Enabling Data Exploration

BETA FEATURE

This document outlines a Beta feature currently in progress. Until the Beta label is removed from both this notice and the feature in the Holistics' platform, it should not be regarded as part of our official documentation. Please note that this feature is subject to rapid, iterative changes, and the most current version may vary from what is described here. Contact [email protected] to try it out!

Summary

Transform your embedded analytics from "view-only dashboards" to "interactive data discovery" - users can explore data in dashboards or datasets to uncover insights beyond what's pre-built within the Embed Portal.

Before vs. After

Before (view-only dashboards)	After (data exploration)
❌ Users see only pre-built views. Static, unintuitive experience	✅ Users discover their own insights. Interactive, engaging exploration
❌ Constant custom dashboard requests	✅ Self-service reduces analyst workload
❌ Cannot explore data from datasets	✅ Can explore data from datasets directly

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Problem & Solution

Problem

You've successfully embedded multiple dashboards with beautiful navigation. Success breeds curiosity - users want to dig deeper into the data. Soon you're managing:

• Endless "can you show me..." requests - every user question triggers custom report building, visualization design, and dedicated dashboard creation
• Analytics team overwhelmed - spending time building one-off reports instead of strategic insights
• User frustration with long wait times for simple questions

The Breaking Point: You realize you're running a dashboard request factory instead of providing analytics, duplicating investigative work that users should be able to do themselves.

Solution: Self-Service Data Discovery

Instead of waiting for custom dashboards, users can immediately investigate their data through interactive exploration.

Two Entry Points for Exploration:

1. Dashboard Exploration: Users can explore data in dashboards by clicking on any chart
2. Dataset Exploration: Users can explore data in datasets directly from the portal navigation

Exploration Capabilities:

• Change grouping and metrics (monthly to weekly views, revenue to profit margins)
• Add/remove/change filters dynamically (region, product, time period, customer segment)
• Switch visualization types (bar chart to line chart, pie chart, or data table)
• Update visualization formatting (colors, number formats, conditional formatting)

Save Exploration: Users can save their exploration results to their Personal Workspace as permanent dashboards

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How-to/Technical Setup

Add datasets to your portal to enable exploration. See Getting Started for portal creation and integration details.

EmbedPortal interactive_portal {
  objects: [
    sales_overview,      // dashboard
    revenue_trends,      // dashboard
    sales_data,          // dataset - enables exploration
    customer_data,       // dataset - enables exploration
  ],
}

What this enables:

• When datasets are added, users can explore data from widgets in dashboards by clicking on any chart
• Users can explore data in datasets directly from the portal navigation
• Row-level permissions automatically apply during exploration

Data Security: Row-level permissions defined in your datasets automatically apply during exploration:

Dataset sales_data {
  permission company_access {
    field: ref('orders', 'company_id')
    operator: 'matches_user_attribute'
    value: 'company_id'
  }
}

// User attributes control data access during exploration
embed_payload = {
  object_name: 'interactive_portal',
  object_type: 'EmbedPortal',
  user_attributes: {
    company_id: user.company_id,  // User only sees their company's data
  }
};

For detailed setup of row-level permissions and user attributes, see Getting Started.

Feature Ecosystem Position

This Feature Enables:

• Personal Workspace: Save exploration results as custom dashboards
• Shared Workspace: Share discoveries with team members
• Data Monetization: Gate exploration by subscription tier
• Admin Management: Govern what data can be explored