Data Studio

Data Studio helps you build interactive dashboards and reports. Add it as a Destination to access and visualize your OWOX Data Marts data.

Watch the walkthrough below for the full setup. It covers creating the destination, sharing a Data Mart, and connecting Data Studio.

Prerequisites

Before you set up a Data Studio destination:

• An existing Published Data Mart.
• Access to Data Studio with a Google Account.
• A project role that can create Destinations. Project Admins and Technical Users can create Destinations; Business Users can create and manage Destinations they own. See Roles and Permissions.
• Access to use the published Data Mart and the selected Data Studio Destination. To edit the Data Studio report later, you also need report access through Data Mart maintenance access or report ownership. See Ownership and Sharing.

Step 1. Create a Destination entity

Self-hosted? Confirm your Deployment URL (public origin) is correct before copying the JSON Config — the URL is embedded in it. See Troubleshooting.

• In the OWOX Data Marts web app, open Destinations from the navigation pane. Click + New Destination.
• Select Data Studio from the Destination Type dropdown.
• Provide a Title — a unique name for this Destination (e.g., “Data Studio Access (Marketing Team)”).
• Click Save.
• Open the destination you just created. You’ll see the JSON Config ready to copy.
• Click the copy icon on the JSON Config field. You’ll paste it into Data Studio in Step 3.

⚠️ Note: The JSON Config contains a secret key — keep it private. If it’s exposed, use Rotate Secret Key on the destination, then update the Data Studio connector with the new JSON Config.

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Step 2. Make a Data Mart accessible for Data Studio

• Open the Data Mart you want to share with Data Studio. Go to its Destinations tab.
• Find the Data Studio Destination row. Click its toggle to make the Data Mart available in Data Studio.

• Click the row to adjust the Cache Lifetime. The default is 5 minutes. Available options are 5, 10, 15, or 30 minutes, and 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 hours.
  • Within this period, OWOX serves results from the storage cache. It does not re-run the query.

Use Report Columns to select which fields to include in the Data Studio report. Native fields appear for every Data Mart; joined fields also appear when the Data Mart uses Joinable Data Marts. Click Save changes after editing Cache Lifetime or Report Columns.

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Step 3. Add a Data Source in Data Studio

• Find the OWOX Data Marts connector in Data Studio’s Gallery.
• Authorize with your Google Account. Data Studio needs this to connect to your data.
• Provide a Configuration Display Name — a unique name to help you distinguish different connections (e.g., “Data Studio Access (Marketing)”).
• Paste the value from your clipboard into the JSON Config field and click Next.

• Select the Connection Configuration saved from the Configuration Display Name and JSON Config step, then click Next.
• Select a Data Mart and click Connect.

• Review the field list Looker Studio shows for this data source. If a field is missing, see the note below.
  • Set field names and descriptions in the Data Mart’s Output Schema in the OWOX Data Marts web app.

When the fields look correct, click Create report, then Add data to your report. Build the report by selecting the fields you want.

⚠️ Note: Missing fields in Data Studio? See How do I update fields after changing Output Schema or Report Columns?.

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Q&A

How does data stay updated in Data Studio?

Data Studio requests data through OWOX. If a valid cache entry exists, OWOX serves cached results; on a cache miss or after the configured Cache Lifetime expires, OWOX reads from the Data Mart’s underlying data source again. Data freshness depends on both the underlying data source and the configured Cache Lifetime. Clicking Refresh data asks Data Studio to request data again, but OWOX may still return cached results until the Cache Lifetime expires.

Open the Data Mart in the OWOX Data Marts web app to see when Data Studio last fetched this report. The Destination configuration shows the last fetch:

Or check the Run History:

To ask Data Studio to request data again, click Refresh data in the Data Studio report. OWOX may still return cached results until the Cache Lifetime expires.

How do I update fields after changing Output Schema or Report Columns?

After changing the Data Mart’s Output Schema or the Data Studio report’s Report Columns in OWOX, open the data source editor in Data Studio and click Refresh fields or Reconnect so Data Studio picks up the updated schema.

For joined fields, first confirm they are selected in the Data Studio report’s Report Columns configuration. Go back to Step 2. Make a Data Mart accessible for Data Studio to enable or disable fields.

How do I delete an OWOX connection in Data Studio?

In Data Studio, remove the data source that uses the OWOX Data Marts connector: open the report, go to Resource → Manage added data sources, find the OWOX data source, and click Remove. If you created a reusable data source, remove it from the Data Sources page in Data Studio, then delete it from Trash if you need to remove it permanently. See Google’s guide to delete a data source.

Removing a data source only removes that Data Studio asset. If your goal is to revoke access from the OWOX side, use Rotate Secret Key or delete the Data Studio Destination in OWOX. Existing Data Studio data sources that use the old JSON Config will stop working until they are updated with a valid JSON Config.

Can I use several OWOX connections?

Yes. Create a separate Connection Configuration for each OWOX Destination, project, or instance you want to use. To add another connection, open the OWOX Data Marts connector again, paste the JSON Config for that Destination, and give it a unique Configuration Display Name so you can recognize it later.

For several Data Marts exposed through the same OWOX Data Studio Destination, reuse the same Connection Configuration and choose a different Data Mart when creating another Data Studio data source.

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Troubleshooting

Symptom	First action
Connection fails right after pasting the JSON Config	Re-copy the JSON Config from the destination in Step 1 and paste it again — the value may be incomplete or outdated.
Authorization error or the connector can’t reach your instance	Re-authorize with your Google Account and confirm the Deployment URL matches your OWOX instance.
Self-hosted connector requests fail or time out	Confirm the Deployment URL uses the public HTTPS origin from PUBLIC_ORIGIN or LOOKER_STUDIO_DESTINATION_ORIGIN. If you run OWOX yourself, update these environment variables; if someone else manages the deployment, ask them to update them. Also confirm that your proxy/auth layer lets /api/external/looker/* requests reach OWOX Data Marts without an interactive login.
Data Mart dropdown is empty in Data Studio	Confirm the Data Mart is Published, the Available in Data Studio toggle is on, you pasted the correct JSON Config, and the destination’s secret key was not rotated after you pasted it.
Toggle stays on “Waiting for Data Studio to fetch data”	Open a report on this data source (or click Refresh data) to trigger a fetch, then re-check the status.
A run shows a non-Success status	Open the Run History tab on the Data Mart and inspect the failed run’s details. Check for warehouse/query errors, storage credential issues, row or size limits, and project credit or access restrictions.
Data Studio is slow, times out, or returns a row/size limit error	Each request must stay within the Data Studio connector getData() limit of 1,000,000 rows and the Apps Script URL Fetch response size limit of 50 MB per call. In OWOX, use the Data Studio report’s Report Columns and output controls to select fewer columns, add filters, set a limit, or aggregate the data before using the data source.
Expected fields are missing in Data Studio	See How do I update fields after changing Output Schema or Report Columns?.

Need more help? Ask the OWOX Community.