Auto-Refresh

Keep dashboards current with automatic data refresh capabilities that balance real-time insights with performance.

Overview

Auto-refresh automatically re-queries your MongoDB databases to update dashboard widgets at configured intervals without manual page reloads.

Enabling Auto-Refresh

Dashboard-Level Refresh

Configure refresh for entire dashboard:

Available Intervals

Choose update frequency:

• 30 seconds - Near real-time monitoring
• 1 minute - Frequent updates for active monitoring
• 5 minutes - Moderate refresh for operational dashboards
• 15 minutes - Light refresh for hourly trends
• 30 minutes - Minimal refresh for daily summaries
• 1 hour - Sparse refresh for stable metrics

Widget-Level Refresh

Team

Individual Widget Settings

Override dashboard refresh per widget:

Common Use Cases

Different widgets need different refresh rates:

• Real-Time KPIs - 30 seconds (active users, current orders)
• Performance Metrics - 1 minute (error rates, API latency)
• Trend Charts - 5 minutes (daily revenue, signup trends)
• Historical Tables - 15-30 minutes (static reports)

Manual Refresh

Refreshing All Widgets

Update all dashboard data immediately:

• Click Refresh icon in dashboard header
• Press R keyboard shortcut
• All widgets re-query regardless of auto-refresh settings

Refreshing Individual Widgets

Update single widget:

1. Click widget More menu (three dots)
2. Select Refresh Now
3. Widget re-queries and updates
4. Other widgets unaffected

Force Refresh

Business

Bypass cache for guaranteed fresh data:

1. Hold Shift key while clicking Refresh icon
2. Clears query cache before refreshing
3. Ensures absolute latest data
4. Slower than normal refresh

Live Data Mode

Business

Enabling Live Mode

Real-time updates using MongoDB Change Streams:

How Live Mode Works

Instead of polling, widgets update when data changes:

• Establishes MongoDB Change Stream connection
• Listens for insert, update, delete operations
• Pushes changes to dashboard in real-time
• No refresh delay or wasted queries

Requirements for Live Mode

Live data requires:

• MongoDB 4.0+ with replica set
• Business or Enterprise plan
• Change streams enabled on collections
• WebSocket connection support

Limitations

Live mode has constraints:

• Maximum 10 live widgets per dashboard
• Only works with simple queries (not complex aggregations)
• Higher MongoDB server load
• Requires persistent connection

Performance Impact

Query Load

Auto-refresh affects database performance:

• Each refresh executes all widget queries
• More widgets = more query load
• Faster intervals = higher database load
• Consider MongoDB server capacity

Calculation Example

Dashboard with 8 widgets refreshing every 1 minute:

Queries per hour = 8 widgets x 60 minutes = 480 queries
Queries per day = 480 x 24 = 11,520 queries

Optimizing Performance

Reduce refresh overhead:

Refresh Behavior

What Gets Refreshed

Auto-refresh updates:

• Widget data from MongoDB queries
• Calculated metrics and aggregations
• Chart visualizations
• Table rows

What Doesn't Refresh

These remain static:

• Dashboard layout and widget positions
• Widget configuration settings
• Text widget content
• Dashboard title and description

Refresh During Editing

Auto-refresh while editing:

• Pauses automatically when dashboard in edit mode
• Prevents layout disruption from data updates
• Resumes when edit mode exits
• Manual refresh still available

Advanced Refresh Settings

Conditional Refresh

Business

Refresh only when conditions met:

• Time-Based - Only refresh during business hours
• Change Detection - Skip refresh if data unchanged
• Threshold-Based - Refresh when metric exceeds value
• User Activity - Pause when dashboard not visible

Configuration Example

Business hours only refresh:

{
  "autoRefresh": {
    "enabled": true,
    "interval": "1m",
    "conditions": {
      "timeWindow": {
        "start": "09:00",
        "end": "17:00",
        "timezone": "America/New_York",
        "daysOfWeek": [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
      }
    }
  }
}

Smart Refresh

Enterprise

Adaptive refresh intervals:

• Analyzes data change frequency
• Adjusts refresh rate automatically
• Slows down when data stable
• Speeds up when detecting rapid changes
• Optimizes query load vs. data freshness

Refresh Indicators

Visual Feedback

Know when data is updating:

• Spinning Icon - Widget currently refreshing
• Last Updated - Timestamp of most recent refresh
• Progress Bar - Shows refresh countdown
• Stale Indicator - Warning if refresh failed

Refresh Status

Check refresh health:

1. Hover over widget Last Updated timestamp
2. See detailed refresh info:
   • Last successful refresh time
   • Next scheduled refresh time
   • Refresh interval
   • Any errors or warnings

Handling Refresh Failures

Common Failure Causes

Refresh may fail due to:

• MongoDB connection timeout
• Query execution timeout
• Network connectivity issues
• Database authentication errors
• Query syntax errors

Automatic Retry

Failed refreshes retry automatically:

• First retry after 30 seconds
• Second retry after 1 minute
• Third retry after 5 minutes
• Then follows normal schedule

Error Notifications

Stay informed of failures:

Refresh Scheduling

Time Zone Handling

Refresh respects time zones:

• Uses workspace default timezone
• Override per dashboard if needed
• Ensures consistent behavior across distributed teams
• Useful for business-hours-only refresh

Coordinated Refresh

Business

Synchronize multiple dashboards:

1. Create refresh schedule
2. Assign multiple dashboards to schedule
3. All dashboards refresh simultaneously
4. Reduces database load spikes

Mobile Refresh Behavior

Mobile Considerations

Auto-refresh on mobile devices:

• Pauses when app backgrounded
• Resumes when app brought to foreground
• Longer intervals recommended (5+ minutes)
• Reduces battery and data usage

Mobile Settings

Customize mobile refresh:

• Enable Mobile-Specific Interval in settings
• Choose longer interval than desktop
• Toggle Pause on Cellular to use WiFi only
• Reduces mobile data consumption

Monitoring Refresh Activity

Refresh Metrics

Enterprise

Track refresh performance:

• Total refreshes per day
• Average refresh time per widget
• Failed refresh rate
• Database query load from refreshes

Alerts

Get notified of refresh issues:

1. Navigate to Settings → Alerts
2. Create alert for refresh failures
3. Set threshold (e.g., 3 consecutive failures)
4. Choose notification method (email, Slack)

Best Practices

Choosing Intervals

Select appropriate refresh rates:

• Operations Dashboards - 30 seconds to 1 minute for active monitoring
• Business Metrics - 5-15 minutes for hourly trends
• Executive Summaries - 30 minutes to 1 hour for daily overviews
• Historical Reports - Disable auto-refresh, use manual refresh

Resource Management

Optimize refresh overhead:

• Index frequently queried fields
• Use covered queries when possible
• Limit result set sizes
• Avoid complex aggregations in fast-refresh widgets
• Monitor MongoDB server load

User Experience

Balance freshness and performance:

• Don't refresh faster than users can consume information
• Show clear refresh indicators
• Provide manual refresh for user control
• Use stale data warnings for critical metrics
• Document refresh intervals in dashboard descriptions

Troubleshooting

Refresh Not Working

If auto-refresh stops:

1. Check dashboard settings show refresh enabled
2. Verify MongoDB connection is active
3. Test manual refresh to check query validity
4. Review browser console for JavaScript errors
5. Check if edit mode is active (pauses refresh)

Inconsistent Refresh Times

If refresh timing is irregular:

• Server load may delay query execution
• Check query performance with explain plan
• Verify network latency to MongoDB
• Review concurrent dashboard usage
• Consider increasing refresh interval

Data Not Updating

If widgets show stale data:

1. Force refresh with Shift + Refresh
2. Check MongoDB replica lag
3. Verify query filters include recent data
4. Clear browser cache
5. Check widget error indicators

What's Next?

• Dashboard Layout
• Query Performance
• Sharing Dashboards