Metabase

Query and export Metabase question results as CSV, XLSX, or JSON

Overview

The Metabase tool interacts with the Metabase REST API to manage questions (cards), alerts, databases, and metrics. It supports exporting question results as CSV, XLSX (binary download), or JSON. Authentication uses session tokens obtained via POST /api/session with username and password credentials. Binary output is produced when exporting question results in CSV or XLSX format.

Category: Analytics
Tool Name: metabase
Version: 1

Appearance: Icon: lucide-BarChart | Color: #509EE3

Node Type

Action (Binary) — handles file/binary data operations

Input / Output

Direction	Port(s)
Input	Input
Output	Output, Error

Credentials

This tool requires Metabase API credentials. See the Credentials Guide for setup instructions.

Resources

Resource	Value
Alert	alerts
Database	databases
Metric	metrics
Question	questions

Operations

Each resource has its own Operation list, and several resources reuse the same operation values (get, getAll). Pick the resource first, then the operation.

Resource	Operation	Value	Description
Question	Get	get	Get a specific question
Question	Get Many	getAll	Get many questions
Question	Result Data	resultData	Export question results as CSV, XLSX, or JSON
Alert	Get	get	Get a specific alert
Alert	Get Many	getAll	Get many alerts
Database	Add	add	Add a new database datasource
Database	Get Many	getAll	Get many databases
Database	Get Fields	getFields	Get fields from a database
Metric	Get	get	Get a specific metric
Metric	Get Many	getAll	Get many metrics

Parameters

Metabase IDs are the numbers in the object’s URL — a question at /question/42 has Question ID 42. The identifier and database-connection fields accept expressions, so you can feed them from an upstream item.

Question: Get

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Question ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the question (card) in Metabase. Accepts expressions such as {{ $json.questionId }}.

Question: Get Many

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Return All	boolean	No	false	Whether to return all results. Metabase getAll endpoints return all results in a single request, so this controls whether to apply a limit.
Limit	number	No	50	Maximum number of results to return. (shown when Return All is false)

Question: Result Data

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Question ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the question (card) in Metabase. Accepts expressions such as {{ $json.questionId }}.
Format	options	Yes	csv	The export format for question results. CSV and XLSX produce binary output; JSON produces parsed row items.
				Options: csv, json, xlsx
Binary Property	string	No	data	Name of the binary property to store the exported file under. Names are case-sensitive — see the upstream node’s Binary Data panel for the exact names to use. (shown when Format is csv, xlsx)

Alert: Get

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Alert ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the alert. Accepts expressions such as {{ $json.alertId }}.

Alert: Get Many

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Return All	boolean	No	false	Whether to return all results. Metabase getAll endpoints return all results in a single request, so this controls whether to apply a limit.
Limit	number	No	50	Maximum number of results to return. (shown when Return All is false)

Database: Add

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Engine	options	Yes	postgres	The database engine type.
				Options: h2, mongo, mysql, postgres, redshift, sqlite
Name	string	Yes	—	Display name for the database in Metabase. Accepts expressions.
Host	string	Yes	—	Database host address. (shown when Engine is postgres, redshift, mysql, mongo)
Port	number	Yes	5432	Database port number. (shown when Engine is postgres, redshift, mysql, mongo)
User	string	Yes	—	Database username. (shown when Engine is postgres, redshift, mysql, mongo)
Password	string	Yes	—	Database password. (shown when Engine is postgres, redshift, mysql, mongo)
Database Name	string	No	—	Name of the database to connect to. (shown when Engine is postgres, redshift, mysql, mongo)
File Path	string	Yes	—	File path to the H2 or SQLite database file. (shown when Engine is h2, sqlite)
Full Sync	boolean	Yes	true	Whether to enable full sync for the database.

Database: Get Many

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Simplify	boolean	No	true	Whether to return a simplified version of the response instead of the raw data.
Return All	boolean	No	false	Whether to return all results. Metabase getAll endpoints return all results in a single request, so this controls whether to apply a limit.
Limit	number	No	50	Maximum number of results to return. (shown when Return All is false)

Database: Get Fields

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Database ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the database. Accepts expressions such as {{ $json.databaseId }}.

Metric: Get

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Metric ID	string	Yes	—	The ID of the metric. Accepts expressions such as {{ $json.metricId }}.

Metric: Get Many

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Return All	boolean	No	false	Whether to return all results. Metabase getAll endpoints return all results in a single request, so this controls whether to apply a limit.
Limit	number	No	50	Maximum number of results to return. (shown when Return All is false)

All Operations

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Max Concurrency	number	No	10	Maximum number of items to process concurrently.

Output Data

What lands on the output item depends on the operation — some operations merge the Metabase response onto the input item’s JSON, while the list operations replace it with one record per output item. Binary data on the input item is always forwarded.

Operations	Output
Question Get, Alert Get, Metric Get, Database Add	The Metabase object is merged onto the input item JSON at the top level, so the item keeps its upstream fields and gains the returned ones ({{ $json.id }}, {{ $json.name }}). A response field with the same name as an existing item field overwrites it. One output item per input item.
Question Get Many, Alert Get Many, Database Get Many, Metric Get Many, Database Get Fields	One output item per record, and each item’s JSON is replaced by that record — upstream fields are not carried over. A response with no records produces a single output item carrying the input JSON unchanged.
Question Result Data, Format json	One output item per result row, each item’s JSON replaced by the row. A question that returns no rows produces one item carrying the input JSON plus _empty: true.
Question Result Data, Format csv / xlsx	One output item whose JSON is replaced by the download summary below, with the file attached as binary under the Binary Property name. Any binary already on the input item is kept alongside it.

A CSV or XLSX export produces this JSON:

{
  "questionId": "42",
  "format": "xlsx",
  "fileName": "question_42.xlsx",
  "fileSize": 20481
}

• fileName is always question_{Question ID}.{csv|xlsx}, and fileSize is the byte length of the downloaded file.
• The attached file carries the matching MIME type — text/csv for CSV, the Excel spreadsheet type for XLSX — so a downstream upload or email node can send it as-is.

With Simplify on, Database: Get Many flattens each database’s connection details into top-level fields instead of leaving them nested. Turn it off to get the raw Metabase object.

Database: Get Fields does not show the Return All and Limit fields, so it uses their defaults and returns at most 50 fields per database.

Usage Examples

• Export Metabase question results as XLSX file
• Get all questions from Metabase
• Download question data as CSV
• Add a PostgreSQL database to Metabase
• Get all alerts from Metabase

Example Configuration

Fetch a single question’s definition:

{
  "type": "metabase",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "questions",
    "operation": "get",
    "questionId": "123"
  }
}

Run a question and get its rows as workflow items:

{
  "type": "metabase",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "questions",
    "operation": "resultData",
    "questionId": "{{ $json.questionId }}",
    "format": "json"
  }
}

Download a question’s results as an Excel file for a downstream email or upload node:

{
  "type": "metabase",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "questions",
    "operation": "resultData",
    "questionId": "123",
    "format": "xlsx",
    "binaryPropertyName": "excelReport"
  }
}

List the first 50 questions on the instance:

{
  "type": "metabase",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "questions",
    "operation": "getAll",
    "returnAll": false,
    "limit": 50
  }
}

Fetch every alert without a cap:

{
  "type": "metabase",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "alerts",
    "operation": "getAll",
    "returnAll": true
  }
}

Look up one alert by ID:

{
  "type": "metabase",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "alerts",
    "operation": "get",
    "alertId": "456"
  }
}

Register a PostgreSQL datasource and let Metabase sync its schema:

{
  "type": "metabase",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "databases",
    "operation": "add",
    "engine": "postgres",
    "name": "Production DB",
    "host": "db.example.com",
    "port": 5432,
    "dbUser": "metabase_user",
    "dbPassword": "secure_password",
    "dbName": "analytics",
    "fullSync": true
  }
}

Register a file-backed SQLite datasource instead:

{
  "type": "metabase",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "databases",
    "operation": "add",
    "engine": "sqlite",
    "name": "Local Analytics",
    "filePath": "file:/data/analytics.db",
    "fullSync": false
  }
}

List databases with their connection details flattened:

{
  "type": "metabase",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "databases",
    "operation": "getAll",
    "simple": true,
    "returnAll": true
  }
}

Explore a database’s schema, one item per field:

{
  "type": "metabase",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "databases",
    "operation": "getFields",
    "databaseId": "789"
  }
}

Fetch a single metric definition:

{
  "type": "metabase",
  "parameters": {
    "resource": "metrics",
    "operation": "get",
    "metricId": "101"
  }
}

Error Handling

Mode	Behavior
stop	Halts workflow on first error
continue	Skips failed items, passes successful ones through
errorPort	Routes failed items to Error output port

Tips

Query Metabase questions, export results as CSV/XLSX/JSON, and manage alerts, databases, and metrics.