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Dashboards

This page explains what KX Dashboards are, why they matter for KDB-X, and where to go to start building.

About

KX Dashboards is a web-based interactive visualization tool that allows both technical and non-technical users to explore data within KDB-X. It provides an intuitive drag-and-drop interface for building rich, dynamic dashboards that can display static, historical, and real-time streaming data from multiple sources.

With KX Dashboards, you can:

  • Query, transform, share, and present live data insights.
  • Create visualizations of both static and real-time streaming data using drag-and-drop and point-and-click operations in a visual editor.
  • Share insights securely with other users or teams.
  • Access dashboards across modern desktop and mobile browsers.

Powered by modern web technologies and tightly integrated with KDB-X, Dashboards enables fast, responsive, and scalable data exploration experiences.

Built for KDB-X

KX Dashboards is built from the ground up for kdb+ and KDB-X. Unlike general-purpose BI tools that treat KDB-X as just another database connection, KX Dashboards understands it natively — its data types, its query language, and its real-time streaming architecture. The result is a visualization platform that works with KDB-X the way it was designed to work, without translation layers, polling overhead, or data format conversions getting in the way.

Key benefits include:

  • Native streaming — push-based, event-driven updates alongside polling and static query modes, with visual components updating in real time.
  • Deep kdb+/q integration — write q queries, custom aggregations, and server-side logic directly within dashboard components.
  • Multi-language query support — q/qSQL, SQL, Python (via PyKX), and a Visual Query Builder, so a single platform serves every user profile.
  • Built for every skill level — a layered interface from drag-and-drop building to full q, SQL, and Python control.
  • High-performance rendering — server-side data reduction and incremental redraws for dense, real-time environments such as trading floors, control rooms, and IoT monitoring.
  • Enterprise-grade access control — dashboard-level permissions, data-level entitlements, group-based access, and audit logging.
  • Simple deployment — KX Dashboards is included with KDB-X and runs on it without any extra licensing.

To explore the architecture and advantages in detail, see Why Dashboards.

Start here

To install and launch KX Dashboards on KDB-X, see the Install guide.

To begin building, understand the Dashboards workspace and learn about the different Dashboards components.