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Explore product limits

Erin O'Callaghan
  • Edited
Zendesk Documentation Team

This article details the product limits that are in place for Explore. As more product limits are added to Explore, this article will continue to be updated. To ensure that you’re kept up to date on all changes, click Follow at the top of this article.

This article covers the following topics:

Limits for reports

The following tables show the maximum strict and recommended limits for Explore reports.

Strict limits

Strict limits are programmatically enforced by Explore and cannot be overridden by the user.

Item Maximum
Loading timeout 2 minutes

The more complex a report is, the longer it takes to load. If a report cannot be loaded within 2 minutes, its execution is canceled.
Rows 50,000

If a report has more than 50,000 rows, results are truncated at the first 50,000 rows.

Rows that are processed as part of a formula also count toward this limit. As a result, reports with complex formulas might encounter this limit even if the final report has fewer than 50,000 rows.
Explosions 30
Attributes within each drill in level 20
SQL query length (Calculation complexity)

1 million characters

If your report’s calculations are too complex, the following message appears: “Calculations are too complex. Simplify calculated metrics and attributes or remove some of them.” This limit is reached when the underlying SQL query generated for the report has more than 1 million characters.
Nested calculations 3 levels

Recommended limits

Zendesk cannot guarantee reports will be successfully executed if they are in breach of the following recommended limits.

Item Maximum
Columns

Visualizations have different column limits:

  • 100: Pie, Funnel, Bullet, Gauge, Picto, Radar, Parallel sets

  • 500: Table, Word cloud

  • 1,000: Auto, Treemap, Relational, Sunburst, Sparkline, Dot

  • 3,000: Area, Column, Line, KPI, Bubble, Waterfall
Metrics and attributes

40

This is the maximum number of combined metrics and attributes that can be added to a report. For example, a report can have 10 metrics and 30 attributes.
Filters 10
Nested calculated attributes Nesting calculated attributes inside of other calculated attributes or metrics is not recommended. Doing so exponentially increases the complexity of the report, resulting in potentially poor performance.
Conditions per formula or calculation 200

This is the maximum recommended number of conditions that can be added to formulas or used in UI-based calculations (like groups and sets).

Limits for dashboards

The following table shows the maximum strict and recommended limits for Explore dashboards.

Strict limits

Strict limits are programmatically enforced by Explore and cannot be overridden by the user.

Item Maximum
Live dashboards open per account 100

See Live data limits for Explore dashboards.
Applied filters on a live dashboard 5 attribute values per filter
Scheduled deliveries email attachments 20 MB
Scheduled deliveries timeout 20 minutes

See Why did my scheduled dashboard delivery time out?
Dashboard restrictions
  • 10 for Professional plans
  • 100 for Enterprise plans

See Dynamically adapting dashboard data based on viewer.

Recommended limits

Zendesk cannot guarantee dashboards will load successfully if they are in breach of the following recommended limits.

Item Maximum
Tabs per dashboard 10
Reports per tab 35
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3 Comments

  • Jeremy Kendall

    I need guidance on how to update my work in order to accommodate the following restrictions:

    • "If a report has more than 50,000 rows, results are truncated at the first 50,000 rows. Rows that are processed as part of a formula also count toward this limit." -- How do I handle year-over-year volume reports? We receive several thousand tickets every month, and our ticket volume follows a yearly pattern. Aggregating this data involves many, many rows.
    • "Filters: 10" -- We have very flexible dashboards that allow users to find information in many necessary ways. Will there be a user-facing warning when too many filters are selected? Does this limit include filters that are saved in a dashboard-embedded report, but are otherwise not editable via user selection in the dashboard?
    • "Nesting calculated attributes inside of other calculated attributes or metrics is not recommended. Doing so exponentially increases the complexity of the report, resulting in potentially poor performance." -- Zendesk cannot provide all of the metrics that every customer needs. Zendesk acknowledges this, giving customers the ability to create custom fields. Are we not able to create custom metrics on custom fields anymore? This is a HUGE hindrance to our ability to understand our data.
    • "Live dashboards open per account: 100" -- Zendesk still does not allow admins to view every dashboard that exists on their account. How do I know how many dashboards are on our account if some dashboards were never shared with me? Is there a place to view them all? This support thread has been open for two years: https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/4409222580634-Admins-should-see-ALL-Dashboards-even-if-not-shared-to-them 
    • "Applied filters on a live dashboard: 5 attribute values per filter" -- Again, we need the ability for end users to explore the data and drill down in order to identify trends and diagnose issues. This often includes selecting more than 5 attribute values in a single filter.
    • "Reports per tab: 35" -- Each KPI counts as its own report. I often insert a KPI beside a visualization for ease of use, so my report limit (report + KPI) will be 17. I would consider re-working the dashboards using the "Change attribute" tool and bookmarking different filter combinations, but there's also a proposed limit on filters, so that's not feasible.

    Thank you for your assistance.

    1
  • Elaine
    • Edited
    Hello Jeremy,
     
    I hope you're having a good day! I'll go ahead and address each issue one by one for you.
     
    • To prevent this issue, I recommend creating an annual report if the data for a particular year doesn't exceed 50,000 rows. Additionally, consider using dashboards to consolidate all your data on a single page.
    • If a report exceeds 50,000 rows, you'll encounter an error message stating, "This is a large report, limited to the first 50,000 rows." However, you can add more than 10 filters in both reports and dashboards. It's important to note that this won't impact the dashboard if the filters are either non-editable or hidden.
    • You still have the option to create custom metrics based on custom fields. We advise against nesting calculated attributes within other calculated attributes or metrics, as it may result in slower loading times, although it remains a feasible option.
    • While there hasn't been an official comment from Zendesk on this matter, it is indeed a significant concern. As an admin in Explore, you can view all reports as long as you have grant permission to access custom datasets created by agents. I understand that this solution may not be ideal, but it's currently our best option. The issue has been posted in the product feedback discussion board, where our managers and developers engage with the community. You can track progress with various statuses, and we've already implemented features based on customer feedback and upvotes. Thank you for your patience and input.
    • This guideline applies to live dashboards, and you can utilize more than 5 attribute values.
    • In my test account, I conducted an experiment and found that a single tab can accommodate more than 35 reports.

      Please keep in mind that most of the numbers mentioned in this article are not strict limits but rather recommendations aimed at ensuring optimal dashboard performance. 😊
    1
  • Jeremy Kendall

    Elaine Thanks so much for your help! I appreciate the clarity! Have a great week.

    0

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