# Using Dashboards

> Use variables, time controls, and sharing to get the most out of your Last9 dashboards

Source: https://last9.io/docs/using-dashboards/

![Last9 Dashboard Demo](../../../../assets/content/docs/dashboards/dashboard-demo.png)

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

| Type            | Description                                | Example                                             |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------- |
| Static          | A fixed list of values you define manually | Environment: `production`, `staging`, `development` |
| Label (Dynamic) | Values auto-populated from a data source   | Service names fetched from your metrics             |

### 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 at once
7. Click **Save**

:::tip
In a multi-select variable dropdown, clicking a value while holding nothing selects **only** that value and clears all others. This lets you quickly focus on a single item without manually deselecting each option.
:::

### Using Variables in Queries

Reference variables in your panel queries using the `$` syntax:

```promql
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:

| Variable           | Description                                                                    |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `$__interval`      | Recommended step interval based on the time range and panel width (e.g., `1m`) |
| `$__interval_ms`   | Same as `$__interval` in milliseconds                                          |
| `$__rate_interval` | Recommended interval for `rate()` functions (e.g., `4m`)                       |
| `$__range`         | The full duration of the selected time range (e.g., `5m`)                      |

:::tip
Use `$__rate_interval` instead of hardcoded intervals in `rate()` functions. This ensures your queries adapt automatically as users change the dashboard time range.
:::

## 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.

:::tip
You can type shorthands like `1h` or `7d` directly into the time picker. See [Time Range Picker](/docs/time-range-picker/) for all supported formats and keyboard shortcuts.
:::

### Auto-Refresh

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

| Interval   | Description                     |
| ---------- | ------------------------------- |
| Off        | No automatic refresh            |
| 30 seconds | Near real-time monitoring       |
| 1 minute   | Active incident investigation   |
| 3 minutes  | General monitoring              |
| 5 minutes  | Standard operational dashboards |
| 10 minutes | Long-term trend analysis        |

## Organizing Dashboards

As the dashboard count grows, the list page keeps the ones you actually use within reach.

![Dashboards list with starred and recently visited sections](../../../../assets/content/docs/dashboards/dashboards-list-starred-recent.png)

### Starred Dashboards

Star a dashboard from the list or from the star button in the dashboard header. Starred dashboards appear as a collapsible card grid above the table. Stars are saved to your user profile, so they follow you across devices.

### Recently Visited

The list tracks your last 8 visited dashboards per organization and shows them as a collapsible card grid below the starred section — no setup needed.

### Tags

Add tags to a dashboard when saving it, or later via **Edit** in the dashboard's actions menu. Tags render as chips in the list, and clicking a tag adds it as a search filter — one click to see every dashboard tagged `production` or `kafka`.

### Search

The search box matches dashboard names, authors, and tags. Active search filters persist in the URL as query params, so a filtered view survives refresh and can be shared as a link.

## Sharing Dashboards

Share dashboards with team members or external stakeholders via public, view-only links. Anyone with the link can open the dashboard without logging in.

1. Open the dashboard you want to share
2. Click the **Share** button
3. Pick a **Valid For** duration — `3 Hours`, `6 Hours` (default), `12 Hours`, `1 Day`, `2 Days`, or `3 Days`. Admins can also pick **Forever**
4. Optionally enter email addresses to notify recipients with the link
5. If you picked **Forever**, tick the acknowledgement that the link won't expire and must be manually revoked
6. Click **Share Dashboard** to generate the link

### Share Properties

| Property     | Description                                                                                               |
| ------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Validity     | How long the link stays active. Fixed durations from `3 Hours` to `3 Days`, or **Forever** (admins only). |
| Status       | **Active** while the link works; becomes **Expired** once it elapses or is revoked                        |
| Access level | View-only public access — recipients do not need a Last9 login                                            |

:::caution
**Forever** links never expire on their own. Use them sparingly for dashboards intended for ongoing reviews, status pages, or exec readouts, and revoke them from **Active Shares** when no longer needed.
:::

### Revoking a Shared Link

Open the **Share** dialog and switch to **Active Shares** to see all live links for the dashboard. Click **Revoke** on any link to expire it immediately — anyone currently viewing it loses access on their next request, and recipients are not notified.

Admins can revoke any active share. Non-admins can only revoke shares they created.

### Embedded Dashboards

Last9 supports embedding dashboards into external applications (custom portals, internal tools, status pages) via a token-authenticated embed API. There's no self-serve UI for this yet — please get in touch with us at [support@last9.io](mailto:support@last9.io) to set up an embed token for your org.

## 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

### Chart Interactions

- **Zoom**: Zoom in and out on any chart to focus on a spike or step back for context — without changing the dashboard's time range
- **Graph aggregation**: Graph legends support `avg` as a summary aggregation alongside the existing options, so a legend can show the average over the window instead of only last/max/min values

### 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](https://discord.com/invite/Q3p2EEucx9) or [Email](mailto:support@last9.io) if you have any questions.