> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.chronosphere.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Visualize dashboard contents with panels

*Chart panels*, also called *panels*, transform or filter the results of a query
and visualize them.

For details about panels, see the
[Grafana documentation](https://grafana.com/docs/grafana/v7.5/panels/add-a-panel/).

## Add panels to a dashboard

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Web" id="add-panels-to-a-dashboard-web">
    To add a panel to a dashboard:

    1. Open the dashboard.
    2. Click the **Add Panel** icon, styled as a bar chart with a plus sign (+) icon.
    3. In the placeholder panel that appears, click **Add new panel**.

    After adding your panels, click the **Save dashboard** button to save your
    changes.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Chronoctl" id="add-panels-to-a-dashboard-chronoctl">
    To define panels for a dashboard from [Chronoctl](/tooling/chronoctl)
    YAML, such as the output of `chronoctl dashboards read <slug>`, use the `apply` command.

    1. Submit a YAML-defined dashboard to Chronosphere with the Chronoctl `apply` command.

       ```shell theme={null}
       chronoctl apply -f dashboard.yaml
       ```
    2. Confirm that Chronosphere accepted the dashboard by using the `dashboards read`
       command.

       ```shell /SLUG/ theme={null}
       chronoctl dashboards read SLUG
       ```

       Replace *`SLUG`* with the `slug` value you provided in the dashboard definition.

    <Note>
      Users can modify Terraform-managed resources only by using Terraform.
      [Learn more](/tooling/infrastructure/terraform#prevent-changes-to-managed-resources).
    </Note>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Edit a panel

You can customize the features of each panel in your dashboards in its *panel editor*.

To access the panel editor:

1. Click the panel's title to open its controls.
2. Click **Edit** to open the panel editor.

From the panel editor, you can change a panel's [query](#change-a-panels-query),
[visualization type](#change-a-panels-type), and
[data source](#change-a-panels-data-source).

Grafana provides many options and controls in the panel editor that aren't documented
in this guide. For details, see the
[Grafana documentation](https://grafana.com/docs/grafana/v7.5/panels/panel-editor/).

### Change a panel's type

A panel's *type* defines its visualization method. By default, a new panel is of the Graph
type. For a list of core panel types, see the
[Grafana documentation](https://grafana.com/docs/grafana/v7.5/panels/visualizations/).

To change the panel's type:

1. Open the panel's editor.
2. Click **Show options**.
3. Select a type under the **Visualizations** section.
4. Optional: Click **Apply** to save any panel type changes and exit the panel
   editor.

### Change a panel's data source

A panel's *data source* defines what the panel queries for the data that it visualizes. By
default, a new panel queries the Chronosphere Prometheus data source. If you're ingesting
metrics from Graphite, change the data source to **Chronosphere Graphite**.

To change the panel's data source:

1. Open the panel's editor.
2. In the **Query** tab, click the data source dropdown.
3. Select a data source.
4. Optional: Click **Apply** to save any data source changes and exit the panel editor.

### Change a panel's query

To populate the panel with data from the selected data source, you write queries
in the panel editor's query editor. The query editor interface can change based
on the panel's data source.

To change the query for the default Chronosphere Prometheus data source:

1. Open the panel's editor.
2. In the **Query** tab, enter PromQL expressions in the **Query** field.

   The visualization preview changes as you edit the query. If the query results
   in an error, a **!** tab appears in the visualization preview's title bar that
   provides the error message when you hold the pointer over it.
3. Optional: Customize the query's presentation by editing the fields beneath the
   query.
4. Optional: Add additional queries by clicking the **+ Query** button.
5. Optional: Click **Apply** to save any query changes and exit the panel editor.

For details about writing queries, read the
[querying documentation](/investigate/querying).

Observability Platform also includes an interactive [Query Builder](/investigate/querying/metrics/builder)
that you can use to construct, optimize, and debug queries before saving, using,
and sharing them with your team.

<Note>
  The dashboard edit screen might suggest using a `rate()` function when querying
  metrics. However, Chronosphere recommends using `rate()` only with Counter panels.

  Although this message is relevant only with Counter panels, it sometimes appears
  when editing Gauge panels. Grafana suggests using `rate()` based on the metric
  name and keywords, such as `count` and `total`, even when it's inappropriate for
  a panel type.

  Also, be aware that the Grafana special variable `$__rate_interval` has unique
  behavior that might not be compatible with the Chronosphere Prometheus data source's
  scrape interval. Chronosphere recommends using a separate `$interval` variable
  instead.
</Note>

### Exit the panel editor

To save changes to a panel and exit the panel editor, click **Apply**.

To save changes to both the panel and dashboard, and then exit the panel editor,
click **Save**.

To exit the panel editor without saving changes, click **Discard**.

## Save changes to a dashboard

To save changes to a dashboard's panels and layout from the dashboard view:

1. Click **Save dashboard**, represented by a disk icon.
2. Optional: If you changed the dashboard's time range and want to save it as the
   default range, select **Save current time range as dashboard default**.
3. Optional: In the **Save dashboard** dialog, describe the change.
4. Click **Save**.