Dashboard URL variables

Grafana can apply variable values passed as query parameters in dashboard URLs. For more information, refer to Manage dashboard links and [Templates and variables][].

Passing variables as query parameters

Grafana interprets query string parameters prefixed with var- as variables in the given dashboard.

For example, in this URL:

https://${your-domain}/path/to/your/dashboard?var-example=value

The query parameter var-example=value represents the dashboard variable example with a value of value.

Passing multiple values for a variable

To pass multiple values, repeat the variable parameter once for each value:

https://${your-domain}/path/to/your/dashboard?var-example=value1&var-example=value2

Grafana interprets var-example=value1&var-example=value2 as the dashboard variable example with two values: value1 and value2.

Example

This example in Grafana Play passes the variable server with multiple values, and the variables app and interval with a single value each.

Adding variables to dashboard links

Grafana can add variables to dashboard links when you generate them from a dashboard’s settings. For more information and steps to add variables, refer to Manage dashboard links.

Passing ad hoc filters

Ad hoc filters apply key/value filters to all metric queries that use a specified data source. For more information, refer to Add ad hoc filters.

To pass an ad hoc filter as a query parameter, use the variable syntax to pass the ad hoc filter variable, and also provide the key, the operator as the value, and the value as a pipe-separated list.

For example, in this URL:

https://${your-domain}/path/to/your/dashboard?var-adhoc=example_key|=|example_value

The query parameter var-adhoc=key|=|value applies the ad hoc filter configured as the adhoc dashboard variable using the example_key key, the = operator, and the example_value value.

NOTE: When sharing URLs with ad hoc filters, remember to encode the URL. In the above example, replace the pipes (|) with %7C and the equality operator (=) with %3D.

Example

This example in Grafana Play passes the ad hoc filter variable adhoc with the filter value datacenter = America.

Controlling time range using the URL

To set a dashboard’s time range, use the from, to, time, and time.window query parameters. Because these are not variables, they do not require the var- prefix. For more information, see the Linking overview.