[✨ Triage] microsoft/aspire#15679 by blowdart - Dashboard metrics view for tagged metrics could be improved.

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Triage for microsoft/aspire#15679.
Repo filter: area-dashboard issues.
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This is a test triage report generated by AI, aimed at helping the triage team quickly identify past issues/PRs that may be related.
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microsoft/aspire#15679: Dashboard metrics view for tagged metrics could be improved. by blowdart
Extracted 5 search queries: Dashboard aggregates tagged metrics into a single line instead of showing separate series per tag, Show total and individual per-tag metric lines in dashboard charts, Tag filtering returns a single combined metric series rather than separate colored lines per tag, Read-only/embedded dashboard for public landing page with resources removed, Compare multiple tagged metric series on one chart to spot spikes and differences
Found 25 candidate issues

• Issue #7506 (Feb 2025) - [Dashboard][Metrics] Add support to not-aggregate a dimension but instead show multiple "series" per dimension values
  Summary: Feature request that matches this new issue almost exactly — add an option to stop aggregating all selected dimension values into a single series and instead render one series per dimension value (e.g. show one line per tag value). The issue includes before/after mockups. No implementation in the thread; it appears to still be an open feature request. This is the closest existing request to what blowdart is asking for.

• PR #1327 (Dec 2023) - Improve UI for selecting metrics filter (fixes #1260)
  Summary: Replaced the multi-select autocomplete with badges + overflow + popup + checkboxes and made new dimensions/values automatically selected. This addresses many UX problems with the tag selector (dropdown closing on selection, no quick-select-all, newly arriving dimensions not being selected). Relevant because the improved filter control reduces friction when selecting multiple tag values, but it does not change how series are aggregated on the chart (i.e. it improves selection, not the aggregation/series-per-tag behavior).

• Issue #1260 (Dec 2023) - Metrics: Improve UI for selecting metrics filter
  Summary: Original problem report that motivated PR #1327 — enumerates problems with the autocomplete control and proposes a popover + checkboxes approach. Closed when PR #1327 merged. Useful background: the team already changed the selector UI, so the filtering surface is improved; the new ask is about changing chart aggregation/series rendering.

• Issue #10654 (Jul 2025) - Dashboard > Metrics: add color legend to the graph based on a tag
  Summary: Request to let users pick a tag to act as the color legend so different tag values get different colors and are easily identifiable in the chart. This aligns with the new issue's need for separate colored lines per tag + explicit legend. Discussion is limited (no merged change), so this remains a useful feature request to reference.

• Issue #351 (Oct 2023) - Dashboard: Metrics: Chart Type(s)
  Summary: Discussion about area vs line charts and how charts behave when multiple series are shown. Author notes you can show lines in area charts and turned them off previously because histograms created confusing visuals. Conclusion: showing lines (or line+area) is feasible, but histograms/bucketed metrics complicate visuals. Relevant: switching to line charts or enabling line strokes will make multiple per-tag series easier to compare visually.

• Issue #350 (Oct 2023) - Dashboard: Metrics: Dimension display
  Summary: UX discussion about how to display dimension values (current design used an autocomplete with X to remove). Suggestions to show each dimension value as a toggle so new values can appear and be toggled. Reviewers raised scalability concerns (what if 20/100 values?). Conclusion: the idea is useful but needs careful handling for large cardinality; this is relevant for how you'd choose which tag-values to show as separate series.

• Issue #3126 (Mar 2024) - Hide nonexistent combinations when filtering metrics on dashboard
  Summary: Request to make the UI indicate which other filter values are valid given the current selections (i.e., hide or grey-out tag-values that would produce no data). This would help when selecting a subset of tags so the user can pick only combinations that exist — directly helpful for a per-tag-series view where some tag combos have no data. No concrete implementation in the thread; author was asked for a reproduction.

• Issue #4380 (Jun 2024) - Aspire Dashboard Metrics: Meter tags do not display
  Summary: User saw meter-defined tags missing. Initially thought to be an OTel bug; investigation revealed tags were reported on the instrument scope rather than merged into data-point attributes. The dashboard was updated to combine those scope-level tags so they display. Relevance: confirms tag presence/shape matters — the dashboard can show meter/instrument-related tags but needed UI/denormalization work to do so.

• PR #1755 (Jan 2024) - Add data grid view of metrics
  Summary: Merged PR that adds a Table tab alongside Graph for metrics (accessible alternative). The grid shows timestamped values and histogram percentiles, and provides toggles for sampling/row limits. Relevance: if a read-only, trimmed dashboard is desired (as the OP mentions), the data grid is already available as an alternative presentation that shows per-value detail; however, it does not replace the desire to see multiple series on the graph.

• Issue #10653 (Jul 2025) - Dashboard > Metric > Filters: add ability to filter by clicking the tag box
  Summary: Small UX feature request to let users toggle a tag-value by clicking the colored tag box directly (instead of opening the filter popup). Reviewers raised overflow/visibility concerns; commenter suggested it as an additional convenience. Relevant as a usability improvement when working with many tag-values or wanting a quick per-tag comparison.

• Issue #11692 (Sep 2025) - Dashboard metrics filters do not take effect while metrics are paused
  Summary: Bug report showing that when metrics are paused the filters' UI updates but the graph may not update to reflect filter changes until the duration is changed (observed on Aspire 9.5.0). The issue was closed (Feb 2026) but there are no details in the thread here about the fix. Relevance: filtering interactions can be fragile with paused graphs — important to verify when changing chart rendering behavior (per-tag series) that filter application still works correctly in paused / read-only modes.

Other related context to consider

• Rate/delta views (#5299, #7505) are separate but related visualization improvements (showing deltas/rates instead of raw counts). If you show per-tag series, offering a per-series "rate/delta" toggle might be useful, but these are distinct feature requests.
• Large-cardinality concerns come up repeatedly (#350, #7784): showing many tag-values as separate series can lead to crowded charts and performance/clarity issues. UI limits, "show top N", color assignment, and a legend selector (see #10654) were suggested as mitigations.

Recommendation / next steps (based on related threads)

• Mark Issue #7506 as the canonical feature request for "do not aggregate, show one series per tag value" and link this new issue to it (they're effectively duplicates/overlap).
• Consider combining the "per-tag-series" option with a selectable tag-to-legend feature (#10654) and with guardrails for cardinality (top-N, "show total + breakdown", sampling, or table fallback).
• Verify tagging/denormalization behavior (as fixed in #4380) so the dashboard receives the tag values you expect.
• Test behavior when metrics are paused (#11692) to ensure filters apply correctly in the read-only scenario blowdart described.