datasource diff

Purpose

Compare datasource inventory from a local bundle against live Grafana and print an operator-summary diff report.

When to use

Use this when you want a concise live-versus-local difference report before import.

Key flags

• --diff-dir: local datasource bundle to compare.
• --input-format: choose inventory or provisioning.

Examples

# Purpose: Compare datasource inventory from a local bundle against live Grafana and print an operator-summary diff report.
grafana-util datasource diff --url http://localhost:3000 --basic-user admin --basic-password admin --diff-dir ./datasources --input-format inventory

# Purpose: Compare datasource inventory from a local bundle against live Grafana and print an operator-summary diff report.
grafana-util datasource diff --profile prod --diff-dir ./datasources/provisioning --input-format provisioning

Before / After

• Before: you had to inspect local and live datasource JSON by hand to find drift.
• After: one diff command shows what changed between the bundle and Grafana before you import anything.

What success looks like

• you can explain the change set before import
• inventory and provisioning inputs both produce a readable summary
• the output makes it obvious whether the bundle or the live side changed

Failure checks

• if the diff is unexpectedly empty, verify the bundle path and --input-format
• if the live side looks wrong, confirm the target Grafana and org scope before trusting the report
• if the diff is noisy, make sure you are comparing the intended inventory bundle rather than an older provisioning tree

Related commands

• datasource list
• datasource export
• datasource import