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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.supaboard.ai/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

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What are Partial Filters?

When someone filters a dashboard, those filters normally apply to every table in your widget’s query. But sometimes you don’t want that. Maybe you’re comparing this month’s sales to all-time sales, and you need that all-time number to stay put no matter what filters get applied. Partial Filters solve this. Add a $ to any table reference, and that reference gets left alone. Everything else filters like normal.

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The basics

Just put a $ on the table name you want to protect from filters: 
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM $ORDERS
That’s it. The $ is a signal to the filtering layer — it gets stripped out before your query actually runs, so your database never sees it. You can put the $ wherever it’s convenient:
You writeWhat happens
ORDERSFiltered (the default)
$ORDERSNot filtered
ORDERS$Not filtered
ORD$ERSNot filtered (but, why?)

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Where to add the $

Two places:
  1. Query Builder when you’re writing or editing the SQL
  2. Dashboard Edit when you’re tweaking a widget in place
Changes apply the next time the widget runs.

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Examples

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”What % of all-time orders happened this period?”

You want the numerator to follow the dashboard’s date filter, but the denominator should always be the all-time total. 
WITH current_period AS (
  SELECT COUNT(*) AS orders_in_period
  FROM ORDERS              -- filtered: reflects the selected period
),
all_time AS (
  SELECT COUNT(*) AS total_orders
  FROM $ORDERS             -- not filtered: always all-time
)
SELECT
  ROUND(
    (SELECT orders_in_period FROM current_period) * 100.0 /
    NULLIF((SELECT total_orders FROM all_time), 0),
    2
  ) AS percentage_of_total;

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”Show filtered revenue next to a company-wide benchmark”

SELECT
  (SELECT SUM(amount) FROM SALES)  AS filtered_revenue,   -- moves with filters
  (SELECT AVG(amount) FROM SALES$) AS company_average;    -- stays constant

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Mixing filtered and unfiltered references in one query

SELECT
  u.region,
  COUNT(o.id)      AS filtered_orders,
  ref.total_users
FROM ORDERS o                       -- filtered
JOIN USERS u ON u.id = o.user_id    -- filtered
LEFT JOIN (
  SELECT region, COUNT(*) AS total_users
  FROM $USERS                       -- not filtered: full population per region
  GROUP BY region
) ref ON ref.region = u.region
GROUP BY u.region, ref.total_users;
The same table (USERS) appears twice and behaves differently in each spot — that’s the whole point of putting the $ on individual references rather than the table itself.

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Tips

Use it sparingly. The default — filtering everything — is almost always what you want. Only reach for $ when you have a specific reason to keep a reference static. It’s per-reference, not per-table. If ORDERS shows up three times and you want two of them unfiltered, mark those two and leave the third alone. Leave a comment. Future you (or a teammate) will appreciate a quick note like -- baseline, intentionally unfiltered next to any $-marked reference. Schema-qualified names work too. Just put the $ next to the table part: analytics.$ORDERS or analytics.ORDERS$.

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FAQ

Does this work for tables, charts, and KPIs? Yes — same behavior across all widget types. What if I forget the $? Nothing breaks. The reference just gets filtered like any other, and your results will move with the dashboard filters. Will the $ show up in query errors or results? No. It’s stripped before the query reaches the database, so your column names, joins, and aliases all work exactly as written.
Last modified on May 8, 2026