manage-dashboard-widgets
DevelopmentGuides PostHog engineers through dashboard widget platform work — ship a new widget_type (WIDGET_REGISTRY, catalog, run_widgets, WidgetCard) or update a shipped type (config, query, layout, RBAC, tile filter bar, list footer, titleHref, throttles). Use for WidgetSpec, widget_specs/, widget-configs.zod.ts, hogli build:openapi, error_tracking_list, session_replay_list, widgetFilters, formatWidgetListCountFooter, widget_query_throttle, or WidgetCard composition. New types need widget-intake confirmation first. Not for MCP batch-add of existing types or adding tiles to a dashboard.
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Managing dashboard widgets
For PostHog engineers working on dashboard widget tiles in the repo.
Human overview: products/dashboards/CONTRIBUTING.md
In scope: widget tiles (widget_id on DashboardTile) — ship new types or change shipped types.
Out of scope: adding an existing type to a dashboard (MCP dashboard-widget-catalog-list → dashboard-widgets-batch-add); insight tiles, text cards, button tiles.
1. Route first
| Request | Path | Start here |
|---|---|---|
New widget_type that does not exist | Ship | §2 Ship a new type — intake mandatory |
| Change a shipped type (config, query, UI, layout, RBAC, deprecate) | Update | §3 Update a shipped type — skip intake |
| Add existing type to a dashboard | — | MCP only — not this skill |
| Chart / trend / graph for product metrics on a dashboard | — | Insight tile — architecture.md § Charts |
Shipped types (code truth): architecture.md § Shipped types.
2. Ship a new widget_type
Intake — ask before coding
Mandatory for new types only. Read widget-intake.md and:
- Discover product UI in the repo — concrete components/scenes before generic tile-body questions.
- Apply defaults and inference (
groupId, copy spine, list UX) — never AskQuestion banned topics. - Resolve ambiguity — one batched follow-up for gaps, max 6 questions (open fields).
- Post the spec table; get confirmation before checklist §1.
Execute
After spec confirmation → checklist-new-widget-type.md §1 → §8. §5b (dedicated stories — required before the PR, not a follow-up) is sequenced once MVP tests are green.
3. Update a shipped type
Skip intake. Identify the type from the request or EXPECTED_WIDGET_TYPES in widget_registry.py.
- Read managing-existing-widgets.md — "What kind of change?" routing table for primary files.
- Confirm: which type, what changes, backward-compatible config migration?
- Follow linked references from that table — do not re-read the new-type checklist.
Cannot change in place: widget_type string on existing rows; stored w/h when catalog defaults change.
New visualization kind = ship (§2). Chart-primary = insight tile (architecture.md § Charts).
4. Platform invariants
Both paths:
- RBAC registry-driven — no
widget_typebranches indashboard.py. permissions-and-sharing.md § Product RBAC - One
widget_typeeverywhere — registries + both catalogs + FE registry; variants sharegroupIdonly. - Per-type code in product paths — not platform shells. architecture.md § Platform files
- WidgetCard compound pattern — composition.md
- Config contract = Pydantic SSOT —
widget_specs/configs.py+WidgetSpecinregistry.py;hogli build:openapifor OpenAPI/FE Zod/MCP. Runtime PATCH staysJSONField. See config-and-codegen.md. - No chart-primary widgets — architecture.md § Charts
New widget_type strings need no migration — register registries + catalogs only.
5. Companion skills
| Skill | When |
|---|---|
improving-drf-endpoints | dashboard @extend_schema (config serializers auto-derive from WIDGET_SPECS) |
writing-kea-logics | edit*WidgetModalLogic.ts or dashboardLogic.tsx |
django-migrations | DashboardWidget / DashboardTile schema only |
adopting-generated-api-types | Tile PATCH in frontend/utils.ts |
6. Verify
MVP smoke (renders + core tests — not a ship point):
hogli test products/dashboards/backend/api/test/test_run_widgets.py
hogli test products/dashboards/backend/api/test/test_dashboard_widgets.py
hogli test products/dashboards/frontend/widgets/registry.test.tsx
Ship gate (required before the PR): checklist §8 + hogli build:openapi + dedicated Storybook stories per checklist §5b (component + edit modal — required, not just the catalog overview).
Config SSOT changes (also run after widget_specs/ edits):
hogli test products/dashboards/backend/api/test/test_widget_config_schema_parity.py
hogli test products/dashboards/frontend/widgets/widgetConfigSchemaParity.test.ts
hogli test products/dashboards/backend/api/test/test_widget_openapi_enums.py # new widget_type only
Update: tests for layers touched — at minimum test_run_widgets.py if BE changed, products/dashboards/frontend/widgets/ if FE changed, hogli build:openapi if config OpenAPI changed. See managing-existing-widgets.md routing table Also check column.
Reference appendix
| Topic | Doc |
|---|---|
| Intake (new types only) | widget-intake.md — canonical defaults + spec recap |
| New type checklist | checklist-new-widget-type.md |
| Update shipped type | managing-existing-widgets.md |
| Architecture | architecture.md — file map, invariants |
| Config + codegen | config-and-codegen.md |
| WidgetCard / edit modal | composition.md |
| List footer / tile filters | list-widget-patterns.md |
| Tile min/max | layout-and-ux.md |
| RBAC / sharing | permissions-and-sharing.md |
| Setup gates | availability-and-gating.md |
| MCP after ship | mcp.md |
| Skill doc maintenance | skill-maintenance.md |