Getting network data into Grafana shouldn't stop at the dashboard. We understand how frustrating it can be to build a great Kentik view and then have no way to alert on it, or to watch a panel-heavy dashboard crawl while it waits on API calls. That's why we're thrilled to announce v3.0 of the Kentik plugin for Grafana. We rebuilt it as a backend datasource, so your Kentik data works with Grafana the way the rest of your data does.

Some key features: 

• Alert on your network data: Queries now run on the Grafana server, so Kentik flow and NMS metrics work with Grafana Alerting, recorded queries, and shared dashboards.
• Load heavy dashboards without hammering the API: Duplicate panel queries are coalesced into one call, and rate-limited requests retry automatically.
• Start from seven ready-made dashboards: Traffic, Top Talkers, a global traffic map, geo flow, and NMS device health import in one click.
• Build dashboards that adapt: Template variables can now drive the measurement, metrics, dimensions, and filter values of a query.

What's New?

A backend datasource

Query execution, result parsing, credential handling, and the dictionary cache now run server-side in a Go backend instead of the browser. This is what makes alerting, recorded queries, and shared dashboards possible. Queries now run against Kentik's newer query API, and every request identifies itself as kentik-grafana-plugin/.

Fewer API calls, fewer timeouts

v2.0 batched panel queries in the browser. v3.0 handles this on the server:

• Identical queries issued at the same time, or within 30 seconds of each other, share one upstream call.
• Up to 10 queries in a request run in parallel.
• HTTP 429 and 502 responses retry with exponential backoff and honor Retry-After.

A rebuilt query editor

• Measurement picker: Browse Kentik measurements grouped by family (Traffic, NMS, NMS Interfaces, and more) with search and full keyboard navigation. The dimension picker warns you when a metric and dimension come from different namespaces.
• Familiar controls: Limit (Top N), filters, Merge Series Function, and Alias By / Prefix with autocomplete are all still here.
• Response format: Return time series, a table (one row per series, ideal for Geomap, bar gauge, and table panels), or a node graph (nodes and edges for Grafana's Node Graph panel).
• Clearer errors: If a metric and dimension can't be combined, the error names the conflict and suggests the universal equivalent.

Seven bundled dashboards

Import them from the Dashboards tab on the datasource configuration page.

Smarter dashboard variables

Variables can drive measurement, metrics, dimensions, rollups, and filter values. A new values(, ) function builds live variables, such as a device picker that always reflects what Kentik is receiving.

Open in Kentik, from every series

Each series carries an Open in Kentik link that opens Data Explorer in the right region (US, EU, or custom). It also carries dimension values as field labels, so map lookups and transforms work.

Grafana 13 supported

In the v2.0 post we flagged a credential-save error on Grafana 13. v3.0 is tested against Grafana 11.6, 12.4, and 13.0.

Why It Matters

• One place to watch and act: Alert rules, dashboards, and on-call routing can use the same Kentik data your team already trusts.
• Dashboards that scale: Panel-heavy dashboards and many viewers no longer mean one API call per panel per person.
• Faster time to first dashboard: NMS health, flow, and geography views come ready to import instead of being built from scratch.

What's Changing

• Minimum Grafana version is 11.6.
• Your existing panels keep working. Panels saved with v2.0 queries are translated automatically and show a deprecation notice. Re-save them in the new format, because this compatibility layer will be removed in a future release. A translated panel currently opens with blank editor fields, so plan to reconfigure it when you re-save.
• Open in Kentik opens Data Explorer, not your exact query. In v2.0 the link carried your query, time range, and filters. In v3.0 it lands on the Data Explorer for your region and you re-enter the query. We're working on restoring the full deep link.
• Network Health (OSI) is now Traffic Detail. The bundled dashboards were rebuilt for the new query model.
• Events data isn't available yet. Syslog, SNMP traps, and other /events measurements can't be queried through the new API today.
• Check your outbound access. The Grafana server calls the Kentik API directly. If you restrict egress, allow grpc.api.kentik.com (US) or grpc.api.kentik.eu (EU).

Get Started!

Already on v2.x? Update from the Grafana plugin catalog, or run grafana cli plugins update kentik-connect-datasource. Then open Connections > Data Sources > Kentik, click Save & test, import the new dashboards from the Dashboards tab, and re-save your existing panels in the new format.

New to the plugin? In Grafana, go to Connections > Add new connection, search for "Kentik", and install kentik-connect-datasource. Enter your region, email, and API token, then import the bundled dashboards.

Still on the legacy kentik-connect-app (v1.x)? Follow the migration guide, then update to v3.0.

Ready to alert on your network? Grab v3.0 from the Grafana plugin catalog, and see the Kentik Knowledge Base for setup details.