Metabase

Prerequisites

To connect Metabase as a data source in Zenskar, ensure the following:

Authentication

To set up a Metabase data source connector in Zenskar, you need:

Username and password: Used to generate a new session token
Session token: A token used to authenticate API requests (typically expires every 14 days)

ℹ️
If you provide only username and password, Zenskar will generate a session token automatically when running queries. This may trigger security notifications in the user's Metabase account.

Metabase API URL

The URL of your Metabase instance API (must use https://)
Example: https://your-metabase-domain.com/api/

Obtain a session token (optional)

You can manually generate a session token using Metabase’s API:

curl -X POST \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"username": "[email protected]", "password": "fakepassword"}' \
https://your-metabase-domain.com/api/session

The response includes an id field — this is your session_token:

{"id":"38f4939c-ad7f-4cbe-ae54-30946daf8593"}

🚧
Expiration of session tokens
Session tokens expire (14 days by default). Update it in Zenskar when expired or configure your Metabase server’s MAX_SESSION_AGE environment variable to extend the session duration.

❗️
Invalid or expired session token errors
The connector will alert you of an invalid or expired session token by returning a 401 Unauthorized response status code.

Set up a Metabase data-source connector via Zenskar dashboard

Once the prerequisites are complete, connect Metabase as a data source in Zenskar.

Log into your Zenskar dashboard.
In the left side bar, click Usage > Data Sources.
In the top-right corner, click + ADD DATA SOURCE.
On the Add New Data Source page, configure the Metabase connector

General details

Field	Description	Required
Source Name	Enter a unique name for this data source.	Yes
Source Type	Select Metabase from the dropdown menu.	Yes

Connector configuration

Field	Description	Required
Metabase instance API URL	URL to your Metabase instance API. Must start with `https://`. Example: `"https://localhost:3000/api/"`	Yes
Username	Username for authenticating with Metabase	Yes
Password	Password for authenticating with Metabase	Yes
Session token	Session token for Metabase authentication	Yes

Data source access mode (read-only)

Zenskar replicates data directly from your Metabase instance to Zenskar’s data infrastructure. The data is periodically synced to maintain freshness. This option is:

Ideal for small-mid size database (less than 30GB)
Ideal for periodical data ingestion
Optimised for quicker invoice generation

Click on the SAVE SOURCE button

Addendum

Supported streams

Refer to the Metabase API reference.

Stream	Description
Card	Export cards (questions) from Metabase
Collections	Export collection metadata
Dashboard	Export dashboards and metadata
User	Export user information
Databases	Export database metadata
Native Query Snippet	Export SQL snippets saved in Metabase

Data-type mapping

Metabase type	Zenskar type
`string`	`string`
`integer`, `number`	`number`
`array`	`array`
`object`	`object`