app-sdk-concepts
Use when starting any grafana-app-sdk work — scaffolding a Grafana app, initializing a Grafana App Platform app, picking a deployment mode (standalone operator / grafana/apps / frontend-only), wiring app-specific config, or onboarding to the SDK. Covers `grafana-app-sdk` CLI install, `project init`
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SKILL.md
Grafana App SDK Concepts
The grafana-app-sdk is a CLI + Go library for building schema-centric apps on the Grafana App Platform. Apps define resources via CUE schemas ("kinds"), generate Go + TypeScript code, and implement business logic via admission control and reconcilers.
Prerequisites
go install github.com/grafana/grafana-app-sdk/cmd/grafana-app-sdk@latest
grafana-app-sdk version # verify
Common Workflows
Scaffold a standalone operator app
# 1. Init the project (use the Go module path)
grafana-app-sdk project init github.com/example/my-app
# 2. Add operator scaffolding — ASK THE USER FIRST.
# They may prefer to write app.App by hand.
grafana-app-sdk project component add operator
# 3. Verify scaffolded layout
ls pkg/app pkg/watchers cmd/operator
# Expected: app.go, watchers/<kind>.go, main.go
Common failure: forgetting go install updates the binary — verify with grafana-app-sdk version before init.
Scaffold a grafana/apps-style app (inside grafana/grafana)
Only available inside the Grafana repo (or fork) — the init command detects apps/ and pkg/registry/apps/ at the repo root.
mkdir -p apps/my-app && cd apps/my-app
grafana-app-sdk project init github.com/grafana/grafana/apps/my-app
# Keep ONLY: kinds/ pkg/ go.mod go.sum — delete everything else.
cp apps/example/Makefile apps/my-app/Makefile
cp apps/example/kinds/config.cue apps/my-app/kinds/config.cue # overwrite
go work use ./apps/my-app
Then register the app inside Grafana (pkg/registry/apps/apps.go + register.go). Full walkthrough in references/deployment-modes.md.
End-to-end development loop
1. project init → module, Makefile, kinds/
2. project kind add MyKind → CUE kind scaffold
3. Edit kinds/*.cue → schemas, validation, versions
4. grafana-app-sdk generate → Go types, clients, TS types, AppManifest, CRDs
5. Implement logic → fill in reconciler / admission stubs
6. (optional) project component add frontend
Always rerun generate after every CUE change — generated code is the API your reconciler sees.
Deployment modes (one-line table)
| Mode | When to pick | Where it runs |
|---|---|---|
| Standalone operator | Outside Grafana repo, want your own binary | Kubernetes operator with its own webhook server |
| grafana/apps | Inside github.com/grafana/grafana (or fork) | In-process inside Grafana's API server |
| Frontend-only | UI-only app, no Go logic needed | No backend — TS types only |
Full per-mode init, runtime, and wiring detail in references/deployment-modes.md.
References
references/deployment-modes.md— per-mode init, runtime semantics, grafana/apps registration walkthroughreferences/project-structure.md— standalone project layout, what's hand-edited vs generatedreferences/cli-reference.md— everygrafana-app-sdksubcommand with flagsreferences/specific-config.md—app.Config.SpecificConfigpattern for feature-flag-driven app configreferences/local-development.md— Tilt + k3d local dev loopreferences/local-config.md—local/config.yamlreference
Resources
Files
7- SKILL.md
90648bdf364.3 KB - references/cli-reference.md
b85748dc0c8.6 KB - references/deployment-modes.md
1ad16035815.4 KB - references/local-config.md
dee90bd68f4.2 KB - references/local-development.md
aef2ceeb976.5 KB - references/project-structure.md
ed318988021.6 KB - references/specific-config.md
46247f3a43975 B
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