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A chart is a saved SQL query and a visualization of its result. You create charts by asking the AI, by describing one on a dashboard, or by writing SQL, and you can change the query and settings at any time.
Available on all plans. Editing a chart needs Can edit access to its dashboard. View-only members can view charts, change filters, drill down, and export data.

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Overview

Every chart has a chart type, such as a line, bar, number, or table, and runs against one data source. Charts usually live on a dashboard. A chart that isn’t on a dashboard yet is a draft. Charts refresh with their dashboard and keep their SQL, so you can always see exactly where a number comes from.
The Basedash chart editor with a SQL query on top, a stacked bar chart of revenue by channel below, and chart settings on the right

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Create a chart

There are three ways to create a chart:
  • From chat. Ask a question in chat. When the answer includes a chart, click Add to dashboard.
  • On a dashboard. Click New in the dashboard header and choose Chart. The dashboard’s AI chat opens: describe the chart, for example “Daily signups over the last 30 days, broken down by plan”.
  • From the Charts page. Click Charts in the sidebar, then click Chart. This creates a draft and opens the chart editor, where you can write SQL yourself.
You can name a chart type in your request, such as “as a funnel chart” or “as a number”. Otherwise, the AI picks one based on the shape of the data.

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Edit with AI

On a dashboard, click a chart to add it to the dashboard chat as context, then describe the change, for example “Make this a stacked bar chart” or “Exclude internal accounts”. The AI updates the chart’s query and settings directly.

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Use the chart editor

Open a chart’s menu and choose SQL editor to open the chart editor. The editor has two panels:
  • The SQL editor at the top, with a sidebar for browsing the Schema, managing Filters, and setting query Hints.
  • The preview at the bottom, with the results and the chart settings.
Use the toolbar above the SQL editor to:
  • Run the query and update the preview.
  • Format query to tidy the SQL.
  • Open History to see earlier versions of the query.
  • Switch the data source the chart queries.
  • Click Add source to join data from another data source. See Multi-source charts.
Click Done when you’re finished. Avatars in the header show who else is viewing the chart. Charts can use filters and variables and query models with models.<reference_name>.

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Customize a chart

The settings next to the preview depend on the chart type. Common settings include:
Chart settings for a vertical bar chart with month on the x-axis, revenue as the value, a channel breakdown, stacked bars, and segment colors

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Drill down

Click a bar, point, or slice on a chart to open Records, which lists the rows behind that value. You can page through the rows and export them.
The Records dialog listing the individual Online store orders behind one bar of the revenue by channel chart
Drilldowns work on bar, horizontal bar, line, pie, funnel, map, activity, number, and sankey charts. The AI writes the drilldown query when it creates the chart. To change it, open the chart editor, switch the toolbar from Chart to Drill down, edit the SQL, and click Save. Basedash keeps your manual changes when the AI updates the chart later.

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Restore an earlier query

Click History in the chart editor to see every earlier version of the query, with who changed it and whether the change came from AI. Select a version and click Revert to query to restore it.
Query history for a chart listing versions by Maya Patel, Priya Shah, and Jordan Lee, with Priya's query previewed and a Revert to query button

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Query hints

Query hints are only available for PostgreSQL data sources and may not be enabled for your organization yet.
If a Postgres query is slow, open the Hints tab in the chart editor to change how Postgres plans that chart’s query. You can turn off JIT, Nested loops, Hash joins, or Merge joins, and set Work mem, Join collapse, FROM collapse, and Page cost. Hints only affect the chart you set them on.
The Hints tab in the chart editor with toggles for nested loops, hash joins, merge joins, and JIT, and work mem and join collapse settings

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Drafts

A draft is a chart that isn’t on a dashboard yet. Drafts are private to the person who created them. To find your drafts, open Charts in the sidebar and filter by Drafts. To move a draft onto a dashboard, open its menu and choose Move to.

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Manage charts

Open a chart’s menu to Rename, Duplicate, Move to another dashboard, Refresh data, Favorite, open it Full screen, or Delete it. Copy has options to copy a link, an image, the SQL, or the data. Deleted charts stay in Recently deleted on the Charts page for 30 days. Open a deleted chart and choose Restore to to put it back on a dashboard.

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Share and export

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FAQ

Yes, with multi-source charts. Each source runs its own query, and Basedash joins the results.
You need Can edit access to the chart’s dashboard, and your role can’t be view-only. Ask someone with full access to share the dashboard with you. Charts also can’t be edited from a phone.
The AI only changes a chart when you ask it to. If you edited the drilldown query yourself, Basedash keeps it.
Filter or aggregate in the SQL so the query returns fewer rows, query a model, or try query hints on Postgres. Dashboards also cache results by default. See query caching.