Grafana Oss

Grafana Dashboards - Detailed Reference

What is a Dashboard?

A Grafana dashboard is a set of one or more panels organized into rows, providing an at-a-glance view of related information. Dashboards connect to data sources, display data through panels, and support interactive filtering via variables.

Core Components

• Panels: Containers that display visualizations; each combines a query + a visualization type

• Rows: Horizontal groupings of panels; can be collapsed for organization

• Data Sources: Connections to databases, APIs, or services that panels query

• Variables: Dropdown selectors at the top of a dashboard for dynamic filtering

• Annotations: Markers overlaid on graphs to indicate events

Creating Dashboards

From scratch

1. Click Dashboards in the left sidebar

2. Click New > New dashboard

3. Click Add visualization to add your first panel

4. Select a data source, write a query, choose visualization type

5. Click Apply to save the panel to the dashboard

6. Click the save icon (or Ctrl+S) to save the dashboard

From a template / Import

• Click Dashboards > New > Import

• Paste a dashboard JSON, enter a Grafana.com dashboard ID, or upload a JSON file

• Grafana.com hosts thousands of community dashboards (grafana.com/grafana/dashboards)

Dashboard Settings

Access via the gear icon at the top-right of any dashboard.

Time Range Controls

• Time picker (top-right): Select absolute or relative ranges (Last 6 hours, Last 7 days, etc.)

• Auto-refresh: Set to Off, 5s, 10s, 30s, 1m, 5m, etc.

• Zoom: Click-drag on any time series to zoom in

Common relative time shortcuts

now-5m    last 5 minutes
now-1h    last 1 hour
now-24h   last 24 hours
now-7d    last 7 days
now/d     today so far
now-1d/d  yesterday

Annotations

Annotations are event markers overlaid on time series panels.

Types

• Native annotations: Manually add a note to a specific time directly in the dashboard

• Query annotations: Pull events from a data source and display as markers

Adding a manual annotation

• Hold Ctrl (or Cmd on Mac) and click a time series panel

• Type a description; optionally set a time range

Library Panels

Library panels are reusable panel definitions shared across multiple dashboards.

• Create: Panel menu (3-dot) > "Create library panel"

• Use: Add a panel > "Add from panel library"

• Update: Edit the source panel; all dashboards using it reflect the change

• Unlink: Detach to make it independent in a specific dashboard

Panel Layout

• Drag panel corners to resize

• Drag panel header to move

• Add > Row to insert collapsible rows

• Panel menu > Duplicate to clone within the same dashboard

Dashboard Versions

• Access via Dashboard Settings > Versions

• See who saved what and when

• Compare two versions (diff view)

• Restore any previous version

JSON Model

Every dashboard is stored as a JSON document.

Key top-level JSON fields:

{
  "title": "My Dashboard",
  "uid": "abc123",
  "tags": ["production", "infrastructure"],
  "time": { "from": "now-6h", "to": "now" },
  "refresh": "30s",
  "panels": [],
  "templating": { "list": [] },
  "annotations": { "list": [] }
}

Sharing Dashboards

Share link

• Click Share icon > Link tab

• Toggle "Lock time range" to embed the current time window

• Toggle "Include template variable values"

Snapshot

• Share > Snapshot: Creates a read-only, public snapshot

• Contains rendered data at share time - no live data source access needed

• Can expire (1 hour, 1 day, 7 days, or never)

Export / Import JSON

• Share > Export: Download the dashboard JSON

• Import at Dashboards > New > Import

• Useful for version control, migration, sharing with the community

Embed

• Share > Embed: Generates an iframe HTML snippet

• Requires anonymous access in Grafana config (OSS/Enterprise only)

Public dashboards (Grafana 10+)

• Make a dashboard publicly accessible with no login

• Enable per-dashboard in Share > Public dashboard

Playlists

Playlists cycle through dashboards automatically at a configurable interval.

• Create at Dashboards > Playlists > New playlist

• Add dashboards by name or tag

• Set interval (e.g., 5 minutes)

• Append ?kiosk=1 to URL for kiosk/TV mode

Best Practices

1. Organize with folders: Use folders as RBAC permission boundaries

2. Use variables: Make dashboards reusable across environments/services

3. Limit panels per dashboard: Aim for <20 panels for performance

4. Use library panels: Standardize common panels across teams

5. Tag dashboards: Consistent tags for searchability

6. Version control: Export JSON and store in Git

7. Use rows: Collapse related panels to organize complex dashboards

8. Template your queries: Use variables so one dashboard covers many targets

Keyboard Shortcuts

Provisioning Dashboards (as Code)

# /etc/grafana/provisioning/dashboards/default.yaml
apiVersion: 1

providers:
  - name: default
    orgId: 1
    folder: Infrastructure
    type: file
    disableDeletion: false
    updateIntervalSeconds: 10
    allowUiUpdates: false
    options:
      path: /var/lib/grafana/dashboards
      foldersFromFilesStructure: true

Place dashboard JSON files in /var/lib/grafana/dashboards/. Subdirectories become folders when foldersFromFilesStructure: true.