This page is about scheduling and sending a dashboard. To learn about scheduling Looks or Explores, visit the Using the Looker Scheduler to deliver content documentation page.
Looker lets you schedule immediate or recurring deliveries of dashboards with the Schedule delivery dashboard menu option.
Depending on how your Looker admin has set up your permissions for data delivery, you may be able to deliver your content to one or more of Looker's native delivery destinations:
You may also be able to schedule a data delivery to a third-party service that is integrated with Looker, such as Slack.
If there are valid results in cache, Looker will deliver cached results. If there are no results or if the cached results have expired, Looker will rerun the query and cache those results.
Note: If you are a Looker developer, you must turn off Development Mode to schedule or send. Deliveries are executed using Production Mode LookML.
Make sure the dashboard is not in edit mode. Select the Dashboard actions three-dot menu in the upper right of the dashboard and choose Schedule delivery. If you do not see the Schedule delivery option, talk to your Looker admin about your assigned permissions.
Once you select Schedule delivery, either an existing schedules window appears or a schedule and send window appears, depending on whether you have already created existing schedules on the dashboard.
If you have already created schedules for this dashboard, an existing schedules window appears. This window shows the schedules that you have set along with information about each schedule, such as destination and format. Deliveries that use the Send now recurrence and schedules that were created by other people do not appear in this window.
You can perform the following functions in the existing schedules window:
If you select New from the existing schedules window, or, if you do not have any pre-existing schedules for the dashboard, a schedule and send window opens. This window lets you customize recurrence, destination, format, filters, and more:
The Settings tab in the schedule and send window lets you customize your delivery's recurrence, destination, format, and more.
You can also start a delivery of a dashboard from the folder where the dashboard is located.
Select Schedule delivery from the three-dot menu on the right side of that dashboard's row (in list view) or from the three-dot menu at the top right of the thumbnail (in grid view).
The top of the schedule and send window shows the name that is automatically given to the delivery. The name defaults to the dashboard's name. To edit the delivery's name, select the name (indicated by the dotted underscore), and make your edits.
Depending on the destination of your delivery, the title may also appear in other places:
Customize the timing of your delivery in the Recurrence section.
If you select Send now from the Recurrence drop-down menu, a one-time delivery of the dashboard is sent after you fill in the required fields and select the Send now button at the bottom of the window.
Select one of the following options from the Recurrence drop-down menu:
Timing options change depending on the option that you choose. For example, the Hourly settings include a Start time and an End time. Looker will send the delivery every hour starting at the Start time and ending at the End time.
The Time, Start, and End fields use a 24-hour clock. If the desired time is not available in the drop-down menu, select the field and manually enter your desired time, such as 9:15 or 15:37.
Hourly and Minutes schedules repeat daily within the Start and End timeframe that you set. The end time for Hourly and Minutes intervals is not inclusive. The last delivery is sent at the last selected interval prior to the specified end time. For example, if a dashboard is scheduled Hourly between 12:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., then it is sent on the hour, every hour, from 12:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. If a recurrence is every 30 minutes between 12:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., then the last delivery is sent at 10:30 p.m.
If your LookML developer has configured datagroups, you can schedule delivery of a dashboard to occur after a datagroup has been triggered, has managed the cache, and has rebuilt relevant PDTs.
Select Datagroup update from the Recurrence drop-down menu. This reveals a Datagroup field with a drop-down menu. Select the datagroup whose update should prompt delivery.
To schedule a dashboard using a datagroup update trigger, the dashboard must contain at least one tile that is based on a model file that includes a datagroup parameter. The Datagroup drop-down menu lists all datagroups defined in the models that are included in the dashboard, even if the datagroups are not used to handle caching for queries or PDTs. Even if the datagroup is used in only one tile's model, the entire dashboard will be sent when the selected datagroup update completes.
Schedules based on datagroups only send after the regeneration process has completed for all PDTs that are persisted with that datagroup parameter, ensuring that your delivery includes the most up-to-date data.
Note: Depending on how your Looker admin has configured your permissions, some destination options may not be visible.
The Destination setting may display several destination options for dashboard deliveries. Once you've selected a data destination, a new setting field appears for you to add specific details about that destination, such as an email address or a webhook URL. See the following sections for information about each destination's settings.
When Email is selected in the Destination field, a new Email addresses field appears. This is a required field.
Enter the email addresses of the recipients in the Email addresses field. If you're entering multiple email addresses, select the Enter key, or add a comma, after each address.
Depending on the settings for your Looker instance and your assigned permissions, you may be able to send emails to email addresses that are unassociated with any user account on your Looker instance. These emails are classified as external. The All and External indicators at the right of the field show both the number of all email recipients and the number of just the external email recipients. Select each indicator to toggle between showing all email recipients and showing only external email recipients. To enable you to deliver content to external users, your Looker admin must have granted you permissions to deliver content to external users or have added those recipients' email domains to the Email Domain Allowlist for Scheduled Content.
If a recipient is another Looker user, that person will see the option to link back to the dashboard from the email, unless your Looker admin has set your Looker instance's emailed data policy to Send Data Only or the Include links option is deselected.
Emailed deliveries may not exceed 20 MB (for formats that are delivered in the email body) and 15 MB (for formats that are delivered as an attachment).
See the Advanced options section on this page for more information about email deliveries.
Webhooks are a way to trigger exchanges between internet-based services. With a web service like Zapier, webhooks can let Looker data be delivered to a wide range of applications; for example, you may be able to schedule periodic delivery of a dashboard to a webhook.
To set up a webhook, go to your web service and do the following:
The exact procedure differs depending on what web service and destination application you're using to deliver the data. See the Scheduling Looks and Dashboards Using Webhooks Community post for guidelines on setting up another application to receive the webhook data from Looker.
When Webhook is selected in the Destination field, a new Webhook URL field appears. This is a required field.
Enter the URL where Looker should send an HTTPS request for this delivery in the Webhook URL field. You can obtain this URL from the web service you're using to handle your webhook.
Note: Looker will attempt delivery to a webhook for a maximum of 30 minutes. Ensure that the destination can respond within 30 minutes to the webhook delivery attempt.
Amazon S3 buckets are a common way to store large amounts of data. You or your company will need to have created an S3 bucket with Amazon before Looker can use it.
When Amazon S3 is selected in the Destination field, several new fields appear and prompt you for information about your Amazon S3 bucket:
Check out the Scheduling (unlimited) Results to S3 Community post for more details about delivering data using an Amazon S3 bucket.
Sending results to an SFTP server is a good method to use when your data or visualization is too large to send through email.
Note: To receive SFTP deliveries from Looker, be sure your network admin has added Looker's IP addresses to your SFTP server's IP allowlist or inbound traffic rules.
When SFTP is selected in the Destination field, several new fields appear and prompt you for information about your Amazon S3 bucket:
SFTP support is limited to username and password credentials. SSH private key credentials are not supported.
Looker stores SFTP fingerprints for your SFTP server. If you encounter errors with your SFTP delivery, it could indicate that the SFTP fingerprints are invalid. In this case, contact your Looker admin.
Note: If you receive the error Java::JavaLang::NullPointerExceptions when delivering data to an SFTP server, see the note in the Delivery options for SFTP servers section of the Delivering Looks and Explores documentation page for troubleshooting this Java error.
You can schedule or send dashboard deliveries to a service that is integrated with Looker, such as Slack, Dropbox, Google Drive, and others. Integrations must be enabled by your Looker admin. Looker admins must specifically give permissions for users and embed users to send and schedule data to third-party integrations.
When an integrated service is selected in the Destination field of the Scheduler, several new fields may appear and prompt you for more information.
The following list shows the Looker Action Hub services to which you can deliver the contents of a dashboard.
Here is how to use the list:
| Integrated service | Description | Link to README file | How to use this integration | Required LookML tags | Uses Google OAuth authentication (Yes/No) | Uses data streaming (Yes/No) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Storage | Send and store a data file on Azure Storage. | View README on GitHub | View Community article | None | No | No |
| DigitalOcean Spaces | Send to and store a data file in DigitalOcean Storage. | View README on GitHub | View Community article | None | No | No |
| Dropbox | Send and store a data file on Dropbox. | No README available | View documentation | None | Yes | No |
| Google Cloud Storage | Write data files to a Google Cloud Storage bucket. | View README on GitHub | View Community article | None | No | No |
| Google Drive | Send data to Google Drive. | No README available | View documentation | None | Yes | No |
| SendGrid | Send data and schedule results to send to a email address using SendGrid's API. | View README on GitHub | View Community article | None | No | No |
| Slack | Send Looker content in direct messages, public channels, and private channels in Slack using OAuth. It is available for Looker-hosted deployments on 6.24+ with the IP Allowlist feature disabled. | No README available | View documentation | None | Yes | No |
| Slack Attachment (API Token) | Send data directly into a Slack channel along with user credentials. You may also want to reference Lookerbot documentation for additional Slack functionality. | View README on GitHub | View documentation | None | No | No |
| Teams — Incoming Webhook | Send data to Microsoft Teams using an incoming webhook. | View README on GitHub | See README | None | No | No |
The Format field contains a drop-down menu of available formats:
The Advanced options tab provides additional customization for your delivery. The options available depend on the selected destination and format of your delivery.
This option is available only for the email destination.
Enter a message you would like included in the body of emails to recipients. Looker limits the number of characters in a custom message to 1,500.
This option is available only for the email destination.
The Run schedule as recipient option lets users specify a list of recipients who will each receive the content delivery as if each one of them had run the query, based on each person's permissions. This means that each user's access filters and user attributes will be applied to the data that is included in each email.
If a user is a Looker admin, the Run schedule as recipient option lets the admin specify a list of users who will each receive the content delivery as if each one of them ran the query, based on each person's permissions. Non-admin users may also enter their own email address to receive a delivery as if they had queried the content, based on their permissions. This means that each user's access filters and user attributes will be applied to the data that is included in each email.
In the following example, a Looker admin needs to schedule a report that lists counts of users per state.
User A has an access filter set as users.state = 'California' . When Run schedule as recipient is selected, the scheduled query will apply the access filter users.state = 'California' and send filtered results to user A. The filtered results will include data only about California.
In the Advanced options tab, select the Run schedule as recipient checkbox and then add email addresses for your recipients in the Email addresses text field under the Settings tab. This option takes into account the permissions of the user creating the schedule as well as the types of email addresses added to the Email addresses field. In some cases, the Run schedule as recipient option is not available:
In these situations, regardless of whether the option was selected before or after entering the external email address, the Run schedule as recipient option will remain enabled but the schedule cannot be saved until the Run schedule as recipient option is de-selected or the external email addressed is removed from the list of recipients.
In the special case where a user is listed as a recipient on a schedule that has Run schedule as recipient enabled and then that user's account is disabled, the schedule will fail to deliver to the disabled user starting the next time it runs. If that user's account is deleted, the entire schedule will fail to deliver to any recipients. A Looker admin or user with the see_schedules permission will be able to diagnose this failure in the Scheduler History page in the Admin panel.
This option is available only for the email destination.
If your Looker admin has set your Looker instance's emailed data policy to Send Links and Data, the schedule and send window displays the Include links option. Select this option to include in the data delivery emails a View full dashboard link that goes to the dashboard in Looker. Dashboard links do not include any hide_filter parameters.
Recipients must log in to Looker and have permissions to access the models on which the delivered dashboard is based to view that content in Looker. If you want to remove this link from your data delivery emails, clear the Include links checkbox.
This option is available only for the email destination, and only for embedded dashboards. It is displayed when the Include links option is selected.
The Include custom link option lets you configure a custom URL to which the View full dashboard link will connect, instead of linking to the dashboard in Looker. You can also optionally change the View full dashboard link text.
To use this option, a Looker admin or a user with either the schedule_look_emails or the create_alerts permission first must specify allowed domains for the custom link and select the format of the custom link URL in the Embed page in the Admin menu.
Select the URL domain from the list of domains configured on the allowlist. For example, app.customer.com .
The Path option is displayed only if User defined URL is selected in the Select content path field on the Embed page in the Admin menu.
Enter a custom path for the link URL here. For example, if you want your custom link to point to the URL app.customer.com/my_embed_app , enter the path /my_embed_app here.
Use this field to enter new link text, which will replace the text View full dashboard in email deliveries. This field will display any text that is entered in the URL label field in the Embed page in the Admin menu by default and can be changed in this field.
This field is available only for CSV ZIP file formats of dashboard deliveries. It contains two options: With visualizations options applied or As displayed in the data table. You can choose one or the other.
Choose the With visualizations options applied option to apply some of the visualization settings from the dashboard tiles to your dashboard delivery. This causes the files in your delivery to appear similar to table charts. Any of the following settings in the Plot, Series, and Formatting menus that are configured for a visualization will be applied to the data delivery:
Choose the As displayed in the data table option to deliver the data as it appears in the data table of each dashboard tile's Explore from here window.
This field is available only for CSV ZIP file formats of dashboard deliveries. It contains two options: Formatted or Unformatted. You can choose one or the other.
This option is available only for PDF formats of dashboard deliveries.
Select the Expand tables to show all rows box to display all rows of any table visualizations in the dashboard — rather than just those rows that display in the dashboard tile thumbnails.
If the Expand Tables to Show All Rows option is selected, dashboard tiles that contain table visualizations may look slightly different in delivered PDFs than they do inside Looker. The following differences may be noticeable in the PDF:
Additionally, for tables with more than 20,000 cells, the following differences may be noticeable in the PDF:
If you do not see the Expand tables to show all rows option when you've chosen PDF in the Format field, talk to your Looker admin about installing the appropriate version of the Chromium renderer for your Looker instance.
This option is available only for the PDF and PNG visualization formats of dashboard deliveries. When Slack is selected as the delivery destination only PDFs are supported.
Select the Arrange dashboard tiles in a single column box to format your PDF or your PNG visualization in a single column layout. This layout displays dashboard tiles in a single vertical column. Leave the box unchecked to show the tiles as they are arranged in the dashboard.
This option is available only for PDF formats of dashboard deliveries.
You have the option to specify the optimal size and orientation of dashboard PDFs by selecting from the Paper size drop-down menu. Large visualizations or groups of overlapping dashboard tiles may need to be resized to fit cleanly on a PDF page. If you do not see the Paper size option, talk to your Looker admin about installing the latest version of the Chromium renderer for your Looker instance.
This option is available only for the PNG visualization format and when the Arrange dashboard tiles in a single column box is checked.
You can customize the width of your visualization by using the Table resolution drop-down menu. Your width options are:
For deliveries to email, if you choose Wide and the visualization width exceeds the limit set by your email client, email delivery recipients may need to scroll horizontally to see the entire visualization.
By default, Looker uses the time zone associated with your account to determine when to send your data delivery. If you don't have a time zone associated with your account, Looker uses your Application Time Zone setting.
If you want to specify a different time zone, select the time zone from the drop-down menu. The time zone you select does not affect the data in your Look or dashboard, just the timing of the delivery.
The Filters tab in the schedule and send window shows any filters applied to the dashboard as well as their values. In this tab, you can edit the values for any existing filters applied to the dashboard and the new values will be applied to the delivery. The dashboard itself will not be affected.
You cannot add filters to your schedule in the Filters tab, only view and edit the values for existing dashboard filters.
For example, you might send regional teams results that are filtered for their states of interest.
If a dashboard filter requires a filter value, you must enter a value in the Filters tab to create or save any edits to the delivery.
Sometimes dashboard filters change after a schedule is created. The following table explains how that affects filters applied to the scheduled deliveries.
| Action | Effect on Schedule Filter |
|---|---|
| A schedule is created with a filter. Later, the filter value is changed on the dashboard. | No effect on the schedule filter value. It remains the value set in the Filters tab, even if that value is is any value. |
| A schedule is created with a filter. Later, the filter is renamed in the dashboard. | The filter is removed from the delivered data. |
| A schedule is created with a filter. Later, the filter is deleted in the dashboard. | The filter is removed from the delivered data. |
| A schedule is created. Later, a new (non-required or required) filter is added to the dashboard. | The filter is applied to the delivered data, using the filter value set in the Filters tab. If no value is set in the Filters tab, the value is interpreted as is any value, essentially removing the filter. |
Note: Dashboard filters that are renamed in or removed from a dashboard are no longer applied to delivered data. Schedule creators should be aware that renaming or removing filters could cause deliveries to expose unfiltered data.
If your Looker admin has configured user-specific values, called user attributes, and you have edit privileges for a dashboard, you can create a dashboard filter that uses the matches a user attribute filter option. A filter of this type automatically customizes the filter value for each dashboard viewer. With this kind of filter, you can deliver customized results to each delivery's recipients. To read more about user attributes, visit the User attributes documentation page.
If you set the Recurrence field to anything other than Send now, a Test now button appears at the bottom left of the schedule and send window.
Select the Test now button to send a one-time test delivery of the schedule only to yourself. A green checkmark appears to confirm a test has been sent.
If you set the Recurrence field to Send now, select the Send now button at the bottom of the window for a one-time delivery to the listed destination.
If you set the Recurrence field to anything other than Send now, select the Save button to save your schedule and close the window.
Select the Cancel button to exit the window without saving or sending the schedule.
Your saved schedules for a dashboard appear in its existing schedules window. Your saved schedules for all content appear on the Schedules page of your user profile.
You can edit only the schedules you have created. To edit a schedule:
You may want to duplicate a schedule and then edit it. To duplicate a schedule:
The original schedule remains unchanged when you make a duplicate.
The filters in a duplicate schedule will be set to the same values as are present in the Filters tab of the original schedule, although you can edit these values. If any filters have changed since the creation of the original schedule, the filters will be affected as shown in the When dashboard filters change section. If a required filter was later added to the dashboard that the original schedule is based on, you need to select a value for that filter before saving the duplicated schedule.
You can delete only the schedules you have created. To delete a schedule:
You can also delete a schedule from the Schedules page of your user profile.
Note: Looker schedules data deliveries according to the time zone that is indicated in the Application Time Zone setting on the Admin Settings page, or, if enabled, the schedule creator's User Specific Time Zone setting.
At times, a scheduled delivery could fail to reach one or more of its recipients. This could happen if the underlying model has an error, if the recipient does not have access to the data, or if there are rendering problems or page errors. The data destination reports an error if it is unable to connect to the specified endpoint.
If such issues occur, Looker sends an email to notify the schedule's creator. The email includes a link to the scheduled content, a list of the recipients it failed to reach, and more information, if available, about the problem Looker encountered when trying to reach the recipients.
Looker admins can see, edit, reassign, and delete any users' schedules. Additionally, Looker admins should bear some things in mind when setting up data delivery for their Looker instance and granting users permissions to send or schedule data deliveries. For more information, visit the following documentation pages:
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2024-09-10 UTC.
