Explore report data with drill-in
Open drill-in on any report chart to see the rows behind the number - filter, sort, choose columns, preview conversations, and export to CSV.
Written By Markus from Featurebase
Last updated About 4 hours ago
Overview
When a report number needs a closer look, use drill-in to see exactly what is behind it. Drill-in opens the matching conversations, replies, ratings, or tickets in a table where you can inspect individual records and export them to CSV. It works on every chart, in built-in templates and custom reports alike.
Common use cases:
Inspect a spike - open the exact conversations behind an unusual day before reporting it to your team
Review a teammate's numbers - see the replies or closes behind one bar in a performance chart
Verify a metric - check what a number actually counts before you share the report
Pull a working list - export the conversations behind a number to CSV
Note: Drill-in and CSV export use separate workspace permissions. Can access Chart drill-in is required to open the rows, while Can export CSV is also required to download them. Workspace admins manage both under Settings → Members and teams.
How drill-in works
Open drill-in
Hover a chart and click ‘Drill-in’. If the chart plots several metrics, pick the one to drill into from the list. Drill-in is also available as ‘Chart drill-in’ in the chart's actions menu, under ‘Data exploration’.
On column, bar, line, area, combo, and table charts, you can also click a bar, point, or row directly. Drill-in then opens scoped to that data point (e.g. clicking one week's bar in a chart segmented by channel shows only that week and channel's rows).
Either way, the drill-in opens with the chart's exact scope: its date range, the report-level and chart-level filters, and the data point you clicked.
Work with the rows
The table shows one row per record in the dataset behind the metric - a conversation, a reply, a rating, a ticket. The header shows how many rows match, and more rows load as you scroll.
Filter - use the filter bar to narrow the rows, the same way you filter a report. It only offers attributes the selected metric supports
Sort - click a column header to sort ascending or descending
Change the date range - pick a different range to widen or narrow the window
Changes you make inside the drill-in are temporary - they never modify the chart or the saved report. Click Reset drill-in controls to return to the chart's original scope.
Choose columns
Click the columns button in the top-right to open the Columns panel.
Search or browse the available columns, grouped by category, and toggle the ones you want - the visible columns are also what the CSV export includes. At least one column must stay visible.
Default columns depend on the metric and dataset. They include the most useful identifiers and timestamps for those rows, plus the chart's View by and Segment by attributes when applicable. Metric-specific columns, such as a response duration or rating, are included where useful. Your changes are saved per chart, so the table looks the same the next time you drill in.
Tip: Use the Reporting metrics and attributes reference to check what each available filter and column means and which datasets support it.
Preview a conversation
Click a conversation ID in the table to preview the full conversation in a panel without leaving the drill-in.
On per-event rows like replies, click the Action ID to open the preview highlighting the specific message the row represents. To open the conversation in the Inbox in a new tab instead, click the Open in Inbox icon next to the ID.
Export the rows
Click Export CSV to download the matching rows with exactly the columns you have visible:
Note: Drill-in CSV exports include up to 10,000 rows. If the drill-in contains more, the export fails. Narrow the filters or date range, or use a dataset export for up to 100,000 rows.