Dashboard Generation

Use AI agents to generate and iterate on custom dashboards and snippets

Custom dashboards are powered by JavaScript snippets that query the Akua API (the same cnap.request() sandbox used by Code Mode). This makes them a natural fit for AI-driven generation: your agent already knows how to write this code.

Why use an agent

Snippet code is an implementation detail, not something you hand-craft. The JavaScript is simple, repetitive, and easy to regenerate; treat it as disposable. Instead of learning API endpoints and debugging code yourself, describe what you want and let your agent handle it:

You say	The agent does
”Create a dashboard showing cluster health”	Writes snippets for cluster status, KaaS version, and error counts, then creates the dashboard with all widgets
”Add a stat widget for total installs”	Creates a snippet that counts installs, adds it to the dashboard
”Make the cluster table show regions too”	Updates the snippet code to join cluster and region data
”The logs widget is too wide, make it half”	Adjusts the widget’s column span from 4 to 2

The agent uses the same Platform MCP that powers all Akua operations. It can create snippets, create dashboards, add widgets, and update layouts, all through the API.

Workflow

1. Describe what you want

   Tell your agent what data matters to you. Be specific about the use case, not the implementation:

   “I want a dashboard that shows how many clusters I have, which ones are healthy, and the last 50 lines of logs from my production install.”

2. The agent writes and tests the snippets

   The agent writes the JavaScript for each widget and can test it immediately. Since snippets use the same cnap.request() sandbox as Code Mode, the agent test-runs the code via execute_code, sees errors or unexpected results, fixes them, and only saves the working version as a snippet. You never see the debugging, just the finished widget.

3. Iterate conversationally

   Review the result and refine. The agent can update snippet code, change display types, resize widgets, reorder the layout, or add new widgets, all from natural language.

   “Split the cluster table into two widgets: one for KaaS clusters and one for imported.”

4. Save and share

   The dashboard is saved to your workspace. Anyone on your team can open it, and widgets auto-run on load with no setup required.

What agents can generate

Agents can create any snippet that the Akua API supports. Common patterns:

• Resource tables: list clusters, installs, products, or regions with selected columns
• KPI stats: count resources, calculate ratios, show status values
• Health reports: multi-step queries that check pod status, fetch logs, and summarize issues
• Audit views: cross-reference installs with clusters and products for compliance or inventory
• Log viewers: fetch and format container logs from running pods

Since snippets can make up to 50 API calls per execution, agents can build complex multi-step widgets. For example: fetch all installs, query pods for each one, then aggregate the results into a summary table.

Beyond platform data: application-level dashboards

Here’s where it gets powerful. Snippets can use the exec endpoint to run commands inside your running containers. Dashboards aren’t limited to Akua platform data; they can reach into your actual applications.

Ask your agent to build widgets like these:

Widget idea	What the snippet does
Postgres table sizes	Runs psql via exec to query pg_stat_user_tables; shows table names, row counts, and disk usage
Redis memory breakdown	Runs redis-cli INFO memory inside the Redis pod; displays used memory, peak memory, fragmentation ratio
MongoDB collection stats	Runs mongosh --eval to list collections with document counts and storage sizes
Application health check	Hits an internal /healthz or /metrics endpoint via curl inside the pod
Queue depth	Queries RabbitMQ or Celery via CLI to show pending/processing/failed job counts
Nginx access stats	Parses recent access logs with awk to show top endpoints, status code distribution, and request rates
SSL certificate expiry	Runs openssl to check certificate dates across services; flags anything expiring soon
Disk usage per PVC	Runs df -h inside pods to show persistent volume usage before you run out of space

These are live widgets that auto-refresh when you open the dashboard. A single dashboard can mix platform-level data (cluster health, install status) with application-level data (database sizes, queue depths), giving you a unified view that would normally require stitching together multiple monitoring tools.

You don’t need to know psql flags, redis-cli subcommands, or mongosh syntax. Your agent does. Just describe the data you want: “Show me which Postgres tables are largest and whether any need vacuuming.”

Tips

• Let the agent debug for you: if a widget shows an error, paste it into the conversation. The agent can test-run the snippet code via Code Mode, see exactly what failed, fix it, and update the snippet, all without you touching JavaScript.
• Start broad, then refine: ask for a general dashboard first, then tweak individual widgets.
• Don’t optimize the JavaScript: if a snippet works, it’s good enough. Regenerate rather than debug.
• Use descriptive names: tell the agent to name snippets clearly (e.g. “Cluster Health by Region” not “query1”) so they’re easy to reuse across dashboards.
• Combine with Code Mode: use Code Mode for one-off investigations, then save the useful queries as snippets for ongoing monitoring.

Related topics

Custom dashboards

Manual dashboard and snippet creation.

Code Mode in action

How the same sandbox powers AI agent operations.

Platform MCP

Connect AI agents to Akua.