Playlists - Grafana

Playlists automatically cycle through a list of dashboards at a specified interval, perfect for TV displays, monitoring walls, or presentations.

What are Playlists?

A playlist is an ordered collection of dashboards that rotate automatically:

Automated rotation: Cycle through dashboards at a fixed interval
Flexible composition: Add dashboards individually or by tag
Display modes: Normal, kiosk, or TV mode
Customizable intervals: Set rotation speed (e.g., 5m, 30s)

Playlists preserve query parameters like kiosk, orgId, and dashboard-specific settings across rotations.

Creating Playlists

Via the UI

Navigate to Dashboards → Playlists
Click New playlist
Configure playlist:
- Name: Descriptive title
- Interval: Rotation interval (e.g., 5m, 30s, 1h)
Add dashboards:
- By title: Search and select individual dashboards
- By tag: Include all dashboards with specific tags
Reorder dashboards by dragging
Save the playlist

Via the API

curl -X POST \
  'http://localhost:3000/api/playlist/v1/playlists' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "playlist": {
      "metadata": {
        "generateName": "prod-"  // Server generates unique name
      },
      "spec": {
        "title": "Production Monitoring",
        "interval": "5m",
        "items": [
          {
            "type": "dashboard_by_uid",
            "value": "dashboard-uid-1"
          },
          {
            "type": "dashboard_by_uid",
            "value": "dashboard-uid-2"
          },
          {
            "type": "dashboard_by_tag",
            "value": "production"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }'

TypeScript Interface

import { Playlist, PlaylistSpec } from 'app/api/clients/playlist/v1';

interface Playlist {
  metadata?: {
    name?: string;              // Unique identifier (generated if not provided)
    generateName?: string;      // Prefix for auto-generated name
    namespace?: string;
    resourceVersion?: string;
    creationTimestamp?: string;
  };
  spec?: PlaylistSpec;
}

interface PlaylistSpec {
  title: string;                // Display name
  interval: string;             // Duration (e.g., "5m", "30s")
  items: PlaylistItem[];        // Dashboards to include
}

interface PlaylistItem {
  type: 'dashboard_by_uid' | 'dashboard_by_tag';
  value: string;                // Dashboard UID or tag name
}

Playlist Items

Dashboard by UID

Add specific dashboards:

{
  type: 'dashboard_by_uid',
  value: 'abc123'  // Dashboard UID
}

Dashboard by Tag

Include all dashboards with a tag:

{
  type: 'dashboard_by_tag',
  value: 'production'  // Tag name
}

Tag-based items dynamically include dashboards. Adding/removing tags from dashboards automatically updates the playlist.

Item Order

Dashboards play in the order they appear in the items array. When using tags, dashboards are sorted alphabetically.

Playlist Intervals

Intervals use Grafana’s duration format:

Seconds: 30s, 45s
Minutes: 1m, 5m, 15m
Hours: 1h, 2h

import { rangeUtil } from '@grafana/data';

// Convert interval string to milliseconds
const intervalMs = rangeUtil.intervalToMs('5m');  // 300000

Very short intervals (< 10s) may cause performance issues if dashboards are complex or queries are slow.

Starting a Playlist

From the playlists page, click Start playlist to configure:

Mode: Normal or Kiosk
Autofit panels: Adjust panel heights to screen
Hide logo: Remove branding (kiosk mode only)
Display controls: Toggle time picker, variables, links

interface StartModalOptions {
  mode: boolean;                    // false = normal, true = kiosk
  autoFit: boolean;
  hideLogo: boolean;                // Kiosk mode only
  displayTimePicker: boolean;
  displayVariables: boolean;
  displayLinks: boolean;
}

Direct URL

Start a playlist directly via URL:

/playlists/play/{playlist-name}?kiosk=true&autofitpanels=true

Supported query parameters:

kiosk: true for kiosk mode, tv for TV mode (deprecated)
autofitpanels: true to fit panels to screen
hideLogo: 1 to hide branding (kiosk mode)
_dash.hideTimePicker: true to hide time picker
_dash.hideVariables: true to hide variables
_dash.hideLinks: true to hide dashboard links

Programmatic Start

import { playlistSrv } from 'app/features/playlist/PlaylistSrv';
import { useGetPlaylistQuery } from 'app/api/clients/playlist/v1';

const { data: playlist } = useGetPlaylistQuery({ name: 'playlist-uid' });

if (playlist) {
  await playlistSrv.start(playlist);
}

Playlist Modes

Normal Mode

Standard Grafana UI with navigation:

Top navigation bar visible
Side menu accessible
Full dashboard controls
User can navigate away

Kiosk Mode

Clean display with minimal UI:

No navigation bars
No side menu
Optional time picker and variables
Press Esc or click settings icon to exit

Perfect for public displays and monitoring walls.

TV Mode (Deprecated)

Legacy mode, use kiosk mode instead:

// Old: TV mode
locationService.push('/playlists/play/abc123?kiosk=tv');

// New: Kiosk mode
locationService.push('/playlists/play/abc123?kiosk=true');

Controlling Playback

While a playlist is playing:

Next: Skip to next dashboard (programmatically: playlistSrv.next())
Previous: Go to previous dashboard (playlistSrv.prev())
Stop: Exit playlist (playlistSrv.stop())

Auto-reload

Every 3 loops, the playlist performs a full page reload to prevent memory leaks:

// From PlaylistSrv.ts:64
if (this.numberOfLoops >= 3) {
  window.location.href = this.startUrl;  // Full reload
  return;
}

Preserved Parameters

These query parameters persist across dashboard transitions:

const queryParamsToPreserve = {
  kiosk: true,
  autofitpanels: true,
  orgId: true,
  hideLogo: true,
  '_dash.hideTimePicker': true,
  '_dash.hideVariables': true,
  '_dash.hideLinks': true,
};

Managing Playlists

List Playlists

curl 'http://localhost:3000/api/playlist/v1/playlists'

Get Playlist

curl 'http://localhost:3000/api/playlist/v1/playlists/{name}'

Update Playlist

curl -X PUT \
  'http://localhost:3000/api/playlist/v1/playlists/{name}' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "playlist": {
      "metadata": {
        "name": "playlist-uid",
        "resourceVersion": "123"  // For optimistic locking
      },
      "spec": {
        "title": "Updated Title",
        "interval": "10m",
        "items": [ /* updated items */ ]
      }
    }
  }'

Delete Playlist

curl -X DELETE 'http://localhost:3000/api/playlist/v1/playlists/{name}'

Share playlists via URL:

Direct Link

https://grafana.example.com/playlists/play/playlist-uid?kiosk=true

Embedded in iframe

<iframe
  src="https://grafana.example.com/playlists/play/playlist-uid?kiosk=true&autofitpanels=true"
  width="1920"
  height="1080"
  frameborder="0">
</iframe>

URL Builder

import { urlUtil } from '@grafana/data';
import { config } from '@grafana/runtime';

const playlistUrl = urlUtil.renderUrl(
  `/playlists/play/${playlistName}`,
  {
    kiosk: true,
    autofitpanels: true,
    hideLogo: '1'
  }
);

const fullUrl = `${config.appUrl}${playlistUrl}`;

Use Cases

Monitoring Wall / NOC Display

Rotate through operational dashboards on large displays:

{
  title: 'NOC Overview',
  interval: '30s',
  items: [
    { type: 'dashboard_by_tag', value: 'noc' },
    { type: 'dashboard_by_tag', value: 'incidents' }
  ]
}

Start in kiosk mode with autofitpanels for wall displays.

Executive Dashboard Rotation

Show high-level metrics to leadership:

{
  title: 'Executive Overview',
  interval: '5m',
  items: [
    { type: 'dashboard_by_uid', value: 'revenue-metrics' },
    { type: 'dashboard_by_uid', value: 'user-growth' },
    { type: 'dashboard_by_uid', value: 'system-health' }
  ]
}

Daily Standup Display

Cycle through team dashboards during meetings:

{
  title: 'Team Standup',
  interval: '2m',
  items: [
    { type: 'dashboard_by_tag', value: 'team-api' },
    { type: 'dashboard_by_uid', value: 'sprint-progress' }
  ]
}

Multi-environment Monitoring

Rotate through production, staging, and dev:

{
  title: 'All Environments',
  interval: '1m',
  items: [
    { type: 'dashboard_by_tag', value: 'prod-overview' },
    { type: 'dashboard_by_tag', value: 'staging-overview' },
    { type: 'dashboard_by_tag', value: 'dev-overview' }
  ]
}

Best Practices

Optimize Dashboard Load Times

Playlists are only as fast as the slowest dashboard:

Limit the number of panels per dashboard
Use reasonable time ranges (avoid querying years of data)
Optimize queries and use caching
Test rotation speed with actual query load

Use Appropriate Intervals

Fast rotation (15-30s): Simple dashboards, quick overview
Medium rotation (1-5m): Detailed dashboards, monitoring walls
Slow rotation (10m+): Complex analytics, executive displays

Match interval to dashboard complexity.

Leverage Tags for Dynamic Playlists

Use tag-based items for maintainable playlists:

items: [
  { type: 'dashboard_by_tag', value: 'production' },
  { type: 'dashboard_by_tag', value: 'critical-alerts' }
]

Adding/removing tags from dashboards automatically updates the playlist.

Consider Screen Resolution

For TV displays:

Use autofitpanels=true to optimize panel sizing
Design dashboards for the target resolution (usually 1920x1080)
Test visibility from viewing distance
Use larger fonts and fewer panels

Handle Failures Gracefully

If a dashboard fails to load:

Playlist continues to next dashboard after interval
Use dashboard health tags to exclude broken dashboards
Monitor playlist URLs for errors

Troubleshooting

Playlist Not Rotating

Check browser console for JavaScript errors
Verify interval format (e.g., 5m, not 5 minutes)
Ensure dashboards in playlist are accessible
Check that playlist service is running: playlistSrv.state.isPlaying

Memory Issues After Long Playback

Playlist auto-reloads every 3 loops to prevent memory leaks:

// Adjust in PlaylistSrv.ts if needed
if (this.numberOfLoops >= 3) {
  window.location.href = this.startUrl;
}

For infinite playback, this is expected behavior.

Dashboard Variables Not Working

Ensure variables use URL-sync or default values:

Playlists don’t preserve variable selections between dashboards
Each dashboard loads with its default variable values
Use _dash.hideVariables=true if variables shouldn’t be user-editable

Dashboards

Create dashboards to include in playlists

Dashboard Settings

Configure dashboard display options

Kiosk Mode

Detailed kiosk mode documentation

Sharing

Share dashboards and playlists

Overview

Getting Started

Dashboards

Data Sources

Alerting

Explore

Visualization

​What are Playlists?

​Creating Playlists

​Via the UI

​Via the API

​TypeScript Interface

​Playlist Items

​Dashboard by UID

​Dashboard by Tag

​Item Order

​Playlist Intervals

​Starting a Playlist

​Start Modal

​Direct URL

​Programmatic Start

​Playlist Modes

​Normal Mode

​Kiosk Mode

​TV Mode (Deprecated)

​Controlling Playback

​Navigation

​Auto-reload

​Preserved Parameters

​Managing Playlists

​List Playlists

​Get Playlist

​Update Playlist

​Delete Playlist

​Sharing Playlists

​Direct Link

​Embedded in iframe

​URL Builder

​Use Cases

​Best Practices

​Troubleshooting

​Related Topics

Dashboards

Dashboard Settings

Kiosk Mode

Sharing

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

What are Playlists?

Creating Playlists

Via the UI

Via the API

TypeScript Interface

Playlist Items

Dashboard by UID

Dashboard by Tag

Item Order

Playlist Intervals

Starting a Playlist

Start Modal

Direct URL

Programmatic Start

Playlist Modes

Normal Mode

Kiosk Mode

TV Mode (Deprecated)

Controlling Playback

Navigation

Auto-reload

Preserved Parameters

Managing Playlists

List Playlists

Get Playlist

Update Playlist

Delete Playlist

Sharing Playlists

Direct Link

Embedded in iframe

URL Builder

Use Cases

Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Related Topics