Using Dashboards

Once you have created a dashboard, you can use variables for dynamic filtering, configure time controls, share dashboards with your team, and manage them over time.

Variables

Variables let you create dynamic, reusable dashboards by replacing hardcoded values in queries with selectable dropdowns.

Variable Types

Creating a Variable

1. Open a dashboard and click Settings
2. Navigate to the Variables section
3. Click Add Variable
4. Enter a display name (shown in the dropdown) and a target name (used in queries)
5. Choose Static and enter your values, or choose Label and configure the data source
6. Enable Multiple selection if you want users to select more than one value
7. Click Save

Using Variables in Queries

Reference variables in your panel queries using the $ syntax:

rate(http_requests_total{service="$service", env="$environment"}[5m])

You can also use the bracket syntax ${variable_name} when the variable is adjacent to other text.

Built-in Variables

Last9 provides several built-in variables that are automatically available in all dashboard queries:

Time Controls

Time Range

Set the dashboard time range using the time picker in the top-right corner. You can specify:

• Relative time: A duration from now, such as “Last 1 hour” or “Last 24 hours”
• Absolute time: A specific start and end time in UTC

The selected time range applies to all panels on the dashboard.

Auto-Refresh

Enable auto-refresh to keep your dashboard data current. Available intervals:

Sharing Dashboards

Share dashboards with team members or external stakeholders via time-limited links.

1. Open the dashboard you want to share
2. Click the Share button
3. Enter the email addresses of the recipients
4. Set the share validity period (default: 6 hours, maximum: 72 hours)
5. Click Share to generate the link

Share Properties

Embedded Dashboards

Dashboards can be embedded into external applications using embed tokens. This is useful for building custom portals or integrating Last9 visualizations into internal tools.

Managing Dashboards

Editing a Dashboard

• Edit panels: Click the ⋮ menu on any panel and select Edit to modify its query, visualization type, or configuration
• Rearrange panels: Drag panels to reposition them on the grid
• Resize panels: Use the resize handles at panel edges to adjust dimensions

Duplicating and Deleting

• Duplicate: Create a copy of an existing dashboard to use as a starting point
• Delete: Remove a dashboard permanently from the dashboards list

Best Practices

Naming and organization:

• Use descriptive dashboard names that include the service or team (e.g., “API Gateway - Production”)
• Use Section panels to group related panels together
• Keep dashboards focused on a single service or workflow

Panel design:

• Place the most important metrics at the top of the dashboard
• Use Stat panels for key numbers and Timeseries panels for trends
• Apply consistent units across related panels
• Set meaningful thresholds on heatmaps and status history panels

Variables and filtering:

• Add environment and service variables to make dashboards reusable across teams
• Use dynamic (label-based) variables to automatically pick up new values from your data
• Enable multi-select on variables when users need to compare across dimensions

Performance:

• Avoid adding too many panels with overlapping queries to a single dashboard
• Use $__rate_interval and $__interval to let queries adapt to the selected time range
• For high-cardinality data, add filters to reduce the number of series returned

Troubleshooting

Please get in touch with us on Discord or Email if you have any questions.