[Feature Request] Action Widget — clickable buttons that fire HTTP requests

[cj36457]

[Feature Request] Action Widget — clickable buttons that fire HTTP requests

Summary

We're exploring the idea of adding a new Action Widget type to the dashboard grid (alongside the existing Stat Widget) that fires an HTTP request when clicked. This would let teams trigger CI pipelines, re-runs, or external integrations directly from the dashboard — without leaving the page.

We're not sure this belongs in robotframework-dashboard — it might be out of scope, or there might be a better way to achieve this that we haven't thought of. We'd genuinely appreciate your perspective on whether this is worth pursuing, and we're completely open to alternative approaches. If this isn't the right direction for the project, no hard feelings at all.

Simpler alternative (if the full action widget is too heavy or too far from the project's focus): a Custom Links setting that adds user-defined links to the navbar, so teams can at least navigate to external trigger pages or CI dispatch URLs from the dashboard.

---

Problem

Our team uses robotframework-dashboard as the central place to monitor test results. When we see a failure, the next step is almost always "re-run this suite" or "trigger a smoke test." Today that means:

1. Leave the dashboard
2. Navigate to GitHub Actions (or Jenkins, or whatever CI)
3. Find the right workflow
4. Fill in the inputs
5. Dispatch

This context switch breaks the flow. The dashboard already knows what failed — it should be able to help us act on it.

We built a standalone HTML page with trigger buttons as a workaround, and honestly that might be the right answer. But we wanted to raise the idea here in case it's something that would benefit the broader community, or in case there's a simpler path we're not seeing.

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Proposal: Action Widget

What it is

A new widget type that users can add via Customize View > + Add action widget, similar to how stat widgets work today. Each action widget is:

• A clickable button in the dashboard grid
• Configured with a label, URL, HTTP method, and optional request body (JSON)
• Optionally styled with text color and background color (like stat widgets)
• Draggable and resizable within the GridStack grid

User flow

1. Enter Customize View mode
2. Click "+ Add action widget" (new tile, next to "Add stat widget")
3. Modal appears with fields:
   • Label (e.g., "Run Smoke US")
   • URL (e.g., https://api.github.com/repos/org/repo/actions/workflows/smoke.yml/dispatches)
   • HTTP Method (dropdown: POST, PUT, PATCH — default POST)
   • Request Body (optional JSON textarea, e.g., {"ref": "main", "inputs": {"region": "us"}})
   • Headers (optional key-value pairs, e.g., Authorization: Bearer $token)
   • Confirmation (toggle: require a "Are you sure?" dialog before firing — default ON)
   • Text Color / Background Color (color pickers, like stat widgets)
4. Click Add — widget appears in grid
5. Click Save to persist to localStorage

When clicked

1. If confirmation is enabled, show a confirm dialog: "Trigger 'Run Smoke US'?"
2. Fire the HTTP request
3. Show inline feedback:
   • Success (2xx): green flash + brief message (e.g., "Triggered successfully")
   • Failure (4xx/5xx): red flash + status code + response body snippet
4. Widget returns to idle state

Auth token handling

Sensitive tokens should NOT be persisted in localStorage. Two options:

• Option A (recommended): A single "API Token" prompt on the dashboard page (session-only, stored in JS memory, cleared on tab close). All action widgets reference this token via a {{token}} placeholder in the Headers field.
• Option B: Let users paste tokens directly in the Headers config. Add a warning that these are stored in localStorage (not secure for shared machines).

Storage

Same as stat widgets — persisted in localStorage under the existing settings JSON structure. Example:

{
  "actionWidgets": [
    {
      "id": "aw-1",
      "label": "Run Smoke US",
      "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/org/repo/actions/workflows/smoke.yml/dispatches",
      "method": "POST",
      "body": "{\"ref\": \"main\", \"inputs\": {\"region\": \"us\"}}",
      "headers": {"Authorization": "Bearer {{token}}"},
      "confirm": true,
      "textColor": "#ffffff",
      "bgColor": "#4f8ff7",
      "grid": {"x": 0, "y": 10, "w": 4, "h": 1}
    }
  ]
}

CORS consideration

Action widgets fire requests from the browser. Endpoints must allow CORS, or teams can route through a lightweight proxy. This is the same constraint any browser-based tool faces — worth documenting but not a blocker for the feature itself.

---

Simpler Alternative: Custom Links in Navbar

If the full action widget is too much scope for a first pass, a simpler version would still be valuable:

What it is

A new setting (in the Theme or Defaults tab) that lets users add custom links to the navigation bar.

Configuration

In the Settings modal, a new section:

Field	Example
Label	"Trigger Regression"
URL	https://github.com/org/repo/actions/workflows/regression.yml
Open in new tab	Yes (default)

Users can add multiple links. Links appear as nav items after the existing pages (Overview, Dashboard, Compare, Tables).

Storage

{
  "customLinks": [
    {"label": "Trigger Regression", "url": "https://...", "newTab": true},
    {"label": "Grafana", "url": "https://grafana.example.com/dashboard/tests", "newTab": true}
  ]
}

Why this is still useful

• Zero security concerns (no HTTP requests, no tokens)
• Tiny implementation surface (navbar already has dynamic items)
• Bridges the dashboard to external tools (CI, monitoring, wikis, trigger pages)
• Could ship as a quick win in a minor release

---

Use Cases

Use case	Widget config
Re-run failed smoke test	POST to GitHub Actions workflow_dispatch with env/region inputs
Trigger full regression	POST to GitHub Actions with test_strategy: regression
Notify Slack channel	POST to Slack webhook URL with a message body
Refresh dashboard data	POST to the dashboard server's own /refresh-dashboard endpoint
Clear stale results	POST to /remove-outputs with tag-based cleanup

---

Prior Art

• Grafana has annotation buttons and action links on panels
• Jenkins Blue Ocean has re-run buttons inline with build results
• Datadog dashboards support notebook action buttons that trigger external workflows

---

Summary of asks

Feature	Scope	Value
Action Widget	New widget type in GridStack grid	Trigger CI/webhooks directly from dashboard
Custom Links (fallback)	Navbar config	Navigate to external tools without leaving dashboard

Happy to help with implementation if the direction is agreed. And if this isn't something that fits the project's vision, we'd welcome any suggestions on the best way to achieve this externally — whether that's a companion page, a wrapper, or something else entirely. Thanks for a great project!

[timdegroot1996]

Hi @cj36457, this is quite a heavy AI answer 😄, which isn't necessarily bad as it gave me a lot of context. But it took quite a while to read through it all.

I like your proposol and I think it is something we can add into robotdashboard. I think the complexity of the "action widget" is holding me back a little bit. The idea of a custom link which will instantly bring you to where you want to be sounds like a more robust and easier option to implement. Especially considering bearer tokens or security that would be required in an actual environment.

I think the external link is a good middleground that still simplifies your workflow significantly.
Design wise I think a menu item or widget can both be a good solution for this external link. What would have your preference?

[cj36457]

It definitely was. I didn't realize it came out that long. definitely not proud of how long this one came out lol

so in terms of the design. I'm thinking a widget. when you say menu item, you mean the top panel right?

[timdegroot1996]

Yeah you are correct:

• Menu item = dashboard, overview, tables, your custom url
• Widget = similar to the stat widgets but then with text your custom url

I also think the widget is the nicest solution as not to clutter the menu too much. Especially if you want to add like 5 different links to pipelines, tests or other urls.

I'll get back to you when this has some decent implementation!

[cj36457]

thanks @tim

[timdegroot1996]

@cj36457 as you can see I implemented an initial version. I'm still quite unsure about the actual layout of the link widget. You can checkout the current one here:

robot_dashboard.html

The other options that I thought about are these 2:

┌─────────────────────┐    ┌───────────────────────────────┐
│                     │    │         Trigger Smoke         │
│    Trigger Smoke    │    └───────────────────────────────┘
│     (larger text)   │
│                     │
└─────────────────────┘

or

┌─────────────────────┐    ┌───────────────────────────────┐
│   Trigger Smoke     │    │  Trigger Smoke           ↗    │
│                     │    └───────────────────────────────┘
│         ↗           │       (h=1 compact row)
│                     │
└─────────────────────┘

Where the arrow is just an emoji like ⬇️ emoji (but then to the top right).

Let me know what you think. You can play around with the attached dashboard to add your own links as well.

[cj36457]

thanks tim, your file did not have the widgets for some reason, but I went ahead and added them myself. So the Idea with this is I can redirect to my own UI which would handle the POST requests to github to trigger regression workflows, right? I don't think i can directly trigger github workflows with one url the way its setup currently

this is awesome by the way thanks!
and to your design question, I don't really have a preference, i think they are both nice

[timdegroot1996]

thanks tim, your file did not have the widgets for some reason, but I went ahead and added them myself.

My bad I forgot to embed the config, but this way is better since you can just try it out anyway!

So the Idea with this is I can redirect to my own UI which would handle the POST requests to github to trigger regression workflows, right? I don't think i can directly trigger github workflows with one url the way its setup currently

Correct, post requests with their complex security stuff are out of scope but linking to your build url or what you suggest, your own ui where you can trigger workflows is the goal!

and to your design question, I don't really have a preference, i think they are both nice

That doesn't help me haha, I'll try it out a bit more but maybe I'll just stick with the current design for now!

You're very welcome and I'll probably release this somewhere during the weekend after finalizing this PR.
Thanks for the quick feedback!

[cj36457]

no problem! it looks great, thanks for the quick turnaround time. I'm going to get started on my regression trigger UI

[cj36457]

I have a question on this: are the widgets persisted? are they stored somewhere so when I close and reopen, they still appear as i left them? and what about if I switch the tag filters or even the run filters, do they still appear

[timdegroot1996]

Yes this will work the same as every other settting, layout change or other stuff that is saved.
This is saved to localstorage in your browser (https://marketsquare.github.io/robotframework-dashboard/settings.html#json-settings-json-tab) and can also be shared with teammembers by getting it from your Settings (gear icon) > JSON > use the CLI options that provide a base: https://marketsquare.github.io/robotframework-dashboard/advanced-cli-examples.html#using-a-custom-dashboard-config-json.

So this should work as expected but if you have a preferred setup I would recommend saving it to a .json file and then providing that when creating the dashboard.

EDIT: I forgot to answer your second question, do filters influence the visibility of the url widgets? The short answer is no they do not. Those URL widgets will always be visible as they are not related to data.