> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.cortex.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.cortex.io/ingesting-data-into-cortex/integrations/datadog.md).

# Datadog

{% hint style="info" %}
Cortex connects to many third-party vendors whose system interfaces frequently change. As a result, integration behavior or configuration steps may shift without notice. If you encounter unexpected issues, check with your system administrator or refer to the vendor's documentation for the most current information. Additionally, integration sync times vary and are subject to scheduling overrides and timing variance.
{% endhint %}

This article explains how to configure the integration for Datadog. For instructions on connecting Datadog to entities, see [Connecting entities to Datadog](/ingesting-data-into-cortex/integrations/datadog/connecting-entities-to-datadog.md). For information on how to use the integration, see [Using the integration for Datadog](/ingesting-data-into-cortex/integrations/datadog/using-the-integration-for-datadog.md).

## Why use the integration for Datadog

Datadog is an observability platform that tracks the health and performance of your services, infrastructure, and applications. The integration brings that operational data into Cortex, so the health of a service sits alongside its ownership, dependencies, and Scorecard results in one place.

The integration for Datadog brings the following into Cortex:

* **Monitors** - The status and query for each Datadog monitor linked to an entity.
* **SLOs** - Targets, current value, and status for each service level objective (SLO) linked to an entity.
* **Dependencies** - Service relationships discovered from Datadog's Service Map, which feed into the Relationships graph.
* **Incidents** - Every incident across your organization, with severity, status, and affected entities.
* **On-call schedules** - Who's on call now and who's on call next for an entity.

{% hint style="info" %}
Incidents and Datadog On-Call are in private beta. Reach out to your Customer Success Manager for more information.
{% endhint %}

You can also build Scorecard rules and Cortex Query Language (CQL) queries against incident and on-call data, and track incident frequency and mean time to resolution (MTTR) in Eng Intelligence.

## Configuring Datadog

### Prerequisites

1. Users with the `Configure Integrations` permission can configure Datadog.
2. A [Datadog application key](https://docs.datadoghq.com/account_management/api-app-keys/#application-keys) with the following scopes:
   * `monitors_read`
   * `apm_api_catalog_read`
   * `dashboards_read`
   * `metrics_read`
   * `timeseries_query`
   * `apm_service_catalog_read`
   * `slos_read`
   * `apm_read`
   * `teams_read`
   * `user_access_read`
   * `incident_read`
   * `on_call_read`
3. A [Datadog API key](https://docs.datadoghq.com/account_management/api-app-keys/#api-keys).

### **Installing Datadog in Cortex**

1. From the main sidebar, expand **Integrations**, then select **Configurations**.
2. Locate Datadog, then click **Install**. The Datadog side panel opens.
3. In the Datadog side panel, do the following:
   1. From the **Category** dropdown, select at least one category that applies to the integration (required).
   2. Under **Configuration alias**, enter the alias you'll use to tie entity registrations to different configuration accounts (required).
   3. From the **Region** dropdown, select the Datadog region where your account is hosted (required). See the [Datadog docs](https://docs.datadoghq.com/getting_started/site/) for more information.
   4. Optionally, under **Custom sub-domain**, enter your organization's custom subdomain, found in your Datadog URL, e.g. `https://subdomain.datadoghq.com`.
   5. Optionally, from the **Environments** dropdown, select environment tags for Datadog entities. If you set an environment tag here, make sure to set the `env` dropdown in Datadog to match. See the [Datadog docs](https://docs.datadoghq.com/service_catalog/navigating/#performance-view) for more information.
   6. Under **API key**, enter the API key you generated in Datadog.
   7. Under **App key**, enter the application key you generated in Datadog. This key appears under the **Key** column in Datadog while viewing your list of Application Keys.
4. Click **Test connection**. A successful connection means your integration is configured correctly.
5. Click **Save**.

{% hint style="info" %}
To modify an existing configuration, see [Modifying an integration configuration](https://docs.cortex.io/ingesting-data-into-cortex/integrations#modifying-an-integration-configuration).
{% endhint %}

### **Using multiple Datadog configurations**[**​**](https://docs.cortex.io/docs/reference/integrations/incidentio#configure-the-integration-for-multiple-propsintegration-accounts)

The Datadog integration supports multiple configurations. To add another:

1. From the main sidebar, expand **Integrations**, then select **Configurations**.
2. Locate Datadog, then click **Settings**.
3. In the upper-right corner of the page, click **Add configuration**.
4. Follow the steps in [Installing Datadog in Cortex](#installing-datadog-in-cortex) above.

Each configuration requires an alias, which ties entity registrations to a specific account. If no alias is specified, Cortex uses the default configuration. To set a default:

1. From the main sidebar, expand **Integrations**, then select **Configurations**.
2. Locate Datadog, then click **Settings**.
3. Click the **pencil icon** next to a configuration.
4. Toggle on **Set as default**. If you only have one configuration, it's automatically set as the default.