--- title: How to Customize Dashboards (public) description: Configure dashboards with charts, queries, variables, and groups to monitor resource health and performance across your DigitalOcean resources. product: Insights url: https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/insights/how-to/customize-dashboards/ last_updated: "2026-10-09" --- > **For AI agents:** The documentation index is at [https://docs.digitalocean.com/llms.txt](https://docs.digitalocean.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of pages use the same URL with `index.html.md` in place of the HTML page (for example, append `index.html.md` to the directory path instead of opening the HTML document). # How to Customize Dashboards (public) DigitalOcean Insights provides observability for supported resources through metrics, logs, traces, custom dashboards, and metric alerts. **Note**: This feature is in [public preview](https://docs.digitalocean.com/platform/product-lifecycle/index.html.md#public-preview). To use it, opt in from the [**Feature Preview** page](https://cloud.digitalocean.com/account/feature-preview). Configure dashboards with charts, queries, variables, and groups to monitor resource health and performance over a selected time range. **Note**: Metrics are currently available for Droplets, Kubernetes, Managed Databases, Load Balancers, App Platform, Functions, AI/ML products, and networking services. To access your dashboards, go to the [DigitalOcean Control Panel](https://cloud.digitalocean.com/), in the left menu, click **DATA & LEARNING**, click **Insights**, and then click the **Dashboards** tab. The **Dashboards** tab lists your existing dashboards and provides options to create, edit, and delete dashboards. To configure or view a dashboard, find and select the dashboard you want to use. If you have not already created one, [create a dashboard](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/insights/how-to/manage-custom-dashboards/index.html.md#create-dashboard). ## Enable Insights During Resource Creation After you opt in to the public preview, you can enable the available Insights telemetry from the resource creation page when you create a supported DigitalOcean resource. For Droplets and GPU Droplets, select **Install the Observability agent** to install the agent during resource creation. For supported managed resources that do not require the Observability agent, the resource creation page displays the available logs and traces options directly. When creating [Managed Agents](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/managed-agents/index.html.md) resources, Insights is enabled by default. ## Add a Chart To add a chart to your dashboard, in the top bar, click **+ Add chart** to open the **Add chart** window. As you configure the chart, in the top-left, the chart preview updates immediately to reflect your configurations. ### Set Time Range In the top-right corner, click the **Time range** dropdown menu to select the time range shown for the chart. Options range from 5 minutes through 7 days, with **1 hour** selected by default. Use shorter ranges for recent activity and longer ranges for broader trends. At the bottom of the time range menu, use the **Timezone** field to select the timezone used to display metric timestamps. The default is your local browser timezone. ### Choose a Name In the right panel, configure the general chart settings. In the **Name** field, enter a descriptive name that identifies the metric or resource the chart displays. ### Add a Description In the **Description** field, optionally enter additional context about the chart, such as what it measures, which resources it includes, or how to interpret the data. Optionally, enable **Hide header** to hide the chart’s name and description on the chart. ### Select a Chart Type In the **Chart type** section, select how to visualize the metric: **Note**: Each chart type has different configuration options. Configure the options for the chart type you select. ## Time Series Chart Time series displays how metric values change over time. Use a time series chart to identify trends, spikes, or other changes during the selected time range. In the **Visual** section, customize how the chart displays data: - Click the **Display** dropdown menu to select **Line** or **Bar**. The default is **Line**. - In the **Line Width** field, enter the line thickness. The default is `1.25`. - Click the **Line Style** dropdown menu to select **Solid**, **Dashes**, or **Dots**. The default is **Solid**. - In the **Area Opacity** field, enter the opacity of the area below each line. The default is `0.2`. - Click the **Show points** dropdown menu to select **Auto** or **Always**. The default is **Auto**. - In the **Point Radius** field, enter the size of the points displayed on the line. The default is `2.75`. - Click the **Stack Series** dropdown menu to select **None** or **All**. The default is **None**. - Enable the **Connect Nulls** toggle to connect lines across intervals with no data. This toggle is disabled by default. In the **Y-Axis** section, enable or disable the **Show** toggle to display or hide the y-axis. This toggle is enabled by default. When enabled, configure the y-axis using the following settings: - In the **Label** field, enter a label that describes the values shown on the y-axis. - Click the **Format** dropdown menu to select how values are displayed. - Enable the **Short values** toggle to abbreviate large values. This toggle is enabled by default. - Click the **Decimal places** dropdown menu to select **Default** or a value from `0` through `4`. The default is **Default**. - Click the **Log Scale** dropdown menu to select **None**, **2**, or **10**. The default is **None**. - In the **Min** field, enter the minimum value displayed on the y-axis. The default is **Auto**. - In the **Max** field, enter the maximum value displayed on the y-axis. The default is **Auto**. In the **Threshold** section, configure visual thresholds for the chart: - Click the **Mode** dropdown menu to select **Absolute** or **Percent**. - In the **Steps** section, configure the threshold steps. Each step contains a threshold value and color. - Click **+ Add step** to add another threshold. Enter the value at which the step begins, and then select the color used to represent that threshold. - Click **Remove** next to a step to delete it. In the **Legend** section, enable the **Show legend** toggle to display the chart legend. This toggle is disabled by default. When enabled, configure the legend using the following settings: - Click the **Position** dropdown menu to select **Bottom** or **Right**. The default is **Bottom**. - Click the **Mode** dropdown menu to select **List** or **Table**. The default is **List**. - If you select **Table**, use the **Legend columns** field to select the values displayed in the table, such as the mean or minimum value. In the **Query Settings** section, customize the appearance of individual queries. For each query, enable the **Use custom settings** toggle to override the chart’s default display settings for that query. This toggle is disabled by default. When enabled, configure the following: - Click the **Scale** dropdown menu to select **Linear** or **Logarithmic**. The default is **Linear**. - Click the **Units** dropdown menu to select how values for the query are displayed. - Enable the **Short values** toggle to abbreviate large values. This toggle is enabled by default. - Click the **Decimal places** dropdown menu to select **Default** or a value from `0` through `4`. The default is **Default**. - Click the **Color mode** dropdown menu to select **Fixed** or **Fixed Single**. The default is **Fixed**. - Click the **Color** field to select the color used for the query. - Click the **Line Style** dropdown menu to select **Solid**, **Dashes**, or **Dots**. The default is **Solid**. - In the **Area Opacity** field, enter the opacity of the area below the query line. The default is `0.15`. ## Stat Chart Stat displays a single calculated value. Use a stat chart to highlight a current value or summary, such as average CPU utilization. **Note**: Stat charts do not support configuring query settings separately for each query. In the **Data & Formatting** section, configure how the stat value is calculated and displayed: - Click the **Format** dropdown menu to select how values are displayed. - Click the **Decimal places** dropdown menu to select **Default** or a value from `0` through `4`. The default is **Default**. - Click the **Calculation** dropdown menu to select how the displayed value is calculated. In the **Visual style** section, configure how the stat chart appears: - Click the **Color mode** dropdown menu, and then select **None**, **Text**, or **Background**. The default is **Text**. - Click the **Font size** dropdown menu, and then select **Auto**, `18px`, `24px`, `32px`, `48px`, or `56px`. The default is **Auto**. - Enable **Sparkline** to display a small trend line for the metric behind the stat value. This is enabled by default. In the **Legend** section, click the **Legend mode** dropdown menu to select how to configure the chart legend: - **Auto** displays the legend for multiple series and hides it for a single series. This is the default. - **On** always displays the legend. - **Off** always hides the legend. In the **Threshold** section, configure visual thresholds for the stat value: - Click the **Mode** dropdown menu to select **Absolute** or **Percent**. - Click the **Default color** field to select the color used for values below the first configured threshold. - In the **Steps** section, configure the threshold steps. Each step contains a threshold value and color. - Click **+ Add step** to add another threshold. Enter the value at which the step begins, and then select the color used to represent that threshold. - Click **Remove** next to a step to delete it. ## Gauge Chart Gauge displays a value relative to a defined range or thresholds. Use a gauge to quickly determine whether a metric is within an expected range. **Note**: Gauge charts do not support configuring query settings separately for each query. In the **Data & Formatting** section, configure how the gauge value is calculated and displayed: - Click the **Format** dropdown menu to select how values are displayed. - Click the **Decimal places** dropdown menu to select **Default** or a value from `0` through `4`. The default is **Default**. - Click the **Calculation** dropdown menu to select how the displayed value is calculated. - In the **Max Value** field, enter the maximum value represented by the gauge. The default is **Auto**. In the **Threshold** section, configure visual thresholds for the gauge value: - Click the **Mode** dropdown menu to select **Absolute** or **Percent**. - Click the **Default color** field to select the color used for values below the first configured threshold. - In the **Steps** section, configure the threshold steps. Each step contains a threshold value and color. - Click **+ Add step** to add another threshold. Enter the value at which the step begins, and then select the color used to represent that threshold. - Click **Remove** next to a step to delete it. In the **Legend** section, enable the **Show legend** toggle to display the chart legend. This toggle is disabled by default. ## Bar Chart Bar chart displays metric values as bars. Use a bar chart to compare values across resources or groups. **Note**: Bar charts do not support configuring query settings separately for each query. In the **Data & Formatting** section, configure how the bar chart values are calculated and displayed: - Click the **Format** dropdown menu to select how values are displayed. - Click the **Decimal places** dropdown menu to select **Default** or a value from `0` through `4`. The default is **Default**. - Click the **Calculation** dropdown menu to select how the displayed value is calculated. - Click the **Sort** dropdown menu to select **Ascending** or **Descending**. The default is **Descending**. - Click the **Mode** dropdown menu to select **Value** or **Percentage**. The default is **Value**. - Click the **Orientation** dropdown menu to select **Horizontal** or **Vertical**. The default is **Horizontal**. ## Pie Chart Pie chart displays metric values as portions of a whole. Use a pie chart to compare the relative proportions of values across resources or groups. **Note**: Pie charts do not support configuring query settings separately for each query. In the **Data & Formatting** section, configure how the pie chart values are calculated and displayed: - Click the **Calculation** dropdown menu to select how the displayed value is calculated. - Click the **Format** dropdown menu to select how values are displayed. - Enable the **Short values** toggle to abbreviate large values. This toggle is enabled by default. - Click the **Decimal places** dropdown menu to select **Default** or a value from `0` through `4`. The default is **Default**. - Click the **Sort** dropdown menu to select **Ascending** or **Descending**. The default is **Descending**. - Click the **Mode** dropdown menu to select **Value** or **Percentage**. The default is **Value**. - Enable the **Show labels** toggle to display labels on the pie chart. This toggle is disabled by default. In the **Legend** section, enable the **Show legend** toggle to display the chart legend. This toggle is enabled by default. When enabled, configure the legend using the following settings: - Click the **Position** dropdown menu to select **Bottom** or **Right**. The default is **Right**. - Click the **Mode** dropdown menu to select **List** or **Table**. The default is **List**. - If you select **Table**, use the **Legend columns** field to select the values displayed in the table, such as the mean or minimum value. ## Log Table Chart Log table displays log data in a table. Use a log table to review individual log entries and their associated fields. In the **Limits** section, to configure how many log entries the table displays, in the **Max log entries** field, enter the maximum number of log entries to display. The default is `500`. In the bottom-left, in the **Table Settings** section, configure which log entries appear in the table and which columns are displayed. In the **Filters** section, click **+ Add filter** to configure which log entries appear in the table. Then, configure the filter using the following settings: - In the **Label** field, enter the field or attribute you want to filter by. - Click the **Operator** dropdown menu to select `=`, **in**, `>`, `>=`, `<`, or `<=`. - In the **Value** field, enter the value to compare against. - To remove a filter, click the trash icon next to it. To delete all filters, click **Clear all**. In the **Columns** section, click the checkboxes to show or hide the **Body**, **Timestamp**, and **Severity** columns. **Note**: You cannot reorder the **Timestamp** column. ## Markdown Chart Markdown displays formatted text on the dashboard. Use a Markdown chart to add descriptions, instructions, links, or other contextual information. In the bottom-left, use the **Markdown text** field to enter content using Markdown syntax. For example: ```markdown ## Production API Monitor the health of the production environment and review related metrics before deploying changes. ``` The chart preview displays the rendered Markdown as you configure the chart. For more information about Markdown syntax, see the [Markdown Guide](https://www.markdownguide.org/). ### Configure a Query For metric chart types, the bottom-left panel contains the chart’s queries. Each metric chart must contain at least one query. A query determines which metric data the chart retrieves and how that data is filtered, calculated, aggregated, and grouped. **Note**: Log table and Markdown charts do not use metric queries. In the **Mode** section, select one of the following: - **Visual builder** lets you construct a metric query using Control Panel fields and controls without writing PromQL. - **PromQL** lets you write the query directly using Prometheus Query Language (PromQL). ### Use Visual Builder In the **Visual builder** tab, you can build a metric query by selecting a metric, applying filters, and configuring aggregation and grouping options. In the **Metric** field, enter or select the metric you want to query. To change the selected metric, click **x** next to it, and then select another metric. In the **Filters** section, click **+ Filter** to filter the metric by label values. In the **Calculate over** section, select the time window used for the calculation: `1m`, `2m`, `5m`, or `10m`. The default is `5m`. In the **Aggregate as** section, select **None**, **sum**, **avg**, **min**, or **max**. The default is **sum**. In the **Group by** section, click **+ Group by**, and then enter or select a label, such as `__resource_type__`. To remove a label, click **x** next to it. To remove all groups, click **Clear all**. In the **Legend** field, enter the text displayed for the query in the chart legend and tooltip. Use `{{label_name}}` to interpolate label values. For example, `{{__resource_type__}}`. The **PromQL Preview** field displays the PromQL generated from your Visual builder configuration. This field is read-only. For example: ```promql sum by (__resource_type__)( increase({ __name__="do.droplets.cpu.utilization", __resource_type__!="standard" }[5m]) ) ``` ### Use PromQL Use the **PromQL** tab when you want to write the metric query directly instead of using the **Visual builder**. PromQL, or Prometheus Query Language, is a query language for selecting and calculating time-series data. You can use it to filter metrics by labels, aggregate series, perform calculations over time ranges, and combine metric data. In the **PromQL** field, enter a valid PromQL expression. For information about PromQL syntax and query expressions, see the [Prometheus querying documentation](https://prometheus.io/docs/prometheus/latest/querying/basics/). In the **Legend** field, enter the text displayed for the query in the chart legend and tooltip. Use `{{label_name}}` to interpolate label values. For example, `{{__resource_type__}}`. To manage the chart’s queries, you can add new queries, configure existing queries, or remove queries you no longer need: - Click **Clone query** to create a copy of the current query. Use this when you want to create a similar query and modify only some of its settings. - To add another query, click **+** next to the existing query tabs. - Click **Delete query** to remove the selected query. ### Add Links In the **Links** section, add links to related resources, dashboards, or other destinations. To add a link, click **+ Add link**, and then in the **URL** field, enter the destination URL. In the **Name (optional)** field, enter a name for the link. In the **Tooltip (optional)** field, enter the text displayed when users hover over the link, such as “View resource details”. Then, select the **Open in new tab** checkbox if you want to open the destination in a new browser tab. Then, select the **Render variables in URL** checkbox if you want to replace variables in the URL with their current dashboard values. If needed, click **Remove link** to delete the link. ### Finalize After creating a chart, click **Add chart**, and then you can reorder, resize, or copy it. To delete a chart, click the trash icon in the chart’s top-right corner. After organizing the chart within its group, click **Save** in the dashboard’s top bar. If the dashboard contains chart groups, new charts appear in the first group at the top of the dashboard by default. ## Set Up and Group Charts Optionally, organize related charts into groups to make larger dashboards easier to navigate. For example, you can create separate groups for compute, database, and network metrics. ### Add a Group To add a group to your dashboard, in the dashboard’s top bar, click **Add group**. ### Choose a Name To update the name, in the **New group** section, click **…** on the right, and then click **Edit** to open the **Edit group name** window. In the **Name** field, enter a descriptive name for the group, such as “Compute Metrics”. Then, click **Save**. ### Add a Chart to the Group To add a chart to the group, click **+ Add chart** on the right side of the group, and then [add a new chart](#add-a-chart). ### Manage a Group To manage a group, click **…** on the right side of the group, and then select one of the following: - Click **Clone** to create a copy of the group and its charts. - Click **Delete** to delete the group. After configuring your group, click **Save** in the dashboard’s top bar.