Drone template variables

Use template variables to create dynamic, reusable dashboards that aren’t tied to a specific Drone repository.

Before you begin

Configure the Drone data source.
Understand Grafana template variables.

Supported variable types

The Drone data source supports the following variable types:

Variable type	Supported
Query	Yes
Custom	Yes
Data source	Yes

Create a query variable

The Drone variable editor uses the same Action selector as the query editor. After you choose an action, you select which result field provides the variable values and, optionally, which field provides the display labels.

To create a query variable:

Navigate to Dashboard settings > Variables.
Click Add variable.
Select Query as the variable type.
Select the Drone data source.
Select an action, such as Repo List, from the Action selector.
Set Value Field to the result field whose values you want the variable to use.
Optionally, set Label Field to a result field to show friendlier labels in the drop-down. If you leave it empty, the value is also used as the label.
Confirm the preview shows the expected values, then save the variable.

Query examples

The Repo List action is the most useful source for a variable because it returns the active repositories registered to Drone. You can also build a variable of build numbers that depends on a repository variable.

Populate a variable with repositories

This variable returns the active repositories in your Drone instance:

Field	Value
Action	`Repo List`
Value Field	`slug`
Label Field	`name`

The drop-down lists your repositories by name, while queries that reference the variable receive the repository slug.

Create a dependent build number variable

After you create a repository variable named repo, you can create a second variable that lists recent build numbers for the selected repository:

Field	Value
Action	`Build List`
Repository	`$repo`
Value Field	`number`

When you change the repository in the dashboard drop-down, the build number variable updates to match. Because Build List returns at most the 100 most recent builds, the variable lists at most 100 build numbers.

Use variables in queries

After you create a variable, reference it in your Drone queries using variable syntax. For example, create a repository variable named repo and reference it in the Repository field of a Repo Info or Build List query:

$repo

You can chain variables together to drill from a repository down to a single build. Reference a repo variable in the Repository field and a build variable in the Build number field of a Build Info query: