Docs: https://grafana.com/docs/grafana-cloud/monitor-applications/database-observability/
Query-level insights (RED metrics, query samples, explain plans) for MySQL and PostgreSQL without application code changes. GA since April 2026.
Common Workflows
PostgreSQL setup
-- 1. Enable pg_stat_statements (requires restart)
-- In postgresql.conf: shared_preload_libraries = 'pg_stat_statements'
-- Then restart PostgreSQL.
-- 2. Create a least-privilege monitoring user
CREATE USER grafana_monitoring WITH PASSWORD 'secret';
GRANT pg_monitor TO grafana_monitoring;
GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE mydb TO grafana_monitoring;
-- 3. Enable the extension on each monitored DB CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pg_stat_statements;
-- 4. Verify SELECT count(*) FROM pg_stat_statements; -- Should return >= 0 (not an error). If "relation does not exist": step 3 didn't run.
5. Add the [Alloy config block from references/alloy-config.md § PostgreSQL](references/alloy-config.md#postgresql)
6. Restart Alloy and wait ~60s for first scrape
7. **Verify in Grafana Cloud** → Database Observability — the instance should appear with non-empty `db_query_total{db_instance="mydb"}` series. If empty after 2 minutes: check Alloy logs for connection errors, then re-verify pg_stat_statements permissions.
### MySQL setup
```sql
-- 1. Create least-privilege monitoring user
CREATE USER 'grafana_monitoring'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'secret';
GRANT SELECT, PROCESS, REPLICATION CLIENT ON *.* TO 'grafana_monitoring'@'%';
GRANT SELECT ON performance_schema.* TO 'grafana_monitoring'@'%';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
-- 2. Verify performance_schema is enabled (default in MySQL 8+)
SELECT @@performance_schema;
-- Returns 1 → enabled. 0 → set performance_schema=ON in my.cnf + restart.
- Add the Alloy config block from references/alloy-config.md § MySQL
- Restart Alloy, wait ~60s, verify the instance appears in Grafana Cloud → Database Observability
Supported databases
| Database | Variants |
|---|---|
| MySQL | Self-managed, RDS MySQL, Aurora MySQL, Cloud SQL MySQL, Azure Database for MySQL |
| PostgreSQL | Self-managed, RDS PostgreSQL, Aurora PostgreSQL, Cloud SQL PostgreSQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL |
For managed databases (RDS / Cloud SQL / Azure), pg_stat_statements is preinstalled but disabled — enable it via the parameter group / flag, then re-create the extension at the DB level.
What you get
- Query Performance dashboard (auto-provisioned): top queries by total time / call count / mean latency, sampled query texts with parameters, visual explain plans, RED metrics per query digest
- APM correlation: drill from a slow service-latency span to the specific slow SQL via
db.statement/db.system/db.nameOTel attributes — see references/queries-alerts.md § Trace correlation - Alerting on query latency, error rate, and connection-pool saturation — full alert YAML in references/queries-alerts.md § Alert rules
References
references/alloy-config.md— full Alloydatabase_observability.postgres/database_observability.mysqlconfig blocks + collector reference (pg_stat_statements,query_samples,schema_details,explain_plans)references/queries-alerts.md— key PromQL queries, alert rule YAML, and trace-correlation setup