Custom dashboards

Build live monitoring dashboards from reusable code snippets

Custom dashboards let you build live monitoring views for your infrastructure by combining reusable code snippets into a configurable grid layout. Each widget runs a snippet that queries the Akua API and displays the result as a table, stat, JSON tree, or log output.

Snippets use the same sandboxed JavaScript execution as MCP Code Mode: the same cnap.request() API, the same V8 isolate, the same security model. You can write snippets by hand, or let an AI agent build your dashboards for you.

How it works

Dashboards are built from two building blocks:

• Snippets: JavaScript functions that query the Akua API and return data. Each snippet has a display type (table, stat, JSON, or logs) that controls how the result is rendered.
• Dashboards: Grid layouts that arrange snippets as widgets. Each widget can span 1–4 columns and runs its snippet automatically when you open the dashboard.

You write a snippet once, then reuse it across multiple dashboards. When you update a snippet, every dashboard that uses it picks up the change.

Creating a snippet

Navigate to Dashboards → Snippets tab and click New snippet.

Snippets are async JavaScript functions that use cnap.request() to call the Akua API. The workspace header is injected automatically, so you don’t need to pass authentication or workspace IDs.

async () => {
  const res = await cnap.request({
    method: "GET",
    path: "/v1/clusters",
  });
  if (res.status !== 200) throw new Error(JSON.stringify(res.body));
  return res.body.data.map(c => ({
    name: c.name,
    status: c.kaas?.status ?? "imported",
    version: c.kaas?.version ?? "—",
  }));
}

The editor includes a side-by-side preview. Click Run to execute the snippet and see the result before saving.

Use the Examples dropdown in the snippet editor to load pre-built snippets for common tasks like listing clusters, counting installs, or generating status reports.

Display types

The display type controls how the snippet result is rendered in dashboard widgets:

Display type	Return value	Use case
Table	Array of objects	List resources with columns
Stat	Single number or string	KPIs, counts, status values
JSON	Any object	Structured data, breakdowns
Logs	String	Text reports, log output

The cnap.request() API

This is the same API available in MCP Code Mode. Snippets run in a sandboxed environment with access to a single function:

const response = await cnap.request({
  method: "GET" | "POST" | "PUT" | "DELETE",
  path: "/v1/...",
  body: { ... },  // optional, for POST/PUT
});
// response.status — HTTP status code
// response.body — parsed JSON response

All requests are authenticated and scoped to the current workspace. See the API reference for available endpoints.

Snippets execute server-side in an isolated sandbox (the same sandbox that powers Code Mode). They cannot access require, process, fs, or any Node.js APIs; only cnap.request() is available.

Creating a dashboard

Navigate to Dashboards tab and click New dashboard. Give it a name and optional description, then click Create dashboard to open the builder.

The dashboard builder

Dashboards open in view mode by default, showing your widgets in a live grid. Click Edit to enter edit mode, where overlay controls appear on each widget:

• Move up/down: reorder widgets in the grid
• Resize (−/+): adjust column span from 1/4 to full width
• Edit snippet: jump to the snippet editor
• Delete: remove the widget

Use the Add widget bar at the bottom to select a snippet and add it to the dashboard. Click Save when you’re done, or Done to return to view mode.

Use Cmd+S (Mac) or Ctrl+S (Windows/Linux) to save without clicking the button.

Workspace scoping

Snippets and dashboards follow the same workspace scoping as other Akua resources:

• When a workspace is selected: you see snippets and dashboards belonging to that workspace.
• When “All workspaces” is selected: you see snippets and dashboards from all workspaces you have access to.

Snippet API calls are always scoped to the workspace the snippet belongs to.

API

Manage snippets and dashboards programmatically.

Snippets API

Create, update, run, and delete snippets.

Dashboards API

Create dashboards and manage their widget layout.

Related topics

Generate dashboards with AI

Let an AI agent build and iterate on dashboards.

Code Mode in action

How the same sandbox powers AI agent operations.

API introduction

API endpoints for snippets and beyond.

Workspaces

How workspaces organize resources.