grafana

Best Practices

• Organize panels into logical rows with descriptive titles
• Use template variables for datasource, namespace, and instance selection
• Set appropriate panel widths (24-column grid) and heights
• Use $__interval for auto-adjusting query resolution
• Include null value handling (connect null values, show zero)
• Set meaningful color thresholds for gauge and stat panels
• Use legends with relevant label values, not raw metric names
• Add panel descriptions explaining what each metric represents
• Use dashboard links for cross-referencing related dashboards
• Set refresh interval appropriate to the monitoring use case (5s-5m)
• Apply consistent color schemes across related panels
• Use overrides for per-series styling when needed
• Include annotations for deployment markers when applicable

Documentation Sources