rilldata Instructions for developing an explore dashboard in Rill
Introduction
Explore dashboards are resources that configure an interactive, drill-down dashboard for a metrics view. They are Rill's default dashboard type, designed for explorative slice-and-dice analysis of a single metrics view.
Explore dashboards are lightweight resources that sit downstream of a metrics view in the project DAG. Their reconcile logic is fast (validation only), so they can be created and modified freely without performance concerns.
When to use explores vs canvases
- Explore dashboards: Best for explorative analysis, drill-down investigations, and letting users freely slice data by any dimension.
- Canvas dashboards: Best for fixed reports, executive summaries, or combining multiple metrics views into a single view.
Development approach
Explore dashboards require minimal configuration. In most cases, you only need to:
- Reference the metrics view
- Select which dimensions and measures to expose (usually all, indicated by
'*') - Optionally configure defaults and time ranges
Best practice: Keep explore configurations simple. Only add advanced features (security policies, custom themes, restricted dimensions) when there is a clear requirement. The metrics view already defines the business logic; the explore just controls presentation and access.
Inline explores in metrics views
The preferred way to create an explore is inline in the metrics view file: set version: 1 and add an explore: block, which emits an explore resource with the same name as the metrics view (or name: if set):
# metrics/sales.yaml
version: 1
type: metrics_view
display_name: Sales Analytics
model: sales_model
timeseries: order_date
dimensions:
- column: region
- column: product_category
measures:
- name: total_revenue
expression: SUM(revenue)
# Inline explore configuration
explore:
display_name: Sales Dashboard
dimensions: '*' # Optional: dimensions to expose ('*', a list, or {exclude: [...]}); defaults to all
measures: '*' # Optional: measures to expose ('*', a list, or {exclude: [...]}); defaults to all
time_ranges:
- P7D
- P30D
- P90D
defaults:
time_range: P30D
For legacy reasons, metrics views without version: auto-emit an explore even without an explore: block; metrics views with version: 1 only emit one when the block is present.
Use inline explores to keep the metrics view and its dashboard configuration together. Use separate explore files when you need multiple explores for the same metrics view.
Example with annotations
Note that most explore dashboards work great without any of the optional properties shown here.
# dashboards/sales_explore.yaml
# Required: resource type
type: explore
# Required: the metrics view this dashboard renders
metrics_view: sales_metrics
# Optional: display name shown in the navigation and header
display_name: "Sales Performance"
# Optional: informational banner at the top of the dashboard
banner: "Data refreshes daily at 6 AM UTC"
# Optional: which dimensions to expose (use '*' for all)
dimensions: '*'
# Optional: which measures to expose (use '*' for all)
measures: '*'
# Optional: customize the time range dropdown
time_ranges:
- P7D
- P30D
- P90D
- P12M
- rill-MTD
- rill-YTD
# Optional: default dashboard state on first load
defaults:
time_range: P30D
comparison_mode: time
# Optional: pin specific time zones to the top of the selector
time_zones:
- America/Los_Angeles
- America/New_York
# Optional: custom theme
theme: my_theme
# Optional: restrict access to specific users.
# Note: usually you should do this in the metrics view, not the explore resource.
security:
access: "{{ .user.admin }} OR '{{ .user.email }}' LIKE '%@example.com'"
Minimal example
For most use cases, a minimal explore is sufficient:
type: explore
metrics_view: sales_metrics
display_name: "Sales Dashboard"
dimensions: '*'
measures: '*'
Reference documentation
Here is a full JSON schema for the explore syntax:
allOf:
- properties:
allow_custom_time_range:
description: Defaults to true, when set to false it will hide the ability to set a custom time range for the user.
type: boolean
banner:
description: Refers to the custom banner displayed at the header of an explore dashboard
type: string
defaults:
additionalProperties: false
description: |
Defines the defaults YAML struct.
```yaml
defaults: #define all the defaults within here
dimensions:
- dim_1
- dim_2
measures:
- measure_1
- measure_2
time_range: P1M
comparison_mode: dimension #time, none
comparison_dimension: filename
```
properties:
comparison_dimension:
description: For dimension mode, specify the comparison dimension by name.
type: string
comparison_mode:
description: 'Controls how to compare current data with historical or categorical baselines. Options: `none` (no comparison), `time` (compares with past based on default_time_range), `dimension` (compares based on comparison_dimension values)'
enum:
- none
- time
- dimension
type: string
dimensions:
$ref: '#/definitions/field_selector_properties'
description: Provides the default dimensions to load on viewing the dashboard
measures:
$ref: '#/definitions/field_selector_properties'
description: Provides the default measures to load on viewing the dashboard
time_range:
description: Refers to the default time range shown when a user initially loads the dashboard. The value must be either an [ISO 8601 duration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601#Durations) (for example, PT12H for 12 hours, P1M for 1 month, or P26W for 26 weeks) or one of the [Rill ISO 8601 extensions](https://docs.rilldata.com/reference/rill-iso-extensions#extensions).
type: string
type: object
description:
description: Refers to the description of the explore dashboard
type: string
dimensions:
$ref: '#/definitions/field_selector_properties'
description: List of dimension names. Use '*' to select all dimensions (default)
examples:
- dimensions:
- country
- dimensions:
exclude:
- country
- dimensions:
expr: ^public_.*$
display_name:
description: Refers to the display name for the explore dashboard
type: string
embeds:
additionalProperties: false
description: Configuration options for embedded dashboard views
properties:
hide_pivot:
description: When true, hides the pivot table view in embedded mode
type: boolean
type: object
lock_time_zone:
description: When true, the dashboard will be locked to the first time provided in the time_zones list. When no time_zones are provided, the dashboard will be locked to UTC
type: boolean
measures:
$ref: '#/definitions/field_selector_properties'
description: List of measure names. Use '*' to select all measures (default)
examples:
- measures:
- sum_of_total
- measures:
exclude:
- sum_of_total
- measures:
expr: ^public_.*$
metrics_view:
description: Refers to the metrics view resource
type: string
security:
$ref: '#/definitions/dashboard_security_policy_properties'
description: Security rules to apply for access to the explore dashboard
theme:
description: Name of the theme to use. Only one of theme and embedded_theme can be set.
oneOf:
- description: Name of an existing theme to apply to the dashboard
type: string
- $ref: '#/definitions/theme_properties'
description: Inline theme configuration.
time_ranges:
description: |
Overrides the list of default time range selections available in the dropdown. It can be a string or an object with a 'range' and optional 'comparison_offsets'.
```yaml
time_ranges:
- PT15M // Simplified syntax to specify only the range
- PT1H
- PT6H
- P7D
- range: P5D // Advanced syntax to specify comparison_offsets as well
- P4W
- rill-TD // Today
- rill-WTD // Week-To-date
```
items:
$ref: '#/definitions/explore_time_range_properties'
type: array
time_zones:
description: Refers to the time zones that should be pinned to the top of the time zone selector. It should be a list of [IANA time zone identifiers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones)
items:
type: string
type: array
type:
const: explore
description: Refers to the resource type and must be `explore`
type: string
required:
- type
- metrics_view
title: Properties
type: object
- $ref: '#/definitions/common_properties'
description: Explore dashboards provide an interactive way to explore data with predefined measures and dimensions.
id: explore-dashboards
title: Explore Dashboard YAML
type: object