Dashboards
Dashboards are saved grids of panels that render metrics, logs, and traces side by side. The Dashboards entry in the left navigation (/observability/dashboards) is the single workspace hub for creating, importing, and installing them, and Scheduled reports (/observability/reports) emails a snapshot on a cadence.
What it is
A dashboard is a reusable view answering a recurring question — is checkout healthy, is the database saturated, is the queue backing up. Rather than rebuilding a query each time, you save the panels once and reopen them at a new time range, with variables to switch the service, environment, or namespace under the same layout.
Owlpane treats dashboards as first-class objects: they are versioned in the workspace, they can be imported and exported as JSON, and the same dashboard can be shared as a read-only link.
Key capabilities
- Create and organise — build panels from your own queries, group dashboards into folders, and search the workspace for one by name.
- Install from the library — one-click installation of curated integration packs, each corresponding to an integration in the library.
- Start from a template — built-in golden-signal, Kubernetes, database, and LLM observability boards.
- Import and export JSON — paste or upload a dashboard definition, or take one out to keep it in version control.
- Variables and annotations — drive panels from template variables such as
$serviceor$namespace, and mark deploys or events on the time axis. - Scheduled reports — email a dashboard snapshot on a recurring cadence to a fixed set of addresses.
Where it lives
| Surface | Console route | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| My dashboards | /observability/dashboards | Browse, search, filter by folder, create, and delete workspace dashboards. |
| Import | /observability/dashboards/import | Paste or upload a JSON dashboard definition. |
| Library | /observability/dashboards/library | Search and install curated starter dashboards and integration presets. |
| Built-in templates | /observability/dashboards/templates | One-click installation of core golden-signal, Kubernetes, database, and LLM templates. |
| Dashboard view | /observability/dashboards/:id | Render an individual dashboard with its variables and time range. |
| Scheduled reports | /observability/reports | Email a dashboard snapshot on a cadence. |
How data gets in
Dashboards read whatever you have already ingested — they do not ingest telemetry themselves. A panel queries metric series (PromQL-compatible expressions or SQL aggregations), log streams, or span-derived signals, using the same store the explorers use. Install a matching pack from the library so the panels line up with the attribute names you actually send.
- Metric ingestion — querying metrics in dashboards and template variables.
- Log ingestion and Distributed trace ingestion — the streams panels can render.
- Integration library — every integration maps to a folder in the dashboard library.
- SDKs — emit the attributes the starter panels expect.
- OTLP contract — attribute names the panels rely on.
Concepts
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Panel | One saved query rendered as a chart, table, or single value. |
| Variable | A template value such as $service or $namespace that panels substitute at render time. |
| Annotation | A marker drawn on the time axis, such as a deploy. |
| Pack | A curated set of dashboards that corresponds to one integration. |
| Template | A built-in starter board installed in one click. |
Sharing and versioning
A dashboard is a workspace object, not a throwaway view. Export it to JSON to keep it in version control, import it back to recreate it, or share the rendered view with a link. Because panels read the same store as the explorers, a fix to what you ingest — or to a panel's query — is reflected the next time the dashboard renders.
Folders
Dashboards are grouped into folders, and the hub's list can be filtered by folder so a large workspace stays navigable. A dashboard can also be opened through a share link rather than from the folder list.
Related
- Dashboards hub task guide — the hub's sub-navigation and workflows.
- Library and templates task guide — installing and customising packs.
- Import and export task guide — the JSON formats accepted.
- Metrics · Logs · Traces — the signals behind the panels.
- Alerts and on-call — turn a panel threshold into a rule.
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