---
title: Create a URL drilldown
description: Create a drilldown that opens a website from a panel, using a URL template and the value you select.
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/explore-analyze/dashboards/create-url-drilldown
products:
- Elastic Documentation
- Kibana
applies_to:
- Elastic Cloud Serverless: Generally available
- Elastic Stack: Generally available
---
# Create a URL drilldown
A URL drilldown opens a website from a panel. The URL can change with the dashboard time range, the dashboard filters, and the value you select. You build that URL with [variables](#url-template-variable). [URL template help](#url-templating-language) explains the syntax and the values you can insert.
Refer to [Drilldowns](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/explore-analyze/dashboards/drilldowns) to choose a drilldown type.
## Before you begin
To create a URL drilldown, you need:
- **All** privilege for the **Dashboard** feature in Kibana
- An existing dashboard with at least one panel that supports drilldowns
The following panel types support URL drilldowns:
- **Visualizations that use a data view**
- Elastic Cloud Serverless: Generally available Elastic Stack: Generally available since 9.4 **Visualizations based on an ES|QL query**
- **Vega** visualizations
- **Maps**
- **Image**
- **Discover** sessions
- Legacy Kibana visualization types, such as **TSVB**, **Aggregation-based**, and **Timelion**
A drilldown is compatible only with indexed fields. Fields created at query time are not supported. Refer to [Values that cannot open a drilldown](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/explore-analyze/dashboards/drilldowns#drilldowns-requirements).
## Triggers
The trigger is the interaction that runs the drilldown and decides which values the URL can use. When you create the drilldown, **Trigger** lists only the interactions the panel supports. If the panel supports one interaction, **Trigger** is already set and the list is hidden.
- **Single click**: One data point, such as a pie slice or a bar. The template can use `{{event.value}}` for the value and `{{event.key}}` for the field name. This trigger is available on visualizations that use a data view, visualizations based on an ES|QL query, and **Maps**.
- **Table row click**: A row in a table visualization that uses a data view or an ES|QL query. The template can use `{{event.values.[x]}}`, where `x` is the column number, starting at 0. `{{event.keys.[x]}}` is the field name, and `{{event.columnNames.[x]}}` is the column label.
- **Range selection**: A range of values on the visualization. The template can use `{{event.from}}` and `{{event.to}}`. This trigger is available on **Bar**, **Line**, **Area**, and **Heat map** visualizations, including those based on an ES|QL query, and on **Aggregation-based**, **TSVB**, and **Timelion** panels.
- **Context menu**: The drilldown name is in the `boxes_vertical` panel menu. The template uses dashboard variables, such as the time range and `{{context.panel.title}}`. This is the only URL trigger on **Vega** visualizations, **Discover** sessions, and **Gauge** visualizations.
- **Image click**: The image on an **Image** panel. The template uses dashboard variables, such as `{{context.panel.title}}`.
## Create the drilldown
This example adds a pie chart and a URL drilldown that opens a GitHub search for the slice you select. Follow it with the sample data, or use your own dashboard and data.
1. Add the [**Sample web logs**](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/manage-data/ingest/sample-data) data. This also adds the **[Logs] Web Traffic** dashboard.
2. Open the **[Logs] Web Traffic** dashboard and select **Edit**.
3. From the application menu, add a new visualization to the dashboard, then set the type to **Pie**.
4. Drag **machine.os.keyword** from **Available fields** to the workspace, then select **Save and return**.
5. Hover over the pie chart panel, open the `boxes_vertical` panel menu, then select `plus_in_circle` **Create drilldown**.
6. Select **Go to URL**.
1. In **Name**, enter a name. For example, `Show on GitHub`.
2. For **Trigger**, select **Single click**. [Triggers](#url-drilldown-triggers) describes the other interactions and the values each one provides.
3. To open Kibana issues on GitHub, enter this URL in **Enter URL**:
```text
https://github.com/elastic/kibana/issues?q=is:issue+is:open+{{event.value}}
```
Kibana replaces `{{event.value}}` with the pie slice you select.
4. Optional: Open **Additional options**. **Open URL in new tab** and **Encode URL** are already on. **Open URL in new tab** opens the site in a new browser tab. Turn it off to open the site in the same tab. **Encode URL** percent-encodes the URL after Kibana fills in the template.
5. Select **Create drilldown**.
7. Save the dashboard.
8. On the pie chart panel, select a slice, then select **Show on GitHub**.
The GitHub issues search opens with the slice value in the query. To pass the dashboard time range, the filters, or a table cell, use the templates in [Pass context and table values in the URL](#url-drilldown-examples).
## URL template help
The **Enter URL** field takes a URL template. The template is a normal URL with [Handlebars](https://ela.st/handlebars-docs#expressions) expressions where a value should change.
```text
https://github.com/elastic/kibana/issues?q={{event.value}}
```
An expression starts with `{{` and ends with `}}`. It contains a variable, a helper, or both. When the drilldown runs, Kibana replaces each expression with a value from the dashboard and from the interaction.
- [Variables](#url-template-variable) lists the values you can insert, such as the selected data point, the dashboard filters, and the Kibana base URL. The table groups them by source and by trigger.
- [Custom helpers](#_custom_helpers) format or encode a value before it goes into the URL, for example as a date, as JSON, or in rison.
- [Pass context and table values in the URL](#url-drilldown-examples) shows complete URLs for a calendar date, a Discover page, and a table cell.
Refer to the Handlebars [documentation](https://ela.st/handlebars-docs#expressions) for advanced use cases.
### Variables
The URL drilldown template has three sources for variables:
- **Global**: Static variables that do not change with the panel or the interaction. For example, `{{kibanaUrl}}`.
- **Context**: Variables from the panel on the dashboard. For example, `{{context.panel.filters}}` is the list of filters on the dashboard.
- **Event**: Variables from the trigger. Kibana reads them from the interaction when you run the drilldown.
Save the dashboard and test the drilldown on the panel before you rely on it. To see every variable for the current panel and the selected trigger, select **Add variable** in the URL template field.
| Source | Variable | Description |
|---------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Global** | kibanaUrl | Kibana base URL. Use it to open another Kibana page. |
| **Context** | context.panel | Context from the current dashboard panel. |
| | context.panel.id | ID of the panel. |
| | context.panel.title | Title of the panel. |
| | context.panel.filters | Filters on the dashboard. This list leaves out filters that exist only on the panel.Tip: Use the [rison](#helpers) helper to pass these filters in a Kibana URL. |
| | context.panel.query.query | Dashboard query string. |
| | context.panel.query.language | Language of the dashboard query. |
| | context.panel.timeRange.fromcontext.panel.timeRange.to | Panel time range when the panel has its own time range. Otherwise, the dashboard time range.Tip: Use the [date](#helpers) helper to format the date. |
| | context.panel.indexPatternIdcontext.panel.indexPatternIds | The data view IDs used by the panel. |
| | context.panel.savedObjectId | ID of the saved object behind the panel. |
| **Single click** | event.value | Value of the selected data point. |
| | event.key | Field name of the selected data point. |
| | event.negate | Boolean that indicates whether the selected data point resulted in a negative filter. |
| | event.points | Some visualizations return more than one data point for the value you select. Use the list when a single value is not enough.Example:`{{json event.points}}``{{event.points.[0].key}}``{{event.points.[0].value}}``{{#each event.points}}key=value&{{/each}}`Note:`{{event.value}}` is a shorthand for `{{event.points.[0].value}}``{{event.key}}` is a shorthand for `{{event.points.[0].key}}` |
| **Table row click** | event.rowIndex | Number of the selected row, starting from 0. |
| | event.values | All cell values for the selected row. To access a column value, use `{{event.values.[x]}}`, where `x` is the column number. |
| | event.keys | Field names for each column. |
| | event.columnNames | Column names. |
| **Range selection** | event.fromevent.to | Start and end of the selected range, as numbers.Tip: Use the [date](#helpers) helper to format a date. |
| | event.key | Aggregation field behind the selected range, if available. |
### Custom helpers
In addition to [built-in](https://ela.st/handlebars-helpers) Handlebars helpers, you can use the helpers below.
**json**
Serialize variables in JSON format.
Example:
`{{json event}}` `{{json event.key event.value}}` `{{json filters=context.panel.filters}}`
**rison**
Serialize variables in [rison](https://github.com/w33ble/rison-node) format. Rison is a common format for Kibana apps for storing state in the URL.
Example:
`{{rison event}}` `{{rison event.key event.value}}` `{{rison filters=context.panel.filters}}`
**date**
Format dates. Supports relative date expressions (for example, `now-15d`). Refer to the [moment](https://momentjs.com/docs/#/displaying/format/) docs for formatting options.
Example:
`{{date event.from "YYYY MM DD"}}` `{{date "now-15"}}`
**formatNumber**
Format a number as currency, a percentage, a time, or a number with decimal places, thousands, or an abbreviation. Refer to [numeral.js](http://numeraljs.com/#format) for formatting options.
Example:
`{{formatNumber event.value "0.0"}}`
**lowercase**
Convert a string to lower case.
Example:
`{{lowercase event.value}}`
**uppercase**
Convert a string to upper case.
Example:
`{{uppercase event.value}}`
**trim**
Remove leading and trailing spaces from a string.
Example:
`{{trim event.value}}`
**trimLeft**
Remove leading spaces from a string.
Example:
`{{trimLeft event.value}}`
**trimRight**
Remove trailing spaces from a string.
Example:
`{{trimRight event.value}}`
**mid**
Extract a substring from a string by start position and number of characters to extract.
Example:
`{{mid event.value 3 5}}` extracts five characters starting from the third character.
**left**
Extract a number of characters from a string, starting from the left.
Example:
`{{left event.value 3}}`
**right**
Extract a number of characters from a string, starting from the right.
Example:
`{{right event.value 3}}`
**concat**
Concatenate two or more strings.
Example:
`{{concat event.value "," event.key}}`
**replace**
Replace all substrings within a string.
Example:
`{{replace event.value "stringToReplace" "stringToReplaceWith"}}`
**split**
Split a string using a provided splitter.
Example:
`{{split event.value ","}}`
**encodeURIComponent**
Escape a string using the built-in `encodeURIComponent` function.
**encodeURIQuery**
Escape a string with the built-in `encodeURIComponent` function, but leave `@`, `:`, `$`, `,`, and `;` unchanged.
### Pass context and table values in the URL
You can pass the dashboard time range, the dashboard filters, and a table cell in the URL. The same variables can open Discover with that dashboard state. The [variables reference](#variables-reference) lists every variable. Select **Add variable** to insert a variable for the panel and the trigger you selected. Save the dashboard, then select a value on the panel and confirm the URL before you share the drilldown.
**Time range.** `context.panel.timeRange.from` and `context.panel.timeRange.to` are the panel time range when the panel has its own time range. Otherwise they are the dashboard time range. Format them with the `date` helper when the site expects a calendar date:
```text
https://example.com/search?from={{date context.panel.timeRange.from "YYYY-MM-DD"}}&to={{date context.panel.timeRange.to "YYYY-MM-DD"}}
```
**Open Discover.** This URL opens Discover with the dashboard time range, filters, data view, and query. `{{kibanaUrl}}` is the Kibana base URL.
`context.panel.filters` is the list of filters on the dashboard. This list leaves out filters that exist only on the panel. The URL encodes that list with the `rison` helper. `context.panel.indexPatternId` is available when the panel uses one data view. `context.panel.query.query` is the dashboard query, and `context.panel.query.language` is the language of that query.
```text
{{kibanaUrl}}/app/discover#/?_g=(filters:!(),refreshInterval:(pause:!t,value:0),time:(from:'{{context.panel.timeRange.from}}',to:'{{context.panel.timeRange.to}}'))&_a=(columns:!(_source),filters:{{rison context.panel.filters}},index:'{{context.panel.indexPatternId}}',interval:auto,query:(language:{{context.panel.query.language}},query:'{{context.panel.query.query}}'),sort:!())
```
For a **Range selection** trigger, use `{{date event.from}}` and `{{date event.to}}` in the time slot. Those values are the range you select on the panel.
**Table row.** For a **Table row click** trigger, `event.values.[0]` is the first cell in the row. `event.keys.[0]` is the field name for that column, and `event.columnNames.[0]` is the column label. This URL passes the field name and the first cell:
```text
https://example.com/?{{event.keys.[0]}}={{event.values.[0]}}
```
A **Single click** that returns more than one data point can also use `event.points`. The [variables reference](#variables-reference) includes it with the other variables.
## Next steps
- [Manage drilldowns](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/explore-analyze/dashboards/manage-drilldowns)
## Related pages
- [Drilldowns](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/explore-analyze/dashboards/drilldowns)
- [Create a dashboard drilldown](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/explore-analyze/dashboards/create-dashboard-drilldown)
- [Create a Discover drilldown](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/4300/explore-analyze/dashboards/create-discover-drilldown)