Explorations

Explorations is a conversational UI feature in Tinybird that lets you explore and interact with your data using natural language. Choose from three specialized modes designed for different data exploration tasks.

Getting started

To start using Explorations:

  1. Go to Tinybird Cloud and log in to your account
  2. Select Explorations in the sidebar
  3. Choose your preferred mode or start with a suggested prompt
  4. Begin exploring your data

You can switch between modes within the same exploration to combine different approaches.

Explorations initial screen with chat mode selected

Exploration modes

Explorations offers three focused modes to match your data exploration workflow.

Chat mode

Chat mode provides conversational analysis where you can ask questions in natural language and receive structured, step-by-step responses. The AI breaks down complex analyses into clear, actionable steps that build upon each other. The chat also suggests follow-up questions that reference previous results, creating a natural flow where each question deepens your understanding of the data.

An example of a conversation in the chat mode

Free query mode

Free query mode offers direct SQL editing with or without AI assistance, featuring a fullscreen editor with syntax highlighting and autocomplete. This mode is perfect when you know exactly what SQL you want to write. Nodes in Explorations are similar to nodes in Pipes. A node can query other nodes within the same Exploration.

In fullscreen mode, you can edit your queries manually or using an AI-contextualized chat.

Time Series mode

Time Series mode is purpose-built for time-based data analysis with a visualization-first approach. Configure granularity, filters, and chart types interactively, and work with real-time streaming data for up-to-date insights.

An example of a time series manually configured

Get the most out of Explorations

Custom workspace rules

Fine-tune how the AI assistant responds to get faster and more relevant results. Inside an Exploration, click the workspace rules link below the chat prompt input to add your custom rules. This context will be used in all your prompts.

Add context

Click the @ icon near the submit button in chat mode to add specific resources to your query. The LLM will prioritize them for that specific prompt.

Getting better results

Start with specific questions rather than broad exploratory queries. Instead of asking "show me my data," try "what are the top 5 pages by traffic in the last 7 days?" The AI performs better with clear, focused requests that have measurable outcomes.

Working across modes

Use Chat mode to understand your data structure and identify interesting patterns, then switch to Free query mode to refine the generated SQL for production use. Time Series mode works best when you already know which metrics you want to visualize over time.

Node organization

Keep related queries in the same exploration by building on previous nodes. Reference earlier nodes in new queries to create analysis pipelines. If you're starting a completely different analysis, create a new exploration to maintain clean context.

Usage and Billing

At the moment, Explorations usage is free for Developer and Enterprise organizations. Free organizations receive a limited number of credits per month per organization and are restricted once they consume all credits. Read more in Pricing.

Usage can be tracked using the llm_usage service data source.

Limitations and Privacy

Explorations are available to all roles within a Workspace.

The Explorations AI chat is only available in Tinybird Cloud. Tinybird anonymously processes a limited sample of your data to deliver faster, more accurate results.

Currently, Explorations cannot be shared or exported. Each user can only access their own Explorations.

Next steps

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