Zabbix template variables

Template variables let you create dynamic, reusable dashboards that switch between host groups, hosts, applications, and items without editing the dashboard. You can populate variable drop-downs with values from Zabbix and reference those variables in queries, panel titles, and text panels.

Before you begin

Configure the Zabbix data source.
Understand Grafana template variables.

Supported variable types

Variable type	Supported	Description
Query	Yes	Fetch values from Zabbix (host groups, hosts, applications, items, etc.).
Custom	Yes	Define a custom list of values.
Data source	Yes	Switch between multiple Zabbix data source instances.

Create a query variable

To create a variable that fetches values from Zabbix:

Open a dashboard and click Dashboard settings (gear icon).
Click Variables in the left menu.
Click Add variable.
Set Variable type to Query.
Select the Zabbix data source.
Select a Query Type and fill in the filter fields.
Click Apply.

Query types

The variable query editor uses a structured form with a Query Type drop-down. Select the type of Zabbix entity you want to populate the variable with.

Query type	Returns	Filter fields
Group	Host group names	Group
Host	Host names	Group, Host
Application	Application names	Group, Host, Application. Not available on Zabbix 5.4+ where applications have been removed. Use Item tag instead.
Item tag	Item tag values	Group, Host, Item Tag. Available on Zabbix 5.4+.
Item	Item names	Group, Host, Application or Item Tag, Item
Item values	Current item values	Group, Host, Application or Item Tag, Item

All filter fields support regex patterns (for example, /.*/ to match all values) and references to other template variables (for example, $group).

For the Item and Item values query types, the editor shows either Application (Zabbix < 5.4) or Item Tag (Zabbix 5.4+) depending on your Zabbix server version. Only one field is visible at a time.

When the Item query type is selected, you can also toggle Show disabled items to include disabled items in the results.

Legacy query format

Older dashboards may use a legacy string-based query format. The Zabbix variable editor displays these as a read-only Legacy Query field and automatically converts them to the structured format.

The legacy format uses four parts wrapped in braces:

{host group}{host}{application}{item name}

Each part can be a specific name or * (all values). The number of parts determines what the variable returns:

Query	Returns
`{*}`	All host groups
`{}{}`	All hosts
`{Network}{*}`	All hosts in the “Network” group
`{Linux servers}{}{}`	All applications from hosts in “Linux servers”
`{Linux servers}{backend01}{CPU}{*}`	All items from backend01 in the CPU application

Use variables in queries

Reference variables in the query editor by prefixing the variable name with $. For example, if you have a variable named host, use $host in the Host field of a Metrics query.

Variables work in most query editor fields, including:

Group, Host, Application / Item tag, Item
Service, SLA
Proxy, Problem, Item Ids, Macros
Panel and row titles
Text panel content

Note
When using multi-value variables, the plugin automatically formats the selected values as a regex pattern for Zabbix API queries.

Chain variables

You can reference one variable inside another variable’s query to create cascading drop-downs. For example:

Create a variable named group with Query Type set to Group.
Create a variable named host with Query Type set to Host and set the Group field to $group.
Create a variable named item with Query Type set to Item, set Group to $group, and Host to $host.

When you change the group selection, the host variable automatically updates to show only hosts in that group, and the item variable updates accordingly.