Variables are referenced using $var syntax across all query types.
Query Builder
Single-select variables: Use the variable name directly
service.name = $service.name AND has_error = true AND http.route EXISTS
Name your variable the same as the field to avoid confusion (e.g., variable service.name for field service.name)
Multi-select variables: Use IN operator for multiple values
k8s.namespace.name = $k8s.namespace.name AND k8s.pod.name IN $k8s.pod.name
ClickHouse Queries
Reference variables with $ prefix in your SQL:
SELECT
toStartOfInterval(timestamp, INTERVAL 1 MINUTE) AS interval,
attributes_string['http.method'] AS method,
toFloat64(avg(durationNano)) AS value
FROM
signoz_traces.distributed_signoz_index_v3
WHERE
attributes_string['http.method'] != ''
AND attributes_string['http.method'] = $http.method -- Variable usage
AND timestamp > now() - INTERVAL 30 MINUTE
AND ts_bucket_start >= toUInt64(toUnixTimestamp(now() - toIntervalMinute(30))) - 1800
GROUP BY
(method, interval)
ORDER BY
(method, interval) ASC;
PromQL
Single-select variables: Use the = matcher with the variable:
sum(rate(http_requests_total{job="$job_name"}[5m]))
Multi-select variables: Use the =~ regex matcher instead of =. When multiple values are selected, SigNoz expands the variable into a regex pattern (e.g., value1|value2|value3), which requires =~ to match correctly.
sum(rate(http_requests_total{service_name=~"$service_name", deployment_environment=~"$deployment_environment"}[5m]))
