Migrate classic dashboards to standard dashboards

Classic dashboards reach end of life on January 20, 2027. After this date, classic dashboards are no longer supported. Migrate classic dashboards to standard dashboards to avoid disruption.

Use the API to convert Grafana or classic dashboard JSON into a standard dashboard and create or update the result in Observability Platform. This workflow is different from Import Grafana dashboards, when you use Chronoctl or Terraform on that page, which create another classic dashboard. It is also different from the convert grafana command in Chronoctl, which produces YAML for classic dashboards.

Chronosphere supports dashboards exported from Grafana versions up to 7.5. Dashboards exported from newer versions of Grafana might not be importable without modification.

Before you convert

Copy the Grafana-format dashboard JSON you want to convert from one of the following sources:

Export a dashboard from Grafana. For export steps, see the Grafana documentation.
From an existing classic dashboard in Observability Platform:
1. Click Settings, then click Advanced settings.
2. Open the General tab.
3. Copy the JSON from JSON Model.
For details, see Classic dashboards.
Use the ReadClassicDashboard endpoint to read an existing classic dashboard by slug.
Copy the dashboard_json value from an existing chronosphere_classic_dashboard Terraform resource.

You also need the slug of the collection that will own the new standard dashboard.

Import a converted dashboard

To convert Grafana-format JSON and create a standard dashboard, call ImportDashboardFromClassic:

POST /api/v1/config/dashboards:importFromClassic

The request body accepts the following fields:

Field	Required	Description
`classic_dashboard_json`	Yes	Grafana-format dashboard JSON to convert, provided as a string.
`collection_slug`	Yes	Slug of the collection that owns the new dashboard.
`name`	No	Display name for the new dashboard. Defaults to the classic dashboard’s `title`.
`slug`	No	Slug for the new dashboard. When unset, Observability Platform generates a slug from the name. Required when `update_if_exists` is `true`.
`dry_run`	No	When `true`, converts and validates the dashboard without saving it.
`update_if_exists`	No	When `true`, updates the dashboard with the given slug instead of creating a new one.

Because the Chronosphere API requires authentication, include an API token with your curl request, as shown in the following example. For more details, see Create an API token.

export CHRONOSPHERE_API_TOKEN="TOKEN"
export CHRONOSPHERE_DOMAIN="INSTANCE.chronosphere.io"

curl -H "API-Token: ${CHRONOSPHERE_API_TOKEN}" \
     -X METHOD "https://${CHRONOSPHERE_DOMAIN}/ENDPOINT_PATH"

Replace the following:

TOKEN: Your API token.
INSTANCE: The subdomain name for your organization’s Observability Platform instance.
METHOD: The HTTP method to use with the request, such as GET or POST.
ENDPOINT_PATH: The specific endpoint you want to access.

The endpoint converts the JSON, then creates or updates a standard dashboard with the converted result. The response includes the dashboard resource and any unsupported_features entries from the conversion.

Example

The following request previews conversion of a Grafana export without saving the dashboard. The classic_dashboard_json value is a string that contains the dashboard JSON.

{
  "classic_dashboard_json": "{\"title\":\"My Dashboard\",\"panels\":[]}",
  "collection_slug": "platform",
  "dry_run": true
}

A successful response includes the converted dashboard and any conversion notes:

{
  "dashboard": {
    "slug": "my-dashboard",
    "name": "My Dashboard",
    "collection_slug": "platform",
    "dashboard_json": "{\"kind\":\"Dashboard\",\"spec\":{}}"
  },
  "unsupported_features": [
    {
      "kind": "unknown-variable",
      "detail": "cluster",
      "message": "Unknown variable cluster",
      "level": "LEVEL_UNSUPPORTED",
      "panel_keys": [],
      "occurrences": 1
    }
  ]
}

To send the example request:

export CHRONOSPHERE_API_TOKEN="TOKEN"
export CHRONOSPHERE_DOMAIN="INSTANCE.chronosphere.io"

curl -X POST "https://${CHRONOSPHERE_DOMAIN}/api/v1/config/dashboards:importFromClassic" \
  -H "API-Token: ${CHRONOSPHERE_API_TOKEN}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"classic_dashboard_json":"{\"title\":\"My Dashboard\",\"panels\":[]}","collection_slug":"platform","dry_run":true}'

Replace TOKEN with your API token and INSTANCE with your Observability Platform subdomain. Set dry_run to false to persist the dashboard.

Preview a conversion with dry run

Set dry_run to true to convert and validate a dashboard without persisting it. The response still includes the converted dashboard as a preview of what would be created, along with any unsupported_features. Unlike most dry-run responses in the Config API, this endpoint returns the would-be dashboard so you can review the conversion before you save it.

Replace an existing standard dashboard

Set update_if_exists to true and provide the target dashboard’s slug to update an existing standard dashboard in place with the converted result. When the slug doesn’t exist, Observability Platform creates the dashboard. The update replaces the entire dashboard. Fields that the request doesn’t carry, such as labels, are cleared.

Review unsupported features

The unsupported_features array lists classic dashboard features that were dropped, approximated, or otherwise noteworthy during conversion. Entries are de-duplicated by feature kind. Each entry can include the following fields:

Field	Description
`kind`	Stable identifier for the feature type, such as `unknown-variable`.
`detail`	Input-specific detail for this occurrence, such as a variable name.
`message`	Human-readable description of what happened during conversion.
`level`	Whether the feature was approximated (`LEVEL_SUPPORTED`) or dropped (`LEVEL_UNSUPPORTED`).
`panel_keys`	Panel keys where the feature appeared. Empty for dashboard-level features.
`occurrences`	Number of occurrences folded into this entry.

Review these entries before you rely on a migrated dashboard in production. A non-empty list doesn’t always mean the conversion failed, but it indicates where the standard dashboard might differ from the original classic dashboard.

Observability Platform

Telemetry Pipeline

More information

Migrate classic dashboards to standard dashboards

Before you convert

Import a converted dashboard

Example

Preview a conversion with dry run

Replace an existing standard dashboard

Review unsupported features

​Before you convert

​Import a converted dashboard

​Example

​Preview a conversion with dry run

​Replace an existing standard dashboard

​Review unsupported features

Before you convert

Import a converted dashboard

Example

Preview a conversion with dry run

Replace an existing standard dashboard

Review unsupported features