Filter Variables

Filter Variables make dashboards interactive. They let you and your team drill into specific data—a particular client, date range, or status—without editing individual widgets.

What is a Filter Variable?

A Filter Variable is a dropdown or input in the filter bar at the top of your dashboard. When someone changes the value, every connected widget updates instantly.

Common examples

Date Picker: Filter to “Last 7 Days” or “This Quarter”
Customer Dropdown: Show data for a specific client during a meeting
Status Toggle: Switch between “Open” and “Closed” tickets across the whole dashboard

Creating a Filter Variable

Open a dashboard and click the Edit icon
Click Filter Variables in the top toolbar
Click + Add Variable
Configure it:
- Name: Label users will see (e.g., “Select Client”)
- Type: String, Number, Date, or Boolean
- Mode: Single Select, Multi Select, or Range
- Dataset: The dataset containing filter values
- Column: The specific field (e.g., company_name)
Set Defaults: Choose the initial value when the dashboard loads
Click Save Variable

Connecting widgets to variables

Creating the variable adds it to the filter bar, but you still need to link your widgets.

Hover over a widget and click Edit
Scroll to Filter Variables in the widget editor
You’ll see all Filter Variables on the dashboard
Map the Variable: Choose which column in this widget’s dataset should be filtered
- Example: Map “Select Client” to the client_id column
Click Save & Close

Filter chip display

Each filter variable appears as a chip in the dashboard filter bar. The chip label shows the current selection state.

Single-select mode

State	Chip label
No explicit selection (default)	`Variable Name: <first value>`
One value selected	`Variable Name: <value name>`
No values available	`Variable Name: None`

When a single-select variable has no explicit selection saved, it defaults to the first value in the list. For dynamic filter variables, values are sorted alphabetically before the first value is picked.

Multi-select mode

State	Chip label
All values selected (or no explicit selection)	`Variable Name: All`
Some values selected	`Variable Name: X selected`
No values selected (explicit empty state)	`Variable Name: None`
Exactly one value selected	`Variable Name: <value name>`

Value ordering for dynamic variables

Dynamic filter variable values are sorted alphabetically (case-insensitive) when loaded. Text values sort A–Z, numbers sort numerically, and dates sort chronologically. Items with identical display labels preserve their original configured order relative to each other.

Type compatibility for dynamic variables

When you connect a Dynamic filter variable to a widget column, the system validates that the data types match. This prevents filter mismatches that would return no results.

How it works

Dynamic filter variables carry metadata about their source column data type. When you map a variable to a widget column, the picker checks compatibility:

String columns accept only dynamic variables from string source columns
Boolean columns accept only dynamic variables from boolean source columns
Number columns (integers or decimals) accept dynamic variables from numeric source columns
Date and datetime columns have no restrictions - they accept any dynamic variable

What you will see

Incompatible dynamic variables appear grayed out in the filter variable picker. You cannot select them. This enforcement happens automatically—you don’t need to guess which variables will work.

Example: If you have a dynamic variable pulling from a “Company Name” text column, it will be unavailable when filtering numeric columns like “Revenue” or boolean columns like “Is Active.”