Sankey visualization (SmartViz)

Important

This feature is in beta and subject to change. Reach out to support with any issues.

The Sankey visualization shows flows between nodes, with the thickness of each link proportional to its value. Use it for routing, dependency, and attribution data, such as where traffic goes or where cost accrues.

When to use a sankey

A sankey shows where things go. It needs three columns: a source, a target, and a value weighting the flow between them.

That shape is less common than it first appears, so check your data has it before choosing this chart. Cost attribution works where you have two levels to connect, such as subscription to service from Azure Cost. Alert routing is another fit, mapping source system to responding team from PagerDuty Incidents / All.

Important

Cyclic flows and self-referencing rows, where source and target are the same, are silently dropped. If links seem to be missing, check your data doesn't loop back on itself.

For hierarchy rather than flow, a Treemap shows nesting more clearly. With only one level of grouping, use a Bar or Donut.

Try it out

Change the settings below and see how the chart updates. Select a dataset from the dropdown to see different use cases.

Interactive example
Showing

Three channels feeding signups, which then split into converted or churned. Ribbon width is the number making that move, which a stacked bar cannot show.

Organic search (4,200)Paid search (2,000)Referral (900)Signed up (2,820)Bounced (4,280)Converted (1,350)Churned (1,470)
Sankey: 3 stages, 7,100 visitors entering the flow

Sankey settings

Data mapping

Setting
Description
Source
Required. Select the column naming the node each flow starts from.
Target
Required. Select the column naming the node each flow ends at.
Value
Required. Select the numeric column determining the magnitude of each flow.

Legend & labels

Setting
Description
Show Data Labels
Enable to print the node name against each node.
Label Color
Choose the text color for node labels.
Label Font Size (px)
Enter the font size for node labels, from 6 to 72.
Label Format
Enter an Expression to format the label content. Use {{value}}, {{name}}, or a column name. The date, number, and percent helpers are available.

Colors

Add up to 20 colors to set the palette, in order. The palette repeats when there are more items than colors. Leave the palette empty to use the SquaredUp default colors.

Series / status colors

Pin a named value to a specific color, regardless of its position in the palette. Enter the name exactly as it appears in your data, then choose its color.

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