Add Options list and Range slider controls to dashboards

Add interactive controls to your dashboards to help viewers filter data without writing queries. This page covers how to add, edit, and remove Options list and Range slider controls.

To add other control types, refer to Add time slider controls or Add variable controls.

To add Options list and Range slider controls to a dashboard, you need:

• All privilege for the Dashboard feature in Kibana
• An existing dashboard open in Edit mode
• A data view configured with fields available for filtering

A dashboard can hold up to 1,000 top-level items (panels, unpinned controls, and sections) and, separately, up to 100 controls pinned to the top of the dashboard. For the exact limits, refer to Panel limits.

To add interactive Options list and Range slider controls, create the controls, then add them to your dashboard.

1. Open or create a dashboard.

2. Open the Create control flyout:

   • In Edit mode, select Add → Controls → Control.
   • In Edit mode, select Controls → Add control in the dashboard toolbar.

3. Choose how to populate the values available in the control:

   • Select a field: base the control on a data view field. The control offers the values found in that field.

     1. From the Data view dropdown, select the data view that contains the field you want to use.
     2. In the Field list, select the field you want to filter on.

   • Write a query: populate the control with the results of an ES|QL query. Use this for high-cardinality fields, where listing every value isn't practical, or when you want to filter or otherwise shape the values the control offers.

     1. Write an ES|QL query that returns a single column. The column determines the field the control filters on and the values it offers. Use a command such as STATS BY to return a single column.
     2. Run the query to preview the values it returns under Values preview. If the query returns more than one column, select a column or narrow the query. If it returns no values, edit the query and run it again.
     Tip

     Because the values come from a query, you can also chain the control to a variable control by referencing its variable with the ?variable_name syntax.

4. Under Control type, select Options list or Range slider. Range sliders are only compatible with numeric fields. The slider's minimum and maximum come from the data: the field's values, or the query results if you populate it with a query.

5. Configure how the control looks and behaves. You can give it a clearer label, allow single or multiple selections, adjust how its search matches values, and set whether it chains with other controls. The available settings depend on the control type. For the complete list, refer to Dashboard control settings.

6. Select Save to add the control to the dashboard. The control appears right away in Edit mode, where you can test it and adjust its settings before viewers see it.

7. Choose where the control appears. New controls are pinned to the top of the dashboard by default, where they apply to all panels. To move a control into the dashboard body, hover over the control and select Unpin. To move it back, select Pin to dashboard. Once unpinned, you can move, resize, and arrange the control on the dashboard like any other panel, including placing it inside a collapsible section to scope it to that section's panels. Placement changes which panels a control filters. For details, refer to How controls affect the dashboard.

8. Save the dashboard. The control becomes a permanent part of it, and viewers can use it to filter the relevant panels.

After adding a control to your dashboard, you can change its settings, clear its values, move it, adjust its width, or delete it. How you access these actions depends on whether the control is pinned:

• When pinned, hover over the control to reveal its action icons.
• When unpinned, hover over the control to reveal its action icons, or open its panel menu, which adds standard panel actions such as Duplicate and Copy to dashboard.