Use and manage variables

Dashboard variables let you alter specific components of cells’ queries without having to edit the queries, making it easy to interact with your dashboard cells and explore your data.

Variables are scoped by organization.

Use dashboard variables

Both predefined dashboard variables and custom dashboard variables are stored in a v record associated with each dashboard. Reference each variable using dot-notation (e.g. v.variableName).

from(bucket: v.bucket)
    |> range(start: v.timeRangeStart, stop: v.timeRangeStop)
    |> filter(fn: (r) => r._measurement == v.measurement and r._field == v.field)
    |> aggregateWindow(every: v.windowPeriod, fn: mean)

When building Flux queries for dashboard cells, view available dashboard variables in the Variables tab next to the Functions tab.

Click a variable name to add it to your query and select a value from the Value dropdown.

Link to dashboards with variables defined in the URL

When you apply a variable to your dashboard, &vars[variable_name]=value is appended to the URL so you can share the link with the variables included.

Predefined dashboard variables

The InfluxDB user interface (UI) provides the following predefined dashboard variables:

v.timeRangeStart

Specifies the beginning of the queried time range. This variable is typically used to define the start parameter of the range() function.

The Time Range selector defines the value of this variable.

v.timeRangeStop

Specifies the end of the queried time range. This variable is typically used to define the stop parameter of the range() function.

The Time Range selector defines the value of this variable. It defaults to now.

v.windowPeriod

Specifies the period of windowed data. This variable is typically used to define the every or period parameters of the window() function in data aggregation operations.

The value of this variable is calculated by analyzing the duration of the Flux query it is used within. Queries that fetch data from a longer time range will have a larger v.windowPeriod duration.

Custom dashboard variables

Create, manage, and use custom dashboard variables in the InfluxDB user interface (UI).

Create a variable

Create dashboard variables in the Data Explorer, from the Organization page, or import a variable.

Update a variable

Update a dashboard variable in the InfluxDB user interface.

View variables

View dashboard variables in the InfluxDB user interface.

Export a variable

Export a dashboard variable in the InfluxDB user interface.

Delete a variable

Delete a dashboard variable in the InfluxDB user interface.

Variable types

Overview of the types of dashboard variables available in InfluxDB

Common variable queries

Useful queries to use to populate values in common dashboard variable use cases.

variables