Parca template variables

{{< admonition type="warning" >}} This plugin is deprecated and will only receive critical security updates. Support will end on January 2, 2027. {{< /admonition >}}

Instead of hard-coding label values in your profiling queries, you can use template variables to create dynamic, reusable dashboards. Variables appear as drop-down menus at the top of the dashboard, making it easy to switch between services, instances, or environments without editing queries.

For an introduction to template variables, refer to the Variables documentation.

Supported variable types

{{< admonition type="note" >}} Parca doesn't support query-type variables. You can't use the Parca data source to dynamically populate variable drop-downs. Use custom variables to define values manually, or use another data source to populate query variables. {{< /admonition >}}

Use variables in the label selector

The Parca query editor's label selector field supports template variable interpolation. Use the standard $variablename or ${variablename} syntax. Variables are interpolated in the label selector only -- the profile type drop-down doesn't support them.

Variable syntax options

Example: Filter profiles by service

Create a custom variable to switch between services in your profiling dashboard.

1. Navigate to the dashboard you want to update and click Edit.
2. Click the Add new element icon (blue plus sign).
3. Click Variable.
4. Select Custom as the variable type.
5. Enter a Name, for example service.
6. Select an option in the Display drop-down list to control where on the dashboard the variable is displayed.
7. Click Open variable editor to open the Custom options dialog box.
8. Enter comma-separated values, for example frontend, backend, api-gateway.
9. Click Apply.
10. Click Save.
11. (Optional) Enter a description of the changes you've made.
12. Click Save.
13. Click Exit edit.

In your Parca query's label selector, reference the variable:

{job="$service"}

When you change the drop-down selection, the panel refreshes to show profiles for the selected service.

Example: Filter by service and instance

Create two custom variables to filter by multiple dimensions.

1. Create a variable named service with custom values frontend, backend, api-gateway.
2. Create a second variable named instance with custom values for your instance addresses, for example 10.0.0.1:7070, 10.0.0.2:7070, 10.0.0.3:7070.

In your Parca query's label selector, reference both variables:

{job="$service", instance="$instance"}

Example: Use a text box variable for free-form filtering

Create a text box variable for free-form label filtering.

1. Navigate to the dashboard you want to update and click Edit.
2. Click the Add new element icon (blue plus sign).
3. Click Variable.
4. Select Textbox as the variable type.
5. Enter a Name, for example label_filter.
6. Optionally set a default Value, for example job="my-service".
7. Click Save.
8. (Optional) Enter a description of the changes you've made.
9. Click Save.
10. Click Exit edit.

In your Parca query's label selector, reference the variable:

{$label_filter}

This lets you type any label matcher directly into the variable input at the top of the dashboard without editing the panel query.

Limitations

Parca template variable support has the following limitations:

• No query variable support: You can't use Parca as a data source for populating variable options. Define values manually with custom variables or use another data source.
• Label selector only: Variables are interpolated in the label selector field. The profile type drop-down doesn't support variables.
• No free-form filters: Parca doesn't support free-form filters.

Next steps

• Build queries using your template variables.
• Troubleshoot issues if queries aren't returning expected data.