Exploring variables

Variables in Grafana come in three types: dashboard, global, and environment. This page breaks them down and shows how they fit into your Grafana deployment.

Dashboard variables

Dashboard variables live within a single dashboard, powering filters and dynamic controls. They’re your go-to for tailoring what users see.

Global variables

Global variables tap into Grafana-wide settings, ready to use across your dashboards. This is a list of the most common ones:

Variable	Description
`${__dashboard}`	Name of the current dashboard
`${__from}`	Start of the time range (epoch ms)
`${__interval}`	Time grouping parameter
`${__org.name}`	Name of the current organization
`${__org}`	ID of the current organization
`${__to}`	End of the time range (epoch ms)
`${__user.email}`	Email of the current user
`${__user.id}`	ID of the current user
`${__user.login}`	Login handle of the current user

For the full list, refer to Grafana global variable documentation.

Environment variables

Environment variables pull from the system where Grafana runs (for example, operating system or device settings). Dashboards can’t read them directly by default. To use them, add a data source that exposes environment variables to Grafana.