Dashboard Design Standards

Beginner

Enforce consistent Grafana dashboard design — panel layout, naming conventions, variable requirements, documentation panels, and RED/USE methodology compliance.

File Patterns

**/grafana/dashboards/**/*.json**/grafana/provisioning/**/*.yaml

This rule applies to files matching the patterns above.

Rule Content

rule-content.md

# Dashboard Design Standards

## Rule
All Grafana dashboards MUST follow the RED/USE method, include template variables, have documentation panels, and use consistent naming and layout patterns.

## Dashboard Structure
```
Row 1: Golden Signals (Rate, Errors, Duration)
Row 2: Resource Utilization (CPU, Memory, Disk, Network)
Row 3: Application-Specific Metrics
Row 4: Logs and Events (collapsed by default)
```

## Required Template Variables
Every dashboard MUST include:
- `environment` — production, staging, development
- `namespace` or `service` — filter by service
- `interval` — query range variable (`$__interval`, 1m, 5m, 15m)

## Naming Conventions
| Item | Convention | Example |
|------|-----------|---------|
| Dashboard title | Service - Category | "API Service - Overview" |
| Panel title | Metric Description | "Request Rate by Endpoint" |
| Folder | Team or Domain | "Backend", "Infrastructure" |
| Variable | camelCase | `environment`, `serviceName` |

## Panel Requirements
- Meaningful title (not "Panel 1")
- Y-axis unit configured (req/s, %, bytes, ms)
- Legend with template labels
- Threshold colors: green (ok), yellow (warning), red (critical)
- Description field explaining what the panel shows

## Documentation
Every dashboard MUST have a text panel at the top with:
- What this dashboard monitors
- Who owns the service
- Link to runbook/wiki
- How to escalate issues

## Examples

### Good
- RED panels at top, resource panels below
- Template variables for environment and service
- Units on all Y-axes
- Documentation panel with runbook links

### Bad
- 50+ panels with no organization
- Hardcoded namespace/service names
- No units on axes (raw numbers)
- No documentation panel

## Enforcement
Review dashboards JSON in PRs.
Use provisioning to enforce consistent structure.

FAQ

Discussion

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# Dashboard Design Standards ## Rule All Grafana dashboards MUST follow the RED/USE method, include template variables, have documentation panels, and use consistent naming and layout patterns. ## Dashboard Structure ``` Row 1: Golden Signals (Rate, Errors, Duration) Row 2: Resource Utilization (CPU, Memory, Disk, Network) Row 3: Application-Specific Metrics Row 4: Logs and Events (collapsed by default) ``` ## Required Template Variables Every dashboard MUST include: - `environment` — production, staging, development - `namespace` or `service` — filter by service - `interval` — query range variable (`$__interval`, 1m, 5m, 15m) ## Naming Conventions | Item | Convention | Example | |------|-----------|---------| | Dashboard title | Service - Category | "API Service - Overview" | | Panel title | Metric Description | "Request Rate by Endpoint" | | Folder | Team or Domain | "Backend", "Infrastructure" | | Variable | camelCase | `environment`, `serviceName` | ## Panel Requirements - Meaningful title (not "Panel 1") - Y-axis unit configured (req/s, %, bytes, ms) - Legend with template labels - Threshold colors: green (ok), yellow (warning), red (critical) - Description field explaining what the panel shows ## Documentation Every dashboard MUST have a text panel at the top with: - What this dashboard monitors - Who owns the service - Link to runbook/wiki - How to escalate issues ## Examples ### Good - RED panels at top, resource panels below - Template variables for environment and service - Units on all Y-axes - Documentation panel with runbook links ### Bad - 50+ panels with no organization - Hardcoded namespace/service names - No units on axes (raw numbers) - No documentation panel ## Enforcement Review dashboards JSON in PRs. Use provisioning to enforce consistent structure.