Plugins 〉Business Variable
Business Variable
Business Variable for Grafana
Overview
The Business Variable panel enhances Grafana’s dashboard variables by presenting them in a dedicated, customizable panel. Position it anywhere on your dashboard and choose from a variety of layouts, including an advanced TreeView option, to streamline filtering and improve usability.
Requirements
- Version 3.x: Compatible with Grafana 10.3 or Grafana 11
- Versions 1.x, 2.x: Compatible with Grafana 9.2 or Grafana 10
Installation
Install the Business Variable panel via the Grafana Plugins Catalog or use the Grafana CLI:
grafana-cli plugins install volkovlabs-variable-panel
For a visual guide, watch our installation tutorial:
Features
- Display Modes: Table, Minimize, Button, Slider
- TreeView: Configurable within Table mode for hierarchical data
- Thresholds: Visualize statuses based on data source thresholds
- Variable Support: Single/multi-value variables with "All" option
- Filtering: Pattern-based and favorite-based value filtering
- Sticky Positioning: Follows scrolling for accessibility
- Tabbed TreeViews: Organize multiple TreeViews with groups/tabs
- Input Box: Supports text input variables
Documentation
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| Data Flow | Details the panel’s data flow |
| Display Modes | Explores available layout options |
| Features | Describes key panel capabilities |
| Tutorials | Step-by-step guides |
| Release Notes | Highlights recent updates and features |
Business Suite for Grafana
The Business Variable panel is part of the Business Suite, a collection of open-source plugins developed and maintained by Volkov Labs. Designed to address common business challenges, the suite offers intuitive interfaces backed by detailed documentation, examples, and video tutorials.
Enterprise Support
Subscribe to Business Suite Enterprise for comprehensive support:
- Dedicated support team via Zendesk
- Priority feature requests and bug fixes
- In-person consultations
- Access to Business Intelligence platform
Community & Feedback
We’d love to hear from you!
- File issues, request features, or ask questions on GitHub Issues
- Subscribe to our YouTube Channel and share your thoughts
License
Licensed under the Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE for details.
Grafana Cloud Free
- Free tier: Limited to 3 users
- Paid plans: $55 / user / month above included usage
- Access to all Enterprise Plugins
- Fully managed service (not available to self-manage)
Self-hosted Grafana Enterprise
- Access to all Enterprise plugins
- All Grafana Enterprise features
- Self-manage on your own infrastructure
Grafana Cloud Free
- Free tier: Limited to 3 users
- Paid plans: $55 / user / month above included usage
- Access to all Enterprise Plugins
- Fully managed service (not available to self-manage)
Self-hosted Grafana Enterprise
- Access to all Enterprise plugins
- All Grafana Enterprise features
- Self-manage on your own infrastructure
Grafana Cloud Free
- Free tier: Limited to 3 users
- Paid plans: $55 / user / month above included usage
- Access to all Enterprise Plugins
- Fully managed service (not available to self-manage)
Self-hosted Grafana Enterprise
- Access to all Enterprise plugins
- All Grafana Enterprise features
- Self-manage on your own infrastructure
Grafana Cloud Free
- Free tier: Limited to 3 users
- Paid plans: $55 / user / month above included usage
- Access to all Enterprise Plugins
- Fully managed service (not available to self-manage)
Self-hosted Grafana Enterprise
- Access to all Enterprise plugins
- All Grafana Enterprise features
- Self-manage on your own infrastructure
Grafana Cloud Free
- Free tier: Limited to 3 users
- Paid plans: $55 / user / month above included usage
- Access to all Enterprise Plugins
- Fully managed service (not available to self-manage)
Self-hosted Grafana Enterprise
- Access to all Enterprise plugins
- All Grafana Enterprise features
- Self-manage on your own infrastructure
Installing Business Variable on Grafana Cloud:
Installing plugins on a Grafana Cloud instance is a one-click install; same with updates. Cool, right?
Note that it could take up to 1 minute to see the plugin show up in your Grafana.
Installing plugins on a Grafana Cloud instance is a one-click install; same with updates. Cool, right?
Note that it could take up to 1 minute to see the plugin show up in your Grafana.
Installing plugins on a Grafana Cloud instance is a one-click install; same with updates. Cool, right?
Note that it could take up to 1 minute to see the plugin show up in your Grafana.
Installing plugins on a Grafana Cloud instance is a one-click install; same with updates. Cool, right?
Note that it could take up to 1 minute to see the plugin show up in your Grafana.
Installing plugins on a Grafana Cloud instance is a one-click install; same with updates. Cool, right?
Note that it could take up to 1 minute to see the plugin show up in your Grafana.
Installing plugins on a Grafana Cloud instance is a one-click install; same with updates. Cool, right?
Note that it could take up to 1 minute to see the plugin show up in your Grafana.
Installing plugins on a Grafana Cloud instance is a one-click install; same with updates. Cool, right?
Note that it could take up to 1 minute to see the plugin show up in your Grafana.
For more information, visit the docs on plugin installation.
Installing on a local Grafana:
For local instances, plugins are installed and updated via a simple CLI command. Plugins are not updated automatically, however you will be notified when updates are available right within your Grafana.
1. Install the Panel
Use the grafana-cli tool to install Business Variable from the commandline:
grafana-cli plugins install The plugin will be installed into your grafana plugins directory; the default is /var/lib/grafana/plugins. More information on the cli tool.
Alternatively, you can manually download the .zip file for your architecture below and unpack it into your grafana plugins directory.
Alternatively, you can manually download the .zip file and unpack it into your grafana plugins directory.
2. Add the Panel to a Dashboard
Installed panels are available immediately in the Dashboards section in your Grafana main menu, and can be added like any other core panel in Grafana.
To see a list of installed panels, click the Plugins item in the main menu. Both core panels and installed panels will appear.
Changelog
All notable changes to the Business Variable panel are documented here.
3.9.0 (2025-04-08)
Features & Enhancements
- Added a custom message for the 'no data' and 'variable not selected' cases (#262)
- Added minimized view for Tree View layout (#263)
- Upgraded to Grafana 11.6.0 with updated dependencies (#265)
3.8.0 (2025-03-26)
Features & Enhancements
- Added attestation to release workflow (#246)
- Removed
@volkovlabs/grafana-utilsdependency (#247) - Introduced resize behavior for panels with sticky headers (#253)
3.7.0 (2025-02-13)
Features & Enhancements
- Updated to use datasource ID instead of name, with variable support (#229)
- Enhanced sticky header for Scenes dashboards (#230)
- Improved favorites icon visibility (#234)
- Excluded Alert Message variable type from support (#235)
- Added Date Picker component (#237)
- Upgraded to Grafana 11.4.0 with updated dependencies (#241)
- Added advanced option to modify browser tab title (#243)
3.6.0 (2024-10-24)
Features & Enhancements
- Refined Textbox variable behavior in Table view (#211)
- Added Date Time Selector (#209)
- Enabled "All" option in Scenes dashboards (#213)
- Updated E2E tests (#216)
- Fixed display errors in Slider view (#220)
- Upgraded to Grafana 11.3.0 with dependency updates (#222)
- Improved sticky positioning in Scenes dashboards (#221)
3.5.0 (2024-10-02)
Features & Enhancements
- Improved variable selection in Minimize view (#197)
- Updated
@tanstack/virtualto latest version (#207) - Upgraded to Grafana 11.2.2 with dependency updates (#207)
3.4.0 (2024-08-23)
Features & Enhancements
- Added option to reorder tabs in panel settings (#193)
- Updated local storage key for favorites (#194)
- Upgraded to Grafana 11.1.4 (#195)
3.3.0 (2024-08-14)
Features & Enhancements
- Integrated datasource-driven favorites (#184)
- Enhanced documentation (#185)
- Added scrollbar to Button view (#187)
3.2.0 (2024-07-09)
Features & Enhancements
- Updated video tutorial (#166)
- Improved E2E workflow with Docker (#173)
- Added image threshold styling for status in Table view (#170)
3.1.0 (2024-06-06)
Features & Enhancements
- Added option to collapse/expand rows on load (#159)
- Updated selection behavior with Ctrl key (#160)
- Upgraded to Grafana 11.0.0 with dependency updates (#161)
- Added Reset button to Button view (#162)
- Enhanced key/value pair selection for variables (#165)
3.0.0 (2024-05-09)
Breaking Changes
- Requires Grafana 10 or Grafana 11
Features & Enhancements
- Improved multi-level selection/deselection (#139)
- Updated Minimize label width to Auto/Static (#144)
- Added option to show/hide Minimize label (#144)
- Introduced maximum visible values in Minimize view (#147)
- Added plugin E2E tests, removed Cypress (#149)
- Added row count in Table view (#148)
- Enhanced autoscroll behavior (#152)
- Introduced Slider view (#154)
- Prepared for Grafana 11 compatibility (#155)
- Upgraded to Grafana 10.4.2 with dependency updates (#158)
2.5.0 (2024-04-01)
Features & Enhancements
- Added indeterminate checkbox state (#127)
- Improved Tree View scrolling (#128)
- Added responsive tabs (#130)
- Supported new items in Minimize mode (#134)
- Preserved group selection across dashboards (#135)
- Enhanced Tree View display and scrolling (#136)
- Added reset for dependent variables on value selection (#138)
2.4.0 (2024-03-17)
Breaking Changes
- Requires Grafana 9.2 or Grafana 10
Features & Enhancements
- Updated README video tutorial (#111)
- Enhanced Timescale data handling (#119)
- Updated dependencies and GitHub Actions (#120)
- Improved default color contrast (#122)
- Added preserve selected group option (#124)
- Added label support in Button view (#125)
2.3.1 (2023-12-14)
Bug Fixes
- Fixed draggable icon for Grafana 10.3 (#107)
2.3.0 (2023-12-13)
Features & Enhancements
- Cleared table state on tab change (#101)
- Updated ESLint config and refactored code (#102)
- Added persistent mode (#103)
- Upgraded to Grafana 10.2.2 with Volkov Labs package updates (#104)
2.2.0 (2023-11-20)
Features & Enhancements
- Added dashboard redirect option (#92)
- Updated ESLint config and sorted imports (#93)
- Improved Safari layout for favorites (#97)
- Upgraded to Grafana 10.2.1 (#98)
- Added clear filter value button (#99)
2.1.0 (2023-11-08)
Features & Enhancements
- Added always-visible search filter option (#83)
- Enabled group rename functionality (#84)
- Supported field selection from data frames without RefId (#85)
- Added toggle for expanded row state via label click (#86)
Bug Fixes
- Fixed deselection of undefined "All" variable in URL (#87)
- Removed group favoriting capability (#88)
2.0.0 (2023-10-16)
Features & Enhancements
- Updated parent item labels in Tree View (#62)
- Added Enter/Escape key handling for Text Variable (#69)
- Implemented table virtualization for performance (#64, #74)
- Enabled clear value for multi-choice variables (#66)
- Upgraded to Plugin Tools 2.1.1 (#72)
- Signed plugin with Grafana Access Policy (#72)
- Upgraded to Grafana 10.1.5 (#73)
Bug Fixes
- Fixed key:value option selection in Minimize/Button views (#75)
1.7.0 (2023-08-08)
Features & Enhancements
- Added text/value variables in Table/Tree View (#57)
- Introduced Button View (#59)
- Enabled group selection (#58)
- Upgraded to Grafana 10.0.3 (#60)
1.6.0 (2023-07-26)
Features & Enhancements
- Updated ESLint configuration (#47)
- Added status sort button (#49, #51)
- Introduced Minimize mode for Query/Custom variables (#50)
- Added input for Textbox variable (#53)
1.5.0 (2023-07-11)
Features & Enhancements
- Enhanced single-select variables with "All" option (#41)
- Added sticky header and autoscroll for multi-group selection (#38)
- Enabled drag-and-drop for groups (#42)
- Added expand/collapse all in header (#46)
1.4.0 (2023-07-06)
Features & Enhancements
- Added tutorial (#21)
- Updated level addition to append at end (#22)
- Hid unselectable items (#24)
- Supported Grafana 9 with main view scroll (#26)
- Added favorite filter icon (#25)
- Introduced Tree View groups (requires config update) (#20)
- Added option to prefix variable name to value (#30)
- Increased test coverage (#31)
- Added autoscroll to selected value (#32)
- Released as community-signed plugin (#37)
1.3.0 (2023-06-30)
Features & Enhancements
- Added Display Header option (#15)
- Enabled collapsing parent rows (#16)
- Added sticky scrolling option (#17)
- Introduced Table Filter (#18)
- Added favorite selection (#19)
- Updated documentation (#20)
1.2.0 (2023-06-26)
Features & Enhancements
- Introduced Tree View (#12, #13)
- Updated README and screenshot (#14)
1.1.0 (2023-06-21)
Features & Enhancements
- Added variable statuses via thresholds (#6)
- Replaced Table with react-table v8 (#8)
- Added field options for values/statuses (#9)
- Updated provisioning and README (#10)
- Supported Grafana 8.5.0 (#11)
1.0.0 (2023-06-19)
Features & Enhancements
- Initial release based on Volkov Labs ABC Panel template
- Updated README and configuration (#1)
- Refactored legacy code (#2, #4)
- Upgraded to Grafana 10.0.0 (#3)
- Updated provisioning and README (#5)
