> ## 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.

# JSON representation format

Panels are part of the JSON representation of the Chronosphere dashboard that contains
them. In a JSON representation of a dashboard, Chronosphere models a time series
chart panel as a `plugin` of `"kind": "TimeSeriesChart"`.

This is the minimal representation of a time series chart panel, which results in
an empty panel with no name, no defined query, and default settings:

```json theme={null}
{
  "kind": "Panel",
  "spec": {
    "display": {
      "name": ""
    },
    "plugin": {
      "kind": "TimeSeriesChart",
      "spec": {}
    },
    "queries": [],
    "links": []
  }
}
```

As an example, this is the panel representation for visualizing jobs in your Chronosphere
instance by cardinality, as used by the Cardinality Overview
[Chronosphere-managed dashboard](/observe/dashboards/managed-dashboards):

```json theme={null}
{
  "kind": "Panel",
  "spec": {
    "display": {
      "name": "Top $topX jobs by cardinality | Namespace: $namespace"
    },
    "plugin": {
      "kind": "TimeSeriesChart",
      "spec": {
        "legend": {
          "mode": "List",
          "position": "Bottom",
          "values": []
        },
        "visual": {},
        "y_axis": {
          "unit": {
            "abbreviate": true,
            "kind": "Decimal"
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "queries": [
      {
        "kind": "DataQuery",
        "spec": {
          "plugin": {
            "kind": "PrometheusTimeSeriesQuery",
            "spec": {
              "query": "topk($topX, cardinality_estimate({namespace=~\"$namespace\", job!=\"\"}) by (job))",
              "series_name_format": "{{job}}"
            }
          }
        }
      }
    ],
    "links": []
  }
}
```

It uses [dashboard variables](/observe/dashboards/customization/dashboard-variables) to define how many
jobs to render and from which namespace.

To summarize, this JSON representation:

* Defines a panel (`"kind": "Panel"`).
* Defines the panel's name (`spec.display.name`), including
  [dashboard variables](/observe/dashboards/customization/dashboard-variables) (`$topX`, `$namespace`).
* Adds a legend (`plugin.spec.legend`) and defines it as a `List` oriented to the
  `Bottom` of the chart.
* Configures the Y axis (`spec.plugin.spec.y_axis`) to use abbreviated
  (`"abbreviate": true`) `Decimal` units.
* Defines a `PrometheusTimeSeriesQuery` and a series alias (`series_name_format`)
  for the returned time series, using dashboard variables.