dac import

Import dashboards from external tools into DAC YAML.

dac import metabase

Convert a Metabase dashboard into a DAC dashboard file.

dac import metabase [flags]

The importer supports two input paths:

• A saved Metabase dashboard API response from GET /api/dashboard/:id
• A live Metabase fetch using --url, --dashboard-id, and an API key or session token

Native SQL questions are converted to DAC metric, chart, and table widgets. Supported Metabase query-builder/MBQL cards are compiled to SQL when they are built on a Metabase model or a physical database table with available table metadata. Unsupported MBQL cards are converted to explicit text placeholders by default. Use --strict to fail instead.

For live imports, DAC also fetches Metabase source cards referenced by source-card / card__ID and table metadata referenced by physical source-table IDs so simple query-builder questions can be converted.

Use --semantic to generate DAC semantic model files from explicit Metabase semantic artifacts. In this mode, DAC creates semantic dimensions from Metabase models and semantic metrics only from explicit Metabase metrics. Dashboard-card aggregations such as sum(revenue) are not promoted into DAC metrics automatically; those cards stay SQL-backed unless they reference a named Metabase metric. Use --semantic-strict to fail instead of falling back to SQL for model-backed cards that cannot be represented semantically.

Flags

Flag	Alias	Type	Default	Description
--input	-i	string		Path to a Metabase dashboard API response JSON/YAML file
--url		string		Metabase base URL for live import
--dashboard-id		string		Metabase dashboard ID for live import
--api-key		string	METABASE_API_KEY	Metabase API key
--session-token		string	METABASE_SESSION_TOKEN	Metabase session token
--connection	-c	string		DAC connection name to set on the generated dashboard
--output	-o	string	<dir>/<dashboard-slug>.yml	Output YAML path; use - for stdout
--dir	-d	string	.	Dashboard definitions directory used for the default output path
--force		boolean	false	Overwrite an existing output file
--strict		boolean	false	Fail on unsupported Metabase cards instead of creating placeholders
--semantic		boolean	false	Generate DAC semantic model files and convert eligible widgets to semantic references
--semantic-strict		boolean	false	Enable semantic import and fail when a model-backed card cannot be represented semantically
--semantic-dir		string	Sibling semantic/ directory	Directory for generated semantic model files

Examples

Import from a saved API response:

curl \
  -H "X-API-Key: $METABASE_API_KEY" \
  https://metabase.example.com/api/dashboard/42 \
  -o metabase-dashboard.json

dac import metabase \
  --input metabase-dashboard.json \
  --output dashboards/sales.yml \
  --connection warehouse

Import directly from Metabase:

dac import metabase \
  --url https://metabase.example.com \
  --dashboard-id 42 \
  --api-key "$METABASE_API_KEY" \
  --dir dashboards \
  --connection warehouse

Import Metabase models and named metrics into DAC's semantic layer:

dac import metabase \
  --url https://metabase.example.com \
  --dashboard-id 42 \
  --api-key "$METABASE_API_KEY" \
  --output dashboards/sales.yml \
  --connection warehouse \
  --semantic

Write the converted YAML to stdout:

dac import metabase \
  --input metabase-dashboard.json \
  --output -

Conversion Notes

• Metabase dashboard cards are mapped onto DAC's 12-column grid.
• Metabase card widths and positions are imported, but Metabase size_y card heights are not mapped to DAC row heights yet.
• Scalar cards become metric widgets.
• Line, bar, area, combo, pie, funnel, gauge, treemap, scatter, and waterfall cards map to DAC charts when native SQL is available.
• Pivot and map cards are mapped to tables.
• Metabase SQL template variables are rewritten as DAC filter references only when the dashboard has an explicit parameter mapping for that card. Unmapped template variables use their Metabase card defaults when available; optional [[...]] clauses without a mapped or default value are omitted.
• Metabase optional SQL markers [[...]] are removed and reported as warnings so the generated SQL can be reviewed.
• When Metabase omits result metadata, DAC infers simple widget fields and common metric/date types from SQL aliases.
• Dashboard parameters become DAC filters when present in the Metabase dashboard response, even if they are not connected to every card.
• Parameter mappings on model-backed cards are converted into SQL WHERE clauses for supported field targets only when the mapping is explicitly scoped to that Metabase card. Unscoped or stale mappings are ignored to match Metabase dashboard behavior.
• Simple Metabase model-backed questions are converted into SQL over the model's source SQL when they use supported raw-field breakouts, filters, order fields, limits, and aggregations such as sum, avg, min, max, count, and count-distinct.
• Simple Metabase physical-table questions are converted into SQL over the source table when table metadata is available and the card uses supported raw-field breakouts, aggregations, filters, order fields, and limits. Detail-row physical-table cards are imported as table widgets with a default LIMIT 2000 when Metabase does not provide an explicit limit.
• With --semantic, explicit Metabase models generate semantic/*.yml model files and their result metadata becomes DAC dimensions.
• With --semantic, explicit Metabase metrics generate DAC semantic metrics, including supported metric filters. Unnamed dashboard aggregations are deliberately not inferred as semantic metrics because they do not carry durable metric names.
• Model-backed cards that use explicit Metabase metric references can become semantic widgets with DAC dimensions, metrics, filters, and sort fields.
• Model-backed cards that cannot be represented semantically fall back to SQL by default and emit warnings. --semantic-strict turns those fallbacks into errors.