---
title: "The exploration workflow | Grafana Labs"
description: "Search, filter, visualize, investigate, add to dashboard"
---

> For a curated documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). For the complete documentation index, see [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt).

## The exploration workflow

Grafana Metrics Drilldown follows a five-step pattern for investigating infrastructure metrics.

## The workflow

| Step                 | What you do                                                            | What you get                      |
|----------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| **Search**           | Type part of a metric name in the search bar                           | List of matching metrics          |
| **Filter**           | Use filter options via the sidebar to narrow scope by label values     | Reduced set of time series        |
| **Visualize**        | View the automatic graph of selected metric                            | Time series visualization         |
| **Investigate**      | Explore related metrics with shared labels via the Related Metrics tab | Discover connections and patterns |
| **Add to dashboard** | Click the menu to export visualization to a dashboard                  | Permanent monitoring              |

## Why this workflow matters

This pattern guides you from broad exploration to specific findings. You don’t need to know exactly what you’re looking for when you start. The workflow helps you discover problems and patterns as you navigate.