Bar
A bar chart compares values across categories using horizontal or vertical bars. Each bar represents a category, and bar length represents the value.
Configure a bar chart
Use the Plot panel to choose axes, grouping, and display settings.
Bar chart options
Use these options to control how the bar chart renders.
X-axis
Field used for the X axis.
Use timestamp for time-based bars. Use a label field for categorical bars (for example service, pod, host).
Y-axis
Numeric field to plot.
Common choices: value, cpu_usage, latency, error_rate.
Group by
Split into multiple bar series per group.
For example pod creates one series per pod. Leave empty for a single series.
Y-axis label
Display label for the Y axis.
Cosmetic only. Example: “CPU Usage (%)”.
Y-axis scale
How values are scaled on the Y axis.
Linear for most data. Logarithmic for wide ranges.
Reference line
A horizontal threshold line.
Example: 80 for an SLA/limit line.
Legend
Show/hide legend.
Turn off for a single series or tight layouts.
Calculations
Summary overlays on the plotted data.
Min, Max, Avg, Count, Sum, P50, P90, P95, P99.
Smooth graph
Smooths the rendered curve/series.
Useful for long time ranges. Avoid for step-like data.
Custom color
Set fixed colors for series.
Helps keep colors consistent across dashboards.
Apply
Applies changes to the widget.
Changes do not render until you click Apply.
When to use a bar chart
Use a bar chart when you want to:
Compare values across categories at a point in time
Rank items (top N / bottom N)
Compare groups side-by-side (grouped bars)
Show distribution across discrete buckets
Typical use cases:
Requests by service / endpoint
Errors by status code
Cost by team / namespace
Latency by region
When not to use a bar chart
Avoid a bar chart when:
You need trends over time across many points (use Line/Area)
You need part-to-whole as percentages (use Pie/Disk)
You need detailed row-level inspection (use Table/List/Details)
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