Dashboards¶

Build interactive dashboards and visualizations with Metabase.

Overview¶

Dango includes Metabase, a business intelligence tool that runs automatically when you start your data platform. Query your DuckDB warehouse, build dashboards, and share insights—all through a web interface.

What Dango automates:

• Metabase installation and setup
• DuckDB connection configuration
• Admin user creation
• Schema synchronization

What Metabase provides:

• Visual query builder (no SQL required)
• SQL editor for advanced analytics
• Interactive dashboards with filters
• Sharing and collaboration features

Quick Start¶

Access Metabase¶

Start the Dango platform:

dango start

Open Metabase: http://localhost:3000

Auto-created credentials:

• Email: admin@dango.local
• Password: dangolocal123

Your First Dashboard¶

Create a dashboard in 5 minutes:

1. Create a Question:

1. Click "+ New" → "Question"
2. Select "DuckDB" database
3. Choose table: marts.customer_metrics
4. Summarize: Sum of lifetime_value
5. Group by: created → by Month
6. Visualization: Line chart
7. Click "Save" → Name: "Monthly Revenue"

2. Create Dashboard:

1. Click "+ New" → "Dashboard"
2. Name: "Revenue Dashboard"
3. Click "Add a saved question"
4. Select "Monthly Revenue"
5. Click "Save"

Done! Your first dashboard is ready.

Dashboard Guides¶

Available Data Schemas¶

Metabase has access to all Dango data layers:

Best practice: Always prefer marts for dashboards—pre-aggregated, tested, and optimized.

Data Refresh¶

Metabase queries live data from DuckDB:

# 1. Sync new source data
dango sync

# 2. Run dbt transformations
dango run

# 3. Reload dashboard (data updates automatically)

No additional steps needed—Metabase shows updated data immediately.

Schema Changes¶

When you add new dbt models:

1. Run dango run to create the table
2. Sync Metabase schema: Admin → Databases → DuckDB → "Sync database schema now"

Or wait for the daily automatic sync (2 AM default).

Common Workflows¶

Explore Source Data¶

After syncing a data source:

dango sync --source stripe_payments

View raw data in Metabase:

Browse data → DuckDB → raw_stripe → charges

Query Staging Tables¶

Use auto-generated staging models:

SELECT * FROM staging.stg_stripe_charges
WHERE status = 'succeeded'
  AND created >= CURRENT_DATE - INTERVAL 7 DAY
ORDER BY created DESC

Build Business Dashboards¶

Query marts created in dbt:

SELECT month, customer_count, revenue_usd
FROM marts.monthly_metrics
ORDER BY month DESC
LIMIT 12

Best Practices¶

1. Query Marts, Not Raw¶

-- Good: Pre-aggregated mart
SELECT * FROM marts.revenue_by_month

-- Avoid: Aggregating raw data in Metabase
SELECT DATE_TRUNC('month', created), SUM(amount)
FROM raw_stripe.charges
GROUP BY 1

2. Use Meaningful Names¶

• Questions: "Monthly Revenue Trend" (not "Query 1")
• Dashboards: "Executive Overview" (not "Dashboard")

3. Keep Dashboards Focused¶

• One dashboard = One purpose
• 6-12 cards maximum
• Use filters instead of multiple similar dashboards

4. Add Date Filters¶

Make dashboards interactive with date range filters. Set sensible defaults (last 30 days).

Troubleshooting¶

Cannot Access Metabase¶

# Check if running
docker ps | grep metabase

# Restart
dango stop && dango start

Table Not Found¶

1. Add schema prefix: marts.revenue_by_month
2. Verify table exists:

   duckdb data/warehouse.duckdb "SHOW TABLES FROM marts;"
   

3. Sync Metabase schema (Admin → Databases → Sync)

Slow Dashboards¶

1. Query marts instead of raw tables
2. Add date filters to limit data
3. Create more specific dbt models

Metabase vs dbt Docs¶

Use both: dbt Docs for understanding transformations, Metabase for dashboards.

Next Steps¶