---
aliases:
- ../linking/data-link-variables/
- ../linking/data-links/
- ../panels/configure-data-links/
- ../reference/datalinks/
- ../variables/url-variables/
- ../variables/variable-types/url-variables/
keywords:
- grafana
- url variables
- variables
- data link
- documentation
- playlist
labels:
products:
- cloud
- enterprise
- oss
menuTitle: Configure data links and actions
title: Configure data links and actions
description: Configure data links to create links between dashboards and link to external resources
weight: 80
refs:
api-settings:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/canvas/#button-api-options
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana/latest/panels-visualizations/visualizations/canvas/#button-api-options
global-variables:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//dashboards/variables/add-template-variables/#__from-and-__to
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/dashboards/variables/add-template-variables/#__from-and-__to
heatmap:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/heatmap/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/heatmap/
templates-and-variables:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//dashboards/variables/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/dashboards/variables/
status-history:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/status-history/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/status-history/
bar-gauge:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/bar-gauge/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/bar-gauge/
canvas:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/canvas/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/canvas/
candlestick:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/candlestick/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/candlestick/
gauge:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/gauge/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/gauge/
google-cloud-monitoring:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//datasources/google-cloud-monitoring/query-editor/#deep-link-from-grafana-panels-to-the-google-cloud-console-metrics-explorer
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/connect-externally-hosted/data-sources/google-cloud-monitoring/query-editor/#deep-link-from-grafana-panels-to-the-google-cloud-console-metrics-explorer
state-timeline:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/state-timeline/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/state-timeline/
xy-chart:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/xy-chart/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/xy-chart/
trend:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/trend/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/trend/
geomap:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/geomap/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/geomap/
stat:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/stat/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/stat/
time-series:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/time-series/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/time-series/
cloudwatch:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//datasources/aws-cloudwatch/query-editor/#deep-link-grafana-panels-to-the-cloudwatch-console-1
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/connect-externally-hosted/data-sources/aws-cloudwatch/query-editor/#deep-link-grafana-panels-to-the-cloudwatch-console-1
table:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/table/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/table/
histogram:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/histogram/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/histogram/
pie-chart:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/pie-chart/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/pie-chart/
bar-chart:
- pattern: /docs/grafana/
destination: /docs/grafana//panels-visualizations/visualizations/bar-chart/
- pattern: /docs/grafana-cloud/
destination: /docs/grafana-cloud/visualizations/panels-visualizations/visualizations/bar-chart/
---
# Configure data links and actions
_Data links_ allow you to link to other panels, dashboards, and external resources and _actions_ let you trigger basic, unauthenticated, API calls.
In both cases, you can carry out these tasks while maintaining the context of the source panel.
## Data links
With data links, you can create links that include the series name or even the value under the cursor. For example, if your visualization shows four servers, you can add a data link to one or two of them.
The link itself is accessible in different ways depending on the visualization. For the time series visualization you need to click a data point or line:

For visualizations like stat, gauge, or bar gauge you can click anywhere on the visualization to open the context menu:

If there's only one data link in the visualization, clicking anywhere on the visualization opens the link rather than the context menu.
### Supported visualizations
You can configure data links for the following visualizations:
{{< column-list >}}
- [Bar chart](ref:bar-chart)
- [Bar gauge](ref:bar-gauge)
- [Candlestick](ref:candlestick)
- [Canvas](ref:canvas)
- [Gauge](ref:gauge)
- [Geomap](ref:geomap)
- [Heatmap](ref:heatmap)
- [Histogram](ref:histogram)
- [Pie chart](ref:pie-chart)
- [Stat](ref:stat)
- [State timeline](ref:state-timeline)
- [Status history](ref:status-history)
- [Table](ref:table)
- [Time series](ref:time-series)
- [Trend](ref:trend)
- [XY chart](ref:xy-chart)
{{< /column-list >}}
## Actions
Using actions, you can trigger processes like starting or shutting down a server, directly from a dashboard panel. [API settings](ref:api-settings) are configured in the **Add action** dialog box. You can also pass variables in the API editor.
### Supported visualizations
You can configure actions for the following visualizations:
{{< column-list >}}
- [Bar chart](ref:bar-chart)
- [Candlestick](ref:candlestick)
- [State timeline](ref:state-timeline)
- [Status history](ref:status-history)
- [Table](ref:table)
- [Time series](ref:time-series)
- [Trend](ref:trend)
- [XY chart](ref:xy-chart)
{{< /column-list >}}
## Data link and action variables {#data-link-variables}
Variables in data links and actions let you send people to a detailed dashboard or trigger an API call with preserved data filters. For example, you could use variables to specify a label, time range, series, or variable selection.
To see a list of available variables, enter `$` in the data link or action **URL** field.
{{< admonition type="note" >}}
These variables changed in 6.4 so if you have an older version of Grafana, then use the version picker to select docs for an older version of Grafana.
{{< /admonition >}}
Azure Monitor, [CloudWatch](ref:cloudwatch), and [Google Cloud Monitoring](ref:google-cloud-monitoring) have pre-configured data links called _deep links_.
You can also use template variables in your data links or actions URLs. For more information, refer to [Templates and variables](ref:templates-and-variables).
### Time range panel variables
These variables allow you to include the current time range in the data link or action URL:
| Variable | Description |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `__url_time_range` | Current dashboard's time range (for example, `?from=now-6h&to=now`) |
| `__from` | For more information, refer to [Global variables](ref:global-variables). |
| `__to` | For more information, refer to [Global variables](ref:global-variables). |
When you create data links and actions using time range variables like `__url_time_range` in the URL, you have to form the query parameter syntax yourself; that is, you must format the URL by appending query parameters using the question mark (`?`) and ampersand (`&`) syntax. These characters aren't automatically generated.
### Series variables
Series-specific variables are available under `__series` namespace:
| Variable | Description |
| --------------- | ---------------------- |
| `__series.name` | Series name to the URL |
### Field variables
Field-specific variables are available under `__field` namespace:
| Variable | Description |
| ------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `__field.name` | The name of the field |
| `__field.labels.
To add a variable, click in the **URL** field and enter `$` or press Ctrl+Space or Cmd+Space to see a list of available variables. |
| Variables | **Key** and **Name** pairs with a type selection. Click the **+** icon to add as many variables as you need. To add a variable to the request, prefix the key with `$`. You can set the values for the variables when performing an action. |
| Query parameters | **Key** and **Value** pairs. Click the **+** icon to add as many key/value pairs as you need. |
| Headers | Comprised of **Key** and **Value** pairs and a **Content-Type**.
Click the **+** icon to add as many key/value pairs as you need. |
| Content-Type | Select from the following: **application/json**, **text/plain**, **application/XML**, and **application/x-www-form-urlencoded**. |
| Body | The body of the request. |
1. Click **Save** to save changes and close the dialog box.
1. Click **Save dashboard**.
1. Click **Back to dashboard** and then **Exit edit**.
{{< /tab-content >}}
{{< /tabs >}}
If you add multiple data links or actions, you can control the order in which they appear in the visualization. To do this, click and drag the data link or action to the desired position.