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Adding data links

Data links let you navigate from the overview panel to detailed dashboards. When configured, a link icon appears next to field names — clicking it opens the target dashboard with context (host name, container name, time range, etc.) passed through URL parameters.

Dashboard URLs and IDs

Data link URLs follow the pattern /d/<uid>/<slug>?<parameters>. The <uid> is the unique identifier assigned to a dashboard by Grafana — you can find it in the dashboard's URL when viewing it in the browser, or in the dashboard JSON under the "uid" field.

The var-<name>=<value> query parameters set dashboard variables on the target dashboard, so it opens filtered to the right host or container.

In the examples below we use UIDs from two community dashboards bundled with this plugin's dev environment:

Note

Dashboard UIDs are specific to each Grafana instance. If you're linking to your own dashboards, replace the UIDs in the examples with the actual UIDs from your Grafana setup.

We'll link each host group to a Node Exporter dashboard so users can drill down into host-level metrics.

Add a field override for the host field. Under Data links, add a link:

  • Title: Node exporter dashboard

  • URL:

    /d/rYdddlPWk?var-nodename=${__data.fields.host}&${__url_time_range}

  • Enable Open in new tab if you want the detail dashboard to open in a separate browser tab.

Data link override for host field

Next, we'll link each container cell to a Docker dashboard.

Add a field override for the name field. Under Data links, add a link:

  • Title: Docker dashboard

  • URL:

    /d/gd2l5d?var-instance=${__data.fields.instance}&var-name=${__data.fields.name}&${__url_time_range}

Data link override for name field

Result

You should now see link icons in the panel. The host link appears next to each group title, and the container link appears in the tooltip when you hover over a cell.

Panel with data links

Any field can have data links configured via field overrides. The link icon shows up wherever that field is rendered in the panel:

Location Which fields How it looks
Group title The group key field (e.g. host) Link icon next to the group heading.
Tooltip / card title The ID field and the title field (when set to a real field, not a custom pattern) Link icons next to the title text. Links from both fields are merged.
Field rows Any field or joined field shown as a display entry, including the status field Link icon next to the field label in tooltips, rich table cards, and group headers.

Template variables

Use Grafana template variables in link URLs to pass context from the current row:

Variable Description
${__data.fields.<name>} Value of a field in the current row (e.g. ${__data.fields.host}).
${__url_time_range} Current dashboard time range as URL parameters (from=...&to=...).

See the Grafana data links documentation for the full reference.