Linking Lightdash as a source
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This source is currently in alpha. The interface and available tables may change.
The Lightdash connector syncs your BI and analytics data – projects, spaces, dashboards, charts, metrics catalog entries, and organization users – into PostHog's data warehouse. This lets you join Lightdash metadata with the rest of your PostHog data in queries and insights.
Prerequisites
- A Lightdash account (Lightdash Cloud or self-hosted) with at least one project.
- A Lightdash personal access token. Generate one under Settings → Personal access tokens in Lightdash. The token inherits its owner's project access, so use a token from a user who has access to every project you want to sync.
Adding a data source
- In PostHog, go to the Sources tab of the data pipeline section.
- Click + New source and click Link next to this source.
- Enter your credentials (see Configuration below) and click Next.
- Select the tables you want to sync, choose a sync method and frequency, then click Import.
Once the syncs are complete, you can start querying this data in PostHog.
When linking Lightdash, you need:
- Instance URL – the URL of your Lightdash instance, e.g.
https://app.lightdash.cloudfor Lightdash Cloud or your self-hosted domain. Non-loopback hosts are forced to HTTPS so your token is never sent in cleartext. - Personal access token – the token you generated from Settings → Personal access tokens in Lightdash.
The connector validates your credentials by calling the Lightdash API with the token you provide. If your Lightdash instance is self-hosted, make sure it's reachable from the public internet.
Sync modes
All Lightdash tables sync as full refresh only. Lightdash's API doesn't expose server-side timestamp filters, so incremental sync isn't available. Each sync re-downloads every row for the enabled tables.
Configuration
| Option | Type | Required |
|---|---|---|
Instance URL | text | Yes |
Personal access token | password | Yes |
Supported tables
| Table | Description | Sync method | Incremental field | Primary key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
projects | A Lightdash project: one dbt project connected to a warehouse, containing spaces, dashboards, and charts. | Full refresh | — | — |
spaces | A Lightdash space: a folder within a project that groups dashboards and charts, with its own access controls. | Full refresh | — | — |
dashboards | A Lightdash dashboard: a saved collection of charts and other tiles arranged for viewing together. | Full refresh | — | — |
charts | A Lightdash saved chart: a query result visualization that can be added to one or more dashboards. | Full refresh | — | — |
metrics_catalog | An entry in a Lightdash project's data catalog: a metric or dimension field defined in the underlying dbt project, with its usage and ownership metadata. | Full refresh | — | — |
org_users | A member of the Lightdash organization, with their role and account status. | Full refresh | — | — |
Troubleshooting
- "Lightdash rejected your personal access token" – the token is wrong, expired, or was revoked. Generate a new token under Settings → Personal access tokens in Lightdash and reconnect.
- "Your Lightdash personal access token does not have permission to read this data" – the token's owner doesn't have access to one or more projects. Check the user's project access in Lightdash and reconnect with a token from a user who has the required permissions.
- "The Lightdash instance URL is not allowed" – the instance URL resolves to an internal or private address. Use your instance's public URL instead.
If your sync is failing or data looks wrong, see the Data warehouse troubleshooting guide. If that doesn't help, contact support – we're happy to help.