Insights & Analytics

Create custom dashboards with panels to visualize and analyze your data

Insights is Directus’s built-in analytics module that lets you create custom dashboards with various visualization panels. Monitor metrics, track trends, and gain insights into your content without external tools.

Overview

The Insights module provides:

• Custom Dashboards - Create multiple dashboards for different purposes
• Visual Panels - 12+ panel types for data visualization
• Real-time Data - Panels update automatically with your latest data
• Flexible Layouts - Drag-and-drop panels to arrange your dashboard
• Filters & Variables - Make dashboards interactive and dynamic

Insights requires read permissions on both the directus_dashboards and directus_panels collections.

Accessing Insights

Click the Insights icon in the sidebar navigation to access the Insights module.

You’ll see:

• Dashboard List - All dashboards you have access to
• Create Dashboard button - Add new dashboards
• Search - Find dashboards by name

Creating a Dashboard

To create your first dashboard:

1. Click Create Dashboard

   Click the + button in the top right of the Insights overview.

2. Configure dashboard details

   Enter:

   • Name - Dashboard title
   • Icon - Icon to display (optional)
   • Color - Color theme (optional)
   • Note - Description or notes (optional)
3. Save the dashboard

   Click Save to create your dashboard.

You’ll be taken to the empty dashboard where you can start adding panels.

Adding Panels

Panels are the building blocks of your dashboards. Each panel displays a specific metric or visualization.

Create a Panel

1. Open a dashboard
2. Click Edit to enter edit mode
3. Click the + button to add a panel
4. Select a panel type
5. Configure the panel options
6. Position and resize the panel
7. Click Save to save your changes

Panel Types

Directus includes these built-in panel types:

Metric

Display a single numeric value with aggregate functions like count, sum, average, min, or max. Perfect for KPIs and key metrics.

Use cases: Total users, revenue sum, average order value

Label

Show static text or markdown content. Use for titles, instructions, or notes.

Use cases: Dashboard headers, explanatory text

List

Display a list of items from a collection with customizable fields.

Use cases: Recent orders, top products, latest posts

Line Chart

Visualize trends over time with a line graph.

Use cases: Sales over time, user growth, page views by date

Bar Chart

Compare values across categories with vertical or horizontal bars.

Use cases: Sales by category, items by status, regional comparisons

Pie Chart

Show proportions and percentages in a circular graph.

Use cases: Market share, status distribution, category breakdown

Metric List

Display multiple metrics in a list format.

Use cases: Multiple KPIs, comparison metrics

Time Series

Advanced time-based visualizations with multiple data series.

Use cases: Complex trend analysis, multi-metric comparisons

Meter

Display progress toward a goal with a gauge visualization.

Use cases: Goal tracking, completion percentages, capacity meters

Configuring Panels

When creating or editing a panel, you’ll configure:

Data Source

• Collection - Choose which collection to query
• Field - Select the field to aggregate or display
• Function - Choose aggregate function (count, sum, avg, min, max, first, last)
• Filter - Apply filters to limit which items are included
• Sort Field - For first/last functions, specify sorting

Style & Format

Customize how your data appears:

• Prefix/Suffix - Add symbols like $ or %
• Number Style - Decimal, currency, percent, or unit
• Notation - Standard, scientific, engineering, or compact
• Decimals - Set minimum and maximum decimal places
• Conditional Formatting - Change color based on value thresholds
• Text Alignment - Start, center, end, or justify
• Font Style - Weight, style, size, and family

Panel Header

• Show Header - Toggle panel header visibility
• Name - Panel title
• Icon - Panel icon
• Color - Panel accent color
• Note - Description shown in header

Editing Dashboards

To modify an existing dashboard:

1. Open the dashboard
2. Click Edit in the top right to enter edit mode
3. Make your changes:
   • Add panels - Click the + button
   • Edit panels - Click a panel to modify settings
   • Move panels - Drag panels to reposition
   • Resize panels - Drag panel corners to resize
   • Delete panels - Click the trash icon
   • Duplicate panels - Click the copy icon
4. Click Save to save your changes

All panel changes are saved together. Click Save before leaving edit mode or changes will be lost.

Dashboard Options

Click the menu icon (three dots) on a dashboard for these actions:

• Edit Dashboard - Change name, icon, color, or notes
• Duplicate Dashboard - Create a copy with all panels
• Export Dashboard - Download dashboard and panel configuration as JSON
• Delete Dashboard - Permanently remove the dashboard

Viewing Mode

When not in edit mode, dashboards have special viewing features:

Zoom to Fit

Click the Fit to Screen button to automatically scale the dashboard to fit your screen size. Perfect for displaying dashboards on monitors or TVs.

Auto Refresh

Set up automatic dashboard refreshing:

1. Open the sidebar detail panel
2. Click Refresh Interval
3. Choose interval (10s, 30s, 1m, 5m, 15m, 30m, 1h)
4. Dashboard data will refresh automatically

Auto refresh is perfect for dashboards displayed on office monitors or status boards.

Manual Refresh

Click the refresh icon in the sidebar to manually reload all panel data.

Variables and Filters

Make dashboards interactive with variables:

Relational Variables

Create dropdown filters that update multiple panels:

1. Add a Relational Variable panel
2. Select a collection and field
3. Use the variable in other panel filters with {{variable_name}}
4. Users can select values to filter the entire dashboard

Example: Add a “Select Store” variable to filter all sales metrics by store location.

Variable Panel

Create custom input fields for filtering:

1. Add a Variable panel
2. Configure the variable name and default value
3. Reference it in other panels with {{variable_name}}

Sharing Dashboards

Permissions

Dashboards respect user permissions:

• Users can only see dashboards they have read permission for
• Panel data only shows items the user can access
• Admin users have full access to all dashboards

Export & Import

Export a dashboard:

1. Click the dashboard menu
2. Select Export
3. Save the JSON file

Import a dashboard:

1. Go to the Insights overview
2. Open the sidebar import panel
3. Upload the JSON file
4. Review and confirm the import

Exported dashboards include all panel configurations but not the actual data.

Best Practices

Organize dashboards by audience

Create separate dashboards for different teams or purposes:

• Executive dashboard with high-level KPIs
• Content team dashboard with publishing metrics
• Sales dashboard with revenue and conversion data

Use clear naming conventions

Name panels and dashboards descriptively:

• “Monthly Revenue” not “Metric 1”
• “Top 10 Products” not “Product List”
• “User Growth Dashboard” not “Dashboard 3”

Keep dashboards focused

Don’t overcrowd dashboards with too many panels:

• Focus on 4-8 key metrics per dashboard
• Group related metrics together
• Create multiple dashboards instead of one large one

Use conditional formatting

Make metrics easier to interpret with color:

• Green for positive/good values
• Red for negative/bad values
• Yellow/orange for warning thresholds

Next Steps

Dashboard Settings

Learn about configuring permissions and access control.

Content Module

Manage the data that powers your dashboards.