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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

Click Dashboards in the left sidebar
Click New > New dashboard
Click Add visualization to add your first panel
Select a data source, write a query, choose visualization type
Click Apply to save the panel to the dashboard
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.

Setting	Description
General	Name, description, tags, folder, editable flag
Annotations	Configure annotation queries that overlay events on panels
Variables	Add/edit template variables (dropdowns at top)
Links	Add links to other dashboards or external URLs
JSON Model	View/edit raw JSON for the entire dashboard
Versions	Browse and restore prior versions
Time options	Default time range, auto-refresh intervals, timezone

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": [] }
}

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

Organize with folders: Use folders as RBAC permission boundaries
Use variables: Make dashboards reusable across environments/services
Limit panels per dashboard: Aim for <20 panels for performance
Use library panels: Standardize common panels across teams
Tag dashboards: Consistent tags for searchability
Version control: Export JSON and store in Git
Use rows: Collapse related panels to organize complex dashboards
Template your queries: Use variables so one dashboard covers many targets

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
`Ctrl+S`	Save dashboard
`e`	Open panel editor (when panel focused)
`v`	Toggle panel fullscreen
`d r`	Refresh all panels
`d s`	Dashboard settings
`d k`	Toggle kiosk mode
`?`	Show all 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.

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