Add a dashboard variable

Grafana dashboard variables let you create dynamic and interactive views of your tracing data. Instead of having a static dashboard that always shows the same information, variables let you filter, drill down, and explore your traces without having to manually edit queries or create multiple dashboards.

Dashboard variables transform your traces dashboards from static reports into powerful, interactive investigative tools, significantly improving your ability to understand, monitor, and troubleshoot distributed systems.

In this milestone, you’ll add a dashboard variable that allows you to filter and explore trace spans based on specific trace IDs.

1. On the dashboard, click Edit.
2. Click Add variable.
3. From the Variable type drop-down list, select Custom.
4. In the Name field of the Custom variable modal, enter traceId.

5. In the Label field, enter Trace ID.

   Trace ID appears above the panel.

In the next milestone, you’ll add a traces panel that populates with trace details.

More to explore (optional)

At this point in your journey, you can explore the following paths:

• Variables