---
title: "Execution Visualization | Grafana Cloud documentation"
description: "Visualize check execution A Synthetic Monitoring check consists of individual executions made by one or more probes. It can often prove useful to analyze individual executions on a check dashboard rather than looking at the aggregated metrics, as it can provide insight into detailed execution behavior, especially if executions are failing."
---

# Visualize check execution

A Synthetic Monitoring check consists of individual executions made by one or more probes. It can often prove useful to analyze individual executions on a check dashboard rather than looking at the aggregated metrics, as it can provide insight into detailed execution behavior, especially if executions are failing.

The time point explorer is a specialized visualization for Synthetic Monitoring that combines logs and metrics from your probes to give a detailed view of check executions.

To view the time point explorer:

1. Log in to your Grafana Cloud account.
2. Go to **Testing & synthetics > Synthetics > Checks**.
3. Click **View dashboard** for a check.

The time point explorer is included in the default dashboard for every check.

[](/static/img/docs/synthetic-monitoring/Time-point-explorer.png)

## Time point explorer anatomy

The time point explorer consists of three interactive components that work together to help you analyze your Synthetic Monitoring data:

1. **Time point mini map** - A macro-level overview of your data across the selected time range
2. **Time point graph** - A detailed view of individual time points with execution durations
3. **Time point viewer** - In-depth logs and details for a single time point

These components let you drill down from a high-level overview to detailed execution logs.

## Understand time points

A *time point* is a time-based abstraction that aligns with your check’s frequency:

- If your check runs every five minutes, each time point is five minutes long.
- If your check runs every minute, each time point is one minute long.
- Time points are clock-aligned (starting at round times like 00:00:00, 00:01:00, 00:02:00, and so on).
- Each probe execution is assigned to a time point based on when it *started*, not when it finished.

> Note
> 
> Time points may vary in length across your time range if your check’s frequency changed. The time point explorer automatically detects these configuration changes and adjusts accordingly.

## The time point mini map

[](/static/img/docs/synthetic-monitoring/time-point-explorer-minimap-uptime.png)

[](/static/img/docs/synthetic-monitoring/time-point-explorer-minimap-reachability.png)

The mini map provides a high-level overview of all time points in your selected time range. It shows:

- A visual representation of uptime or reachability across time
- Quick navigation to specific sections of time points
- The time span currently displayed
- Pagination controls for large time ranges

Use the toggle in the top right to switch between **Uptime** and **Reachability** views:

- **Uptime view** - Shows whether at least one probe succeeded for each time point
- **Reachability view** - Shows individual probe executions and their durations

## The time point graph

[](/static/img/docs/synthetic-monitoring/time-point-explorer-list.png)

The graph shows the time points for the section selected in the mini map:

- **X-axis** - Individual time points, ordered chronologically
- **Y-axis** - Execution duration in seconds
- **Hover tooltips** - Detailed breakdown of all probe executions in a time point
- **Click interaction** - Select a time point to view its detailed logs

In uptime view, the bar height represents the maximum duration of successful executions. In reachability view, each individual execution is plotted separately.

## The time point viewer

[](/static/img/docs/synthetic-monitoring/time-point-explorer-details.png)

Click a time point to open the viewer, which shows detailed execution logs for each probe:

- **Tabbed interface** - One tab per probe with clear success/failure indicators
- **Parsed logs** - Logs are formatted as events with timestamps, levels, and messages
- **Navigation controls** - Move between previous and next time points
- **Quick access** - View logs or metrics in Explore for deeper investigation

### Execution states

Each probe execution in a time point can have one of several states:

Expand table

| State       | Description                                                                |
|-------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Success** | The probe execution returned `probe_success = 1`                           |
| **Failure** | The probe execution returned `probe_success = 0`                           |
| **Pending** | The execution is still in progress or recently started                     |
| **Missing** | No execution result exists for this probe (only for current configuration) |

> Tip
> 
> If you see multiple executions from the same probe in a single time point, the probe agent may have restarted or had scheduling issues.

## Annotations

The time point explorer displays several types of annotations to provide additional context:

- **Check created** - Shows when the check was first created
- **Check updated** - Marks when the check configuration changed
- **Alert annotations** - Displays when alerts were firing, aligned with time points
- **No data indicators** - Explains why data may be missing (before creation, out of retention, etc.)

## Visualization legend

The time point explorer includes a visibility legend that allows you to:

- Customize colors for different states (success, failure, pending, missing)
- Toggle states on and off to focus on specific issues
- Use keyboard shortcuts (meta key) to toggle multiple states

Error states are highlighted with solid colors by default as they typically require the most attention.

## Automatic refresh

The time point explorer automatically refreshes when:

- Your time range includes pending executions
- The dashboard has a global refresh enabled

This ensures you always see the latest data as new executions complete.

## Best practices

- Use the **Reachability** view when diagnosing probe-specific or regional issues.
- Check annotations to correlate execution failures with configuration changes.
- Hover over time points to identify which probes failed without opening the full viewer.
- Use the **Explore** links when you need to write custom queries or do a deeper analysis.