Overview of Looker connector requirements, limits, and feature support

This page covers the following topics about the Looker connector in Looker Studio:

Looker instance requirements

To set up a Looker data source by using the Looker connector in Looker Studio, first verify that your Looker instance meets the following requirements:

Limits of the Looker connector

The Looker connector exhibits the following limitations, which may restrict the types of Looker instances and models that you can connect to:

  • The Looker connector cannot connect to customer-hosted Looker instances.
  • Exceptionally large Looker models (generally those that have more than 100 Explores) may cause long delays or timeouts during the data source creation process.
  • There is a 5-minute query timeout. Results from queries that are run on Looker data sources are limited to a maximum of 5,000 rows.
  • Data downloads are limited to 5,000 rows.
  • Limit the canvas size of reports that use table charts to no more than 500 px by 500 px.

Support of Looker Studio features

Looker data sources may not support or may only partially support the following Looker Studio features:

  • Number of fields: You can include up to 100 dimensions and up to 100 metrics in a table visualization.
  • Data downloads, schedules, alerts, and exports:
    • Downloads, schedules, alerts, and data exports aren't supported for reports that are built using Looker data from a Looker (Google Cloud core) instance that uses private connections or that is configured to use a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) IP address. To learn more about Looker (Google Cloud core) instance networking, see the Looker (Google Cloud core) networking options documentation.
    • Downloads, schedules, alerts, and data exports aren't supported for reports that are built using Looker data from a Looker (original) instance that is configured to use an IP allowlist.
  • Calculated fields: Data sources that are created with the Looker connector support some Looker Studio functions for calculated fields. These functions can be applied on dimensions only.

    Supported functions for calculated fields

    Name Type Description Syntax
    ABS Arithmetic Returns the absolute value of number. Learn more. ABS(X)
    ACOS Arithmetic Returns the inverse of the cosine of X. Learn more. ACOS(X)
    ASIN Arithmetic Returns the inverse of the sine of X. Learn more. ASIN(X)
    ATAN Arithmetic Returns the inverse of the tangent of X. Learn more. ATAN(X)
    AVG Aggregation Returns the average of all values of X. Learn more. AVG(X)
    CASE (Simple) Conditional Compares input_expression to expression_to_match of each successive WHEN clause and returns the first result where this comparison returns true. Learn more. 
        CASE input_expression
    WHEN expression_to_match THEN result
    [WHEN expression_to_match THEN result]
    [...]
    [ELSE result]
    END
    CASE Conditional Evaluates the condition of each successive WHEN clause and returns the first result where the condition is true; any remaining WHEN and ELSE clauses are not evaluated. If all conditions are false or NULL, returns else_result if present; if not present, returns NULL. Learn more. 
        CASE
    WHEN condition THEN result
    [WHEN condition THEN result]
    [...]
    [ELSE else_result]
    END
    CAST Miscellaneous Cast field or expression into TYPE. Aggregated fields are not allowed inside CAST.TYPE can be NUMBER, TEXT, or DATETIME. Learn more. CAST(field_expression AS TYPE)
    CEIL Arithmetic Returns the nearest integer greater than X. For example, if the value of X is v, CEIL(X) is greater than or equal to v. Learn more. CEIL(X)
    COALESCE Conditional Returns the first non-missing value found in a list of fields. Learn more. COALESCE(field_expression[,field_expression, ...])
    CONCAT Text Returns a text that is the concatenation of X and Y. Learn more. CONCAT(X, Y)
    CONTAINS_TEXT Text Returns true if X contains text, otherwise returns false. Case-sensitive. Learn more. CONTAINS_TEXT(X, text)
    COS Arithmetic Returns the cosine of X. Learn more. COS(X)
    COUNT_DISTINCT Aggregation Returns the number of unique values of X. Learn more. COUNT_DISTINCT(X)
    CURRENT_DATE Date Returns the current date as of the default timezone. Learn more. CURRENT_DATE()
    CURRENT_DATETIME Date Returns the current date and time as of the default timezone. Learn more. CURRENT_DATETIME()
    DATE Date Constructs a Date field or value from numbers or from a Date & Time field or expression. Learn more. DATE(year, month, day)
    DATE_DIFF Date Returns the difference in days between X and Y (X - Y). Learn more. DATE_DIFF(X, Y)
    DATE_FROM_UNIX_DATE Date Interprets an integer as the number of days since 1970-01-01. Learn more. DATE_FROM_UNIX_DATE(integer)
    DATETIME Date Constructs a Date & Time field or value from numbers. Learn more. DATETIME(year, month, day, hour, minute, second)
    DATETIME_ADD Date Adds a specified time interval to a date. Accepted part values include SECOND, MINUTE, HOUR, DAY, MONTH, YEAR. Learn more. DATETIME_ADD(datetime_expression, INTERVAL integer part)
    DATETIME_DIFF Date Returns the number of part boundaries between two dates. Accepted part values include SECOND, MINUTE, HOUR, DAY, MONTH, YEAR. Learn more. DATETIME_DIFF(date_expression, date_expression, part)
    DATETIME_SUB Date Subtracts a specified time interval from a date. Accepted part values include SECOND, MINUTE, HOUR, DAY, MONTH, YEAR. Learn more. DATETIME_SUB(datetime_expression, INTERVAL integer part)
    DATETIME_TRUNC Date Truncates a date to the specified granularity. Accepted part values include SECOND, MINUTE, HOUR, DAY, MONTH, YEAR. Learn more. DATETIME_TRUNC(date_expression, part)
    DAY Date Returns the day of a Date or Date & Time. Learn more. Day(date_expression)
    EXTRACT Date Returns part of a date or date & time. Accepted part values include DAY, MONTH, YEAR. Learn more. EXTRACT(part FROM date_expression)
    FLOOR Arithmetic Returns the nearest integer less than X. For example, if the value X is v, FLOOR(X) is equal to or less than v. Learn more. FLOOR(X)
    HOUR Date Returns the hour of a date and time. Learn more. HOUR(datetime_expression)
    IF Conditional If condition is true, returns true_result, else returns false_result. false_result is not evaluated if condition is true. true_result is not evaluated if condition is false or NULL. Learn more. IF(condition, true_result, false_result)
    IFNULL Conditional Returns a result if the input is null, otherwise, returns the input. Learn more. IFNULL(input_expression, null_result)
    LEFT_TEXT  Text Returns a number of characters from the beginning of X. The number of characters is specified by length. Learn more. LEFT_TEXT(X, length)
    LENGTH Text Returns the number of characters in X. Learn more. LENGTH(X)
    LOG Arithmetic Returns the logarithm to base 2 of X. Learn more. LOG(X)
    LOG10 Arithmetic Returns the logarithm to base 10 of X. Learn more. LOG10(X)
    LOWER Text Converts X to lowercase. Learn more. LOWER(X)
    MAX Aggregation Returns the maximum value of X. Learn more. MAX(X)
    MEDIAN Aggregation Returns the median of all values of X. Learn more. MEDIAN(X)
    MIN Aggregation Returns the minimum value of X. Learn more. MIN(X)
    MINUTE Date Returns the minutes component of a given date and time. Learn more. MINUTE(datetime_expression)
    MONTH Date Returns the month from a Date & Time value. Learn more. MONTH(date_expression)
    NULLIF Conditional Returns NULL if the input matches an expression, otherwise returns the input. Learn more. NULLIF(input_expression, expression_to_match)
    POWER Arithmetic Returns result of raising X to the power Y. Learn more. POWER(X, Y)
    REPLACE Text Returns a copy of X with all occurrences of Y in X replaced by Z. Learn more. REPLACE(X, Y, Z)
    RIGHT_TEXT  Text Returns a number of characters from the end of X. The number of characters is specified by length. Learn more. RIGHT_TEXT(X, length)
    ROUND Arithmetic Returns X rounded to Y precision digits. Learn more. ROUND(X, Y)
    SECOND Date Returns the seconds component of a given date and time. Learn more. SECOND(datetime_expression)
    SIN Arithmetic Returns the sine of X. Learn more. SIN(X)
    SQRT Arithmetic Returns the square root of X. Note that X must be non-negative. Learn more. SQRT(X)
    SUBSTR Text Returns a text that is a substring of X. The substring begins at start index and is length characters long. Learn more. SUBSTR(X, start index, length)
    SUM Aggregation Returns the sum of all values of X. Learn more. SUM(X)
    TAN Arithmetic Returns the tangent of X. Learn more. TAN(X)
    TODAY Date Returns the current date as of the default timezone. Learn more. TODAY()
    UNIX_DATE Date Returns the number of days since 1970-01-01. Learn more. UNIX_DATE(date_expression)
    UPPER Text Converts X to uppercase. Learn more. UPPER(X)
    YEAR Date Returns the year of a given date. Learn more. YEAR(Date)