grafana-util docs

datasource delete

What this page covers

Delete one live Grafana datasource through the Grafana API.

When to open this page

  • Use this when a datasource should be removed by UID or by name, either as a dry run or as an acknowledged live delete.

Who this page is for

Best for operators who manage Grafana data source configuration, dependency checks, and recovery paths.

Purpose

Delete one live Grafana datasource through the Grafana API.

When to use

Use this when a datasource should be removed by UID or by name, either as a dry run or as an acknowledged live delete.

Key flags

  • --uid: datasource UID to delete.
  • --name: datasource name to delete when UID is not available.
  • --yes: acknowledge the live delete.
  • --dry-run, --table, --json, --output-format, --no-header: preview output controls.

Examples

# Purpose: Delete one live Grafana datasource through the Grafana API.
grafana-util datasource delete --url http://localhost:3000 --basic-user admin --basic-password admin --uid prom-main --dry-run --json
# Purpose: Delete one live Grafana datasource through the Grafana API.
grafana-util datasource delete --profile prod --uid prom-main --yes

Before / After

  • Before: deleting a datasource often depended on remembering the exact row in the UI or typing a name from memory.
  • After: one command can target a UID or name, show a dry run, and make the final live delete explicit.

What success looks like

  • the target datasource is obvious before any live deletion
  • --dry-run makes the action reviewable
  • --yes is only used when the operator intentionally wants the live delete

Failure checks

  • if the command points at the wrong datasource, verify the UID or name before retrying
  • if the dry-run is empty, check whether the org scope actually exposes the target datasource
  • if the live delete is rejected, confirm whether the account has delete permission for that org