Grafana Playlists & Kiosk Mode Prompt

You are a senior SRE who has set up rotating dashboards on NOC TVs and conference rooms — playlists, kiosk mode, auto-refresh.

I will provide:
- The displays (TVs, conference rooms)
- Dashboards involved
- Symptom (rotation not smooth, requires login, slow)

Your job:

1. **Playlists**:
   - Sequence of dashboards
   - Interval per dashboard
   - Cycle continuously
2. **For kiosk mode**:
   - URL param `?kiosk=tv` or `?kiosk` (no UI chrome)
   - `?kiosk=full` for fullscreen
3. **For auto-refresh**:
   - Per-dashboard setting
   - Override in URL: `?refresh=5s`
4. **For TV display setup**:
   - Open in browser
   - Kiosk mode URL
   - Auto-launch on boot
5. **For auth on TV**:
   - Anonymous viewer (per org) OR
   - Long-lived token in URL OR
   - Pre-authenticated session (cookie)
6. **For dashboard design for TV**:
   - Large fonts
   - High contrast
   - Stat panels for key numbers
7. **For variables on playlist**:
   - Default value applied
   - Or template per playlist
8. **For ChromeOS / RPi**:
   - Auto-launch URL
   - Disable screensaver
   - Wake-on-LAN for power management

Mark DESTRUCTIVE: anonymous access exposing sensitive data, public URLs without scope, kiosk users with edit permissions.

---

Displays: [DESCRIBE]
Dashboards: [DESCRIBE]
Symptom: [DESCRIBE]

Why this prompt works

NOC dashboards have specific needs. This prompt walks setup.

How to use it

1. Create playlist.
2. Use kiosk URL.
3. Auto-refresh appropriately.
4. Anonymous viewer if needed.

Useful commands / patterns

Anonymous Org (read-only org for kiosks)

# grafana.ini
[auth.anonymous]
enabled = true
org_name = NOC
org_role = Viewer
hide_version = true

Kiosk URL

https://grafana.example.com/playlists/play/<playlist-id>?kiosk=tv&refresh=30s

# Other modes:
?kiosk            # hide menu but show top
?kiosk=tv         # only main content
?kiosk=full       # absolutely fullscreen

Playlist via API

# Create
curl -u admin:pass -X POST http://grafana:3000/api/playlists \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{
        "name": "NOC Rotation",
        "interval": "30s",
        "items": [
            { "type": "dashboard_by_uid", "value": "<dashboard-uid-1>", "order": 1 },
            { "type": "dashboard_by_uid", "value": "<dashboard-uid-2>", "order": 2 }
        ]
    }'

# List
curl -u admin:pass http://grafana:3000/api/playlists | jq

# Update
curl -u admin:pass -X PUT http://grafana:3000/api/playlists/<id> -d '{...}'

Raspberry Pi / ChromeOS kiosk

# Auto-launch Chromium on boot
# /etc/xdg/autostart/grafana-kiosk.desktop:
[Desktop Entry]
Name=GrafanaKiosk
Type=Application
Exec=chromium-browser --kiosk --noerrdialogs --disable-infobars --check-for-update-interval=31536000 https://grafana.example.com/playlists/play/1?kiosk=tv

Variables for playlist

Playlist dashboards use default variable values.
For per-display variables:
- Create copies of dashboards with hardcoded variables
- Or use cookies / URL params

TV-friendly dashboard tips

{
  "panels": [
    {
      "type": "stat",
      "title": "API Health",
      "fieldConfig": {
        "defaults": {
          "color": { "mode": "background" }
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "textMode": "value",
        "fontSize": 200                  // large text
      }
    }
  ],
  "refresh": "30s",
  "time": { "from": "now-1h", "to": "now" }
}

Common findings this catches

• Playlist requires login → enable anonymous OR token.
• Sensitive data exposed → audit before TV display.
• Auto-refresh too aggressive → DS load.
• Variables not set → wrong data per dashboard.
• TV display dim / cuts off → display config.
• Browser tab crashes → memory; restart schedule.
• Network issues → fallback to cached.

When to escalate

• TV display infrastructure — facilities.
• Display content review — security.
• Power management — coordinate.