in Metabase
list_permission_groups
List all permission groups in Metabase.
list_users
List all users in Metabase.
remove_card_from_dashboard
Remove a card from a dashboard.
remove_user_from_group
Remove a user from a permission group.
update_card
Update an existing Metabase question (card). For native SQL queries with template variables (like dropdown filters), use dataset_query.native.template-tags to configure each variable. Each template-tag can have: name, display-name, type (text/number/dimension), dimension (for field filters), widget-type (category, string/=, number/=, etc.), and default value.
update_collection
Update a collection in Metabase.
update_collection_permissions
Update collection permissions for a group. Sets the permission level for a group on a collection.
update_dashboard
Update an existing Metabase dashboard.
update_dashboard_cards
Update dashboard cards including their parameter mappings. Use this to connect dashboard filters to card variables.
update_user
Update an existing user in Metabase.
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
33 tools when we connected. The documentation covers only six. The rest are live but undocumented, including tools that create and delete dashboards and cards, create and disable users, create permission groups and change collection permissions.
Requires
npx on PATH
CONTEXT COST
Moderate Standing cost
Rated by the size of the 33 tool definitions that ride along on every turn, not by how many there are
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
Server setup
TERMINAL
npx -y @imlewc/metabase-serverMCP Clients
Claude Desktop
CLAUDE DESKTOP · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"metabase-server": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@imlewc/metabase-server"
],
"env": {
"METABASE_URL": "<YOUR_METABASE_URL>",
"METABASE_API_KEY": "<YOUR_METABASE_API_KEY>"
}
}
}
}<YOUR_METABASE_URL> is your Metabase address. No API key? Set METABASE_USERNAME and METABASE_PASSWORD (your Metabase login) instead of METABASE_API_KEY.
Claude Code — API key
CLAUDE CODE — API KEY · TERMINAL
claude mcp add metabase-server -s user -e METABASE_URL="<YOUR_METABASE_URL>" -e METABASE_API_KEY="<YOUR_METABASE_API_KEY>" -- npx -y @imlewc/metabase-server<YOUR_METABASE_URL> is your Metabase address.
Claude Code — password
CLAUDE CODE — PASSWORD · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"metabase-server": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@imlewc/metabase-server"
],
"env": {
"METABASE_URL": "<YOUR_METABASE_URL>",
"METABASE_USERNAME": "<YOUR_METABASE_USERNAME>",
"METABASE_PASSWORD": "<YOUR_METABASE_PASSWORD>"
}
}
}
}<YOUR_METABASE_URL> is your Metabase address, and <YOUR_METABASE_USERNAME> and <YOUR_METABASE_PASSWORD> are the email and password you sign in to Metabase with.
Claude Desktop — Smithery
CLAUDE DESKTOP — SMITHERY · TERMINAL
npx -y @smithery/cli install @imlewc/metabase-server --client claude
