When a request fails, the explanation is often in a log from one of several applications or machines. Grafana Loki stores those logs in a central place so operators can search the relevant records and connect them with the service that produced them. It is the storage and query backend; separate collectors still need to send it the logs. Teams should choose it around their query needs, retention period and ability to operate the storage.
Chart ownership changed
Grafana's documentation says the Loki Helm chart moved to Grafana Champions and the Grafana Community on 16 March 2026. The community loki chart is distributed from https://grafana-community.github.io/helm-charts. Grafana Enterprise Logs charts have a separate ownership path; keep their documentation and values distinct.
Before adoption
Select the deployment mode for the workload. Current documentation marks Simple Scalable mode for deprecation, so evaluate the documented monolithic or microservices path. Plan durable object storage, retention, access control and deletion requirements. Avoid high-cardinality labels and prevent credentials or personal data from entering logs. Review migration instructions and chart-major-version changes before switching repositories or deployment modes.
Use the current chart guide and its linked upgrade instructions.
Sources & further reading
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