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Looker

Integrate Looker with the Catalog to sync dashboards, looks, and metadata.

After your Looker content syncs to Catalog, use the Catalog browser extension in Looker while viewing dashboards for descriptions, ownership, and related Catalog features.

Requirements​

Warehouse Required

A Warehouse type integration must already be configured to complete the first ingestion of this integration.

To get things started with Looker in the Catalog, you will need:

  • Credentials of a Looker admin
  • An admin Looker API key. Follow the steps below "Create a Looker API Key"
  • Read-only access to your Looker Git repository. Follow the steps below "Provide access to your LookML"

Related pages:

Catalog Managed​

Enter your credentials directly in the Catalog App integration settings. You need:

  • base-url: for example, http://looker.catalog.com
  • client-id: API Key Client ID
  • client-secret: API Key Client Secret

Give Catalog read-only access to your Looker Git repository. See how to provide access to your LookML code.

For your first sync, it can take up to 48 hours before ingestion completes. Catalog notifies you when it finishes.

If you prefer not to share credentials with Catalog, continue to Client Managed.

Client Managed​

Doing a One Shot Extract​

For your trial, you can simply give us a one shot view of your BI tool.

To get things working quickly, here's a Google Colab to run our package.

Running the Extraction Package​

Install the PyPI Package​

pip install castor-extractor[looker]

For further details on the extractor PyPI package, see the castor-extractor PyPI page.

Run the PyPI Package​

Once the package has been installed, you should be able to run the following command in your terminal:

castor-extract-looker [arguments]

The script will run and display logs as following:

INFO - Extracting users from Looker API
INFO - POST(https://cloud.looker.com/api/4.0/login)
INFO - GET(https://cloud.looker.com/api/4.0/users/search)
INFO - Fetched page 1 / 7 results
INFO - GET(https://catalog.cloud.looker.com/api/4.0/users/search)
INFO - Fetched page 2 / 0 results


...

INFO - Wrote output file: /tmp/catalog/1649079699-projects.json
INFO - Wrote output file: /tmp/catalog/1649079699-summary.json

Credentials​

  • -c, --client-id: API Key Client ID (mandatory)
  • -s, --client-secret: API Key Client Secret (mandatory)

Other Arguments​

  • -b, --base-url: Looker base URL (mandatory)
  • -o, --output: Target folder to store the extracted files (mandatory)
  • -t, --timeout: Timeout (in s) parameter for Looker API
  • --log-to-stdout: Will write all log outputs to stdout instead of stderr

Specific Export Methods for Looks and Dashboards​

  • --search-per-folder: Will export looks and dashboards per folder using multiple threads (see below argument)
  • --thread-pool-size: Number of parallel threads, defaults to 20

Run any extractor command with --help to print the full argument list.

Scheduling and Push to Catalog​

When moving out of trial, you'll want to refresh your Looker content in the Catalog. Here is how to do it:

The Catalog team will provide you with:

  1. Catalog Identifier (an id for us to match your Looker files with your Catalog instance)
  2. Catalog Token An API Token

You can then use the castor-upload command:

castor-upload [arguments]

Arguments​

  • -k, --token: Token provided by Catalog
  • -s, --source_id: account id provided by Catalog
  • -t, --file_type: source type to upload. Currently supported are 0

Target Files​

To specify the target files, provide one of the following:

  • -f, --file_path: to push a single file

or

  • -d, --directory_path: to push several files at once (*)
Directory Contents

(*) The tool will upload all files included in the given directory.

Make sure it contains only the extracted files before pushing.

Then you'll have to schedule the script run and the push to the Catalog. Use your preferred scheduler to create this job.

Troubleshooting​

These scenarios apply to core Looker onboarding and first ingestion.

Lineage Drops After Database or Connection Changes​

When Explores resolve to a warehouse database your Warehouse integration does not ingest, lineage that depended on matching those tables can disappear after a successful Looker sync. That often follows a switch between development and production databases in LookML or a connection change. For symptoms, prevention, recovery steps, and verification, see Lineage troubleshooting for Looker database and connection mismatches.

First Ingestion Runs Longer Than a Few Hours​

Warehouse integrations must finish before visualization ingestion can complete. Large LookML repositories extend parsing time.

Resolution:

  1. Confirm the Warehouse integration listed under Requirements is healthy in Settings > Integrations.
  2. Verify read-only Git access to LookML still works from Catalog's perspective (SSH keys, tokens, branch protections).
  3. If ingestion stays unfinished beyond forty-eight hours while both prerequisites are green, contact Coalesce Support.

Looker Studio Versus LookML-Backed Looker Instances​

Looker Studio connections follow Google's OAuth and connector scopes. Classic Looker uses API keys and Git-backed LookML. Mixing setup steps between products causes auth errors.

Resolution:

  1. Follow the integration path that matches your product (Looker with LookML vs Looker Studio OAuth apps).
  2. After changing Google Cloud scopes for Looker Studio, wait for the provider cache to refresh before re-testing ingestion.

Cannot Validate API Credentials​

Wrong base URL format or revoked secrets surface as login failures in extractor logs.

Resolution:

  1. Confirm base-url matches Looker's documented pattern (https://company.looker.com) without typos.
  2. Rotate API keys in Looker admin, update Catalog credentials immediately, and revoke old secrets.

Missing Dashboards or Explores After a Partial Git Migration​

Catalog indexes what appears in the Looker API plus accessible LookML.

Resolution:

  1. Confirm the Git branch Catalog reads matches production LookML.
  2. Run a fresh extraction after merges that rename explores or move files between folders.

Browser Extension Panels Empty Inside Looker​

The Chrome extension depends on Catalog indexing your Looker assets first.

Resolution:

  1. Finish at least one successful Looker ingestion before expecting extension tiles.
  2. See Catalog browser extension in Looker for install steps.