How to build Polar revenue dashboards in Metabase

# Polar (remote, access token) — production
claude mcp add --transport http polar https://mcp.polar.sh/mcp/polar-mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_POLAR_ACCESS_TOKEN>"

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "polar": {
      "url": "https://mcp.polar.sh/mcp/polar-mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR_POLAR_ACCESS_TOKEN>"
      }
    }
  }
}

# Install the Metabase CLI
npm install -g @metabase/cli

# Log in (opens your browser; requires Metabase v62+)
mb auth login --url https://your-metabase.example.com

# Load a Polar CSV export — creates a table AND a model
mb upload csv --file polar-subscriptions.csv --collection root

# Refresh that same table later from a new export
mb upload replace <table-id> --file polar-subscriptions.csv

Create a polished Metabase dashboard for Polar revenue analytics.
Work end to end: get the data into Metabase if it isn't there yet, then build.

Goal: Help founders and finance leaders understand recurring revenue, net
revenue after fees/tax, subscriptions, churn, and product mix from Polar data.

Step 1 — Find or load the data:
- First, check what already exists in Metabase (search for Polar tables and
  models). If durable Polar data is already present — synced from a warehouse or
  uploaded earlier — use it and skip to Step 2.
- If nothing is there, pull it with the Polar MCP server using a read-only
  access token: customers, subscriptions, products, prices, orders, and refunds.
  Write each result to a CSV, then load it with the Metabase CLI — run
  "mb upload csv --file <export>.csv" so each upload creates a table and a
  ready-to-query model. Use "mb upload replace <table-id> --file <export>.csv" to
  refresh an existing table instead of creating duplicates.

Step 2 — Inspect before querying:
Do not assume exact table names. Map the available raw tables into these
analytical concepts where possible: Customers, Subscriptions, Products, Prices,
Orders, Benefits, Discounts, and Refunds. Inspect the actual tables and column
names first.

Important:
- Build on whatever data is present; don't claim Metabase connects natively to
  Polar — it reads a database or CLI-uploaded tables.
- Polar is a merchant of record: separate gross revenue from net (after Polar
  fees and tax). Report net for what the business keeps.
- Compute MRR from active subscriptions, normalizing every price to a monthly
  amount and converting to a single reporting currency.
- Separate subscription revenue from one-time product sales.
- Exclude refunds from net revenue and show their impact separately.
- Only build a card if its underlying column/metric exists in the data.
- A single CSV is a point-in-time snapshot: MRR movement and cohorts need
  history, so build trend cards only if a warehouse sync or multiple uploads
  provide it.

Dashboard title: Polar Revenue Overview

Sections:
1. Executive summary (KPI cards): MRR; ARR; Net revenue this month; Active
   subscriptions; Net new MRR; Revenue churn %.
2. MRR & net revenue: MRR movement by month; Gross vs. net revenue.
3. Subscriptions & churn: Active subscriptions by product; Customer vs. revenue
   churn; New vs. canceled.
4. Orders & products: Orders and revenue by product; Subscription vs. one-time
   split; Checkout conversion.
5. Cohorts & LTV: Revenue retention by cohort; Cumulative LTV; ARPU by product.

Filters: Product, Price, Currency, Country, Date range.

Reuse the models Metabase auto-created from uploaded CSVs, or (for a warehouse)
create reusable models: modeled_polar_subscriptions, modeled_polar_orders, and
modeled_polar_mrr (a monthly per-subscription MRR model).

Output: Build the dashboard if you have permission; otherwise provide the exact
questions, SQL, model definitions, and layout. Include caveats for any metric
that cannot be calculated from the available data. Reconcile totals against the
Polar dashboard. Keep it practical, dense, and executive-readable. Avoid vanity
metrics.

Sum a monthly per-subscription MRR model.

-- Requires a monthly MRR model built from Polar subscriptions + prices
SELECT
  ROUND(SUM(mrr), 2)       AS mrr,
  ROUND(SUM(mrr) * 12, 2)  AS arr,
  COUNT(*)                 AS active_subscriptions
FROM modeled_polar_mrr
WHERE month = date_trunc('month', CURRENT_DATE);

Net revenue is what lands after Polar fees and tax.

-- Gross vs. net revenue (net = after Polar fees and tax)
SELECT
  date_trunc('month', created_at)                     AS month,
  ROUND(SUM(amount) / 100.0, 2)                       AS gross_revenue,
  ROUND(SUM(amount - tax_amount - fee_amount) / 100.0, 2) AS net_revenue
FROM orders
WHERE status = 'paid'
GROUP BY 1
ORDER BY 1;

Where revenue comes from across your catalog.

SELECT
  p.name                                      AS product,
  COUNT(*)                                    AS orders,
  ROUND(SUM(o.amount) / 100.0, 2)             AS gross_revenue,
  COUNT(*) FILTER (WHERE o.is_subscription)   AS recurring_orders
FROM orders o
JOIN products p ON p.id = o.product_id
WHERE o.status = 'paid'
GROUP BY p.name
ORDER BY gross_revenue DESC;