kibana-dashboards

name	kibana-dashboards
description	Create and manage Kibana Dashboards and Lens visualizations. Use when you need to define dashboards and visualizations declaratively, version control them, or automate their deployment.
metadata	{"author":"elastic","version":"0.1.0","source":"elastic/agent-skills//skills/kibana/kibana-dashboards"}

Kibana Dashboards and Visualizations

Declarative, Git-friendly format for defining dashboards and visualizations. Version Requirement: Kibana 9.4+ (SNAPSHOT).

Environment Configuration

export KIBANA_URL="https://your-kibana:5601"
export KIBANA_API_KEY="base64encodedapikey"

Test: node scripts/kibana-dashboards.js test

Basic Workflow

node scripts/kibana-dashboards.js dashboard get <id>
echo '<json>' | node scripts/kibana-dashboards.js dashboard create -
echo '<json>' | node scripts/kibana-dashboards.js dashboard update <id> -
node scripts/kibana-dashboards.js dashboard delete <id>
node scripts/kibana-dashboards.js lens list
node scripts/kibana-dashboards.js lens get <id>

Dashboard Definition

{
  "title": "My Dashboard",
  "panels": [
    {
      "type": "lens",
      "uid": "metric-panel",
      "grid": { "x": 0, "y": 0, "w": 12, "h": 6 },
      "config": {
        "attributes": {
          "title": "",
          "type": "metric",
          "dataset": { "type": "esql", "query": "FROM logs | STATS total = COUNT(*)" },
          "metrics": [{ "type": "primary", "operation": "value", "column": "total" }]
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "time_range": { "from": "now-24h", "to": "now" }
}

Grid System

48-column, infinite-row grid. Target 8-12 panels above the fold.

Width	Columns	Use Case
Full	48	Wide time series, tables
Half	24	Primary charts
Quarter	12	KPI metrics

Supported Chart Types

Type	Description
metric	Single metric value display
xy	Line, area, bar charts
gauge	Gauge visualizations
heatmap	Heatmap charts
datatable	Data tables
pie, donut, treemap, mosaic, waffle	Partition charts

Dataset Types

• dataView — Use aggregation operations. Kibana performs aggregations automatically.
• esql — Use ES|QL query. Reference output columns with { operation: 'value', column: 'col' }.
• index — Ad-hoc index patterns.

ES|QL Time Bucketing

Use BUCKET(@timestamp, 75, ?_tstart, ?_tend) for auto-scaling time buckets.

Guidelines

1. Design for density — 8-12 panels above the fold.
2. Never use Markdown panels for titles/headers.
3. Inline Lens definitions — Prefer config.attributes over config.savedObjectId.
4. Test connection first — Run node scripts/kibana-dashboards.js test.