Metabase is an open-source business intelligence platform that enables users to explore data, create visualizations, and build interactive dashboards without necessarily writing SQL. It connects to popular databases and provides both a graphical query builder for non-technical users and a native SQL editor for advanced analysts. Metabase's strength lies in its accessibility—teams can democratize data access while maintaining granular security through permissions, data sandboxing, and role-based access control. A key insight: models are Metabase's way of curating reusable datasets, turning questions into queryable building blocks that standardize metrics and reduce redundant work across the organization.
What This Cheat Sheet Covers
This topic spans 21 focused tables and 149 indexed concepts. Below is a complete table-by-table outline of this topic, spanning foundational concepts through advanced details.
Table 1: Core Concepts
| Concept | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
Query builder or SQL query | • A query, its results, and its visualization • the basic analytical unit in Metabase. | |
Click "New" → "Question" → Select table | Graphical interface for non-SQL users to build queries using dropdowns and buttons. | |
Click "New" → "SQL Query" | Text editor for writing queries in the database's native language (usually SQL). | |
Turn question into model | • Curated datasets built from questions • annotations and custom columns make them queryable building blocks. |