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Build a fully custom frontend

Build an analytics screen with no GoodData visual components, only your own markup, by driving an execution, a headless attribute filter, a date filter, and a CSV export through GoodData.UI hooks.

Sometimes nothing GoodData.UI draws should be visible: the charts come from your design system, the filters are your own controls, and the layout is yours. GoodData.UI still knows the semantic model, runs the executions, loads attribute values, caches, and exports. You only render.

In this tutorial you build a “Revenue by category” screen with a bar list drawn in plain HTML, a region filter rendered as checkboxes, a period dropdown, and a CSV download. No @gooddata/sdk-ui-charts or @gooddata/sdk-ui-filters component is involved, only hooks.

You need the project from the Quick start, or any React app with BackendProvider, WorkspaceProvider, and a generated catalog, as set up in Installation.

You’ll use these APIs:

ToUseFrom
Run a query and read the resultuseExecutionDataView@gooddata/sdk-ui
Load attribute values and manage a selectionuseAttributeFilterController@gooddata/sdk-ui-filters
Define filters in codenewNegativeAttributeFilter, newRelativeDateFilter, newAllTimeFilter@gooddata/sdk-model
Export the same queryuseDataExport with useBackendStrict and useWorkspaceStrict@gooddata/sdk-ui
Refer to workspace objects by namethe generated catalog@gooddata/catalog-export

The code below uses the demo workspace’s catalog constants: Revenue, Category_1 (the product category; the catalog adds _1 because the workspace has two attributes titled Category), Region, and DateDatasets.Date. In your own workspace, pick the equivalents from your catalog.ts.

Draw the data yourself

Create src/RevenueByCategory.tsx. The hook runs one execution: the measure in seriesBy, the attribute to break it down by in slicesBy, and whatever filters the parent passes. The result has one slice per category with a single data point. rawValue is the number you compute with, formattedValue() the string to show, formatted the way the measure is defined in the workspace.

import type { IFilter } from "@gooddata/sdk-model";
import { useExecutionDataView } from "@gooddata/sdk-ui";

import { Category_1, Revenue } from "./catalog.js";

interface IRevenueByCategoryProps {
    filters: IFilter[];
}

export function RevenueByCategory({ filters }: IRevenueByCategoryProps) {
    const { result, status, error } = useExecutionDataView(
        {
            execution: {
                seriesBy: [Revenue],
                slicesBy: [Category_1],
                filters,
            },
        },
        [filters],
    );

    if (status === "error") {
        return <p role="alert">Could not load revenue: {error?.message}</p>;
    }

    if (status !== "success" || !result) {
        return <p>Loading…</p>;
    }

    const slices = result.data().slices().toArray();
    const values = slices.map((slice) => Number(slice.dataPoints()[0]?.rawValue ?? 0));
    const max = Math.max(0, ...values);

    return (
        <ol style={{ listStyle: "none", padding: 0 }}>
            {slices.map((slice, index) => (
                <li key={slice.id} style={{ display: "grid", gridTemplateColumns: "8rem 1fr 6rem", gap: "1rem" }}>
                    <span>{slice.sliceTitles().join(" / ")}</span>
                    <div style={{ background: "#14b2e2", width: `${max ? (values[index] / max) * 100 : 0}%` }} />
                    <span>{slice.dataPoints()[0]?.formattedValue()}</span>
                </li>
            ))}
        </ol>
    );
}

The second argument, [filters], is the dependency list. The hook runs again when a value in it changes, compared by reference, so the parent has to memoize the array. Render the component from App.tsx in place of the sample InsightView:

- import { InsightView } from "@gooddata/sdk-ui-ext";
+ import { RevenueByCategory } from "./RevenueByCategory.js";

-   <InsightView insight={Insights.ProductCategoriesPieChart} showTitle />
+   <RevenueByCategory filters={[]} />

Four bars appear, one per category, with revenue formatted as currency. Read more about useExecutionDataView and the series and slices behind slices().

Add a headless attribute filter

An attribute filter needs the attribute’s values, paging for long lists, a selection the user is editing, and the selection they last applied. useAttributeFilterController manages all of that and leaves the rendering to you. Create src/RegionFilter.tsx:

import { useAttributeFilterController } from "@gooddata/sdk-ui-filters";
import { type IAttributeElement, type IAttributeFilter, newNegativeAttributeFilter } from "@gooddata/sdk-model";

import { Region } from "./catalog.js";

interface IRegionFilterProps {
    onApply: (filter: IAttributeFilter) => void;
}

export function RegionFilter({ onApply }: IRegionFilterProps) {
    const {
        isInitializing,
        elements,
        workingSelectionElements,
        isWorkingSelectionInverted,
        onSelect,
        onApply: applySelection,
    } = useAttributeFilterController({
        // A negative filter with nothing excluded means "all regions".
        filter: newNegativeAttributeFilter(Region, []),
        onApply: (filter) => onApply(filter),
    });

    if (isInitializing) {
        return <p>Loading regions…</p>;
    }

    const isChecked = (element: IAttributeElement) => {
        const inWorkingSelection = workingSelectionElements.some((el) => el.uri === element.uri);
        return isWorkingSelectionInverted ? !inWorkingSelection : inWorkingSelection;
    };

    const toggle = (element: IAttributeElement) => {
        // Keep the selection mode and add or remove the value from the working list.
        const inWorkingSelection = workingSelectionElements.some((el) => el.uri === element.uri);
        const next = inWorkingSelection
            ? workingSelectionElements.filter((el) => el.uri !== element.uri)
            : [...workingSelectionElements, element];
        onSelect(next, isWorkingSelectionInverted);
    };

    return (
        <fieldset>
            <legend>Region</legend>
            {elements.map((element) => (
                <label key={element.uri} style={{ display: "block" }}>
                    <input type="checkbox" checked={isChecked(element)} onChange={() => toggle(element)} />{" "}
                    {element.title}
                </label>
            ))}
            <button type="button" onClick={() => applySelection()}>
                Apply
            </button>
        </fieldset>
    );
}

Two details matter here. The initial filter is a negative filter with an empty list, which GoodData.UI reads as “everything selected”, and the controller reports it as an inverted selection: the working list holds the excluded values. The toggle function keeps that mode and only adds or removes the clicked value from the list, so values on pages you haven’t loaded yet stay selected. Calling the controller’s onApply commits the working selection and calls your onApply with an IAttributeFilter that executions understand. The controller loads elements in pages; for attributes with many values, call onLoadNextElementsPage when the user scrolls, as described in useAttributeFilterController.

Wire the filters into the execution

Now hold the filters in state and pass them down. A period dropdown adds a date filter built in code. newRelativeDateFilter takes the date dataset, a granularity, and a range of periods where 0 is the current one, so -11 to 0 is the last 12 months and -1 to -1 is last year. newAllTimeFilter removes the date restriction. Replace App.tsx:

import { type IAttributeFilter, type IDateFilter, newAllTimeFilter, newRelativeDateFilter } from "@gooddata/sdk-model";
import { BackendProvider, WorkspaceProvider } from "@gooddata/sdk-ui";
import { useMemo, useState } from "react";

import { backend } from "./backend.js";
import { DateDatasets } from "./catalog.js";
import { RegionFilter } from "./RegionFilter.js";
import { RevenueByCategory } from "./RevenueByCategory.js";

// WORKSPACE_ID is the global that the Quick start project injects with Vite's `define`.
// In another app, use your workspace ID string.
const workspaceId = WORKSPACE_ID;

const periods = {
    all: newAllTimeFilter(DateDatasets.Date.ref),
    last12Months: newRelativeDateFilter(DateDatasets.Date.ref, "GDC.time.month", -11, 0),
    lastYear: newRelativeDateFilter(DateDatasets.Date.ref, "GDC.time.year", -1, -1),
} satisfies Record<string, IDateFilter>;

export function App() {
    const [regionFilter, setRegionFilter] = useState<IAttributeFilter | undefined>();
    const [period, setPeriod] = useState<keyof typeof periods>("all");

    const filters = useMemo(
        () => [periods[period], ...(regionFilter ? [regionFilter] : [])],
        [period, regionFilter],
    );

    return (
        <BackendProvider backend={backend}>
            <WorkspaceProvider workspace={workspaceId}>
                <main className="app">
                    <h1 className="app-title">Revenue by category</h1>
                    <label>
                        Period{" "}
                        <select value={period} onChange={(e) => setPeriod(e.target.value as keyof typeof periods)}>
                            <option value="all">All time</option>
                            <option value="last12Months">Last 12 months</option>
                            <option value="lastYear">Last year</option>
                        </select>
                    </label>
                    <RegionFilter onApply={setRegionFilter} />
                    <RevenueByCategory filters={filters} />
                </main>
            </WorkspaceProvider>
        </BackendProvider>
    );
}

Uncheck a region and click Apply, or pick a period, and the bars update. The useMemo around filters is what makes that efficient: the array only changes when a filter changes, so the execution runs exactly then. Every filter you can build in code is listed in Filters, and the execution model explains how filters, measures, and attributes combine.

Export the same data

Export reuses the execution definition rather than the rendered result. Build an IPreparedExecution from the same items and filters, and hand it to useDataExport, which runs it, asks the backend for a CSV, and returns the download URI. Render the URI as a link rather than opening it from a callback: the export can take longer than the browser’s window for user-initiated popups. Create src/ExportButton.tsx:

import type { IFilter } from "@gooddata/sdk-model";
import { useBackendStrict, useDataExport, useWorkspaceStrict } from "@gooddata/sdk-ui";
import { useMemo, useState } from "react";

import { Category_1, Revenue } from "./catalog.js";

interface IExportButtonProps {
    filters: IFilter[];
}

export function ExportButton({ filters }: IExportButtonProps) {
    const backend = useBackendStrict();
    const workspace = useWorkspaceStrict();
    const [requestCount, setRequestCount] = useState(0);

    // Build the execution only after the first click; useDataExport stays "pending" while it is null.
    const execution = useMemo(
        () =>
            requestCount > 0
                ? backend.workspace(workspace).execution().forItems([Revenue, Category_1], filters)
                : null,
        [requestCount, backend, workspace, filters],
    );

    const {
        status,
        result: downloadUri,
        error,
    } = useDataExport(
        {
            execution,
            exportConfig: { format: "csv", title: "revenue-by-category" },
        },
        [execution],
    );

    return (
        <>
            <button type="button" disabled={status === "loading"} onClick={() => setRequestCount((n) => n + 1)}>
                {status === "loading" ? "Exporting…" : "Export CSV"}
            </button>
            {status === "success" && downloadUri ? <a href={downloadUri}>Download the CSV</a> : null}
            {status === "error" ? <p role="alert">{error?.message}</p> : null}
        </>
    );
}

Render <ExportButton filters={filters} /> under the bars in App.tsx. useBackendStrict and useWorkspaceStrict read the providers at the top of the app, so the button needs no props beyond the filters.

Where to go next

The screen is yours end to end, and the pattern scales: one hook per query, filters in state, memoized arrays as dependencies.

Related

How custom visualizations get data

Understand the hooks, components, and backend API that feed custom visualizations, and how series, slices, and data points structure the result.

→
useExecutionDataView

Fetch execution data as a DataViewFacade from a prepared execution or inline seriesBy/slicesBy configuration.

→
useAttributeFilterController

Build fully custom attribute filter UIs with SDK-managed state, elements loading, and apply callbacks.

→
useDataExport

Use useDataExport to run CSV, XLSX, or raw exports from a prepared execution, handle export lifecycle callbacks, and retrieve the download URI.

→
Quick start

Scaffold a GoodData.UI React app with app-toolkit, render a dashboard and a chart you define in code, read raw data, apply a theme, and connect your own workspace.

→