Pro · Lesson 3 of 9
The query builder is a notebook: filter rows, summarize them, and draw the result.
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The query builder is a stack of instructions. First you point at a table. Then you throw away rows you do not want. Then you squash the remaining rows into a number or a group. The chart is only the last instruction, drawn on screen.
Open New, then Question, and pick a table. The notebook editor adds steps. A filter keeps rows. Summarize turns many rows into fewer rows: a count, a sum, an average, or a distinct count. Group by decides the buckets. Sort and row limit decide what the chart is allowed to show.
Save the question into a collection as soon as it answers something a colleague would ask again. An unsaved question disappears with the tab.
| Step | Changes | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Filter | Which rows | Status is paid |
| Summarize | How to squash rows | Sum of amount |
| Group by | The buckets | Month, or country |
| Sort and limit | What is visible | Top 10 products |
| Visualize | How it is drawn | Bar, line, number, map, table |
A single number is right when the question is one measure, such as revenue this month. A line is right when the group is time. A bar is right when the group is a category. A table is right when the reader needs the rows, not a picture of them. A map needs a geographic column Metabase recognizes.
If the number looks wrong, check the filter and the grain before you restyle the chart. Summing an amount that is already a monthly total will double-count. Counting orders when the table is order lines will over-count orders.
"Paid revenue by month" is a question a person can find. "Query 3" is a question they will rebuild.
Every query-builder question is filter, then summarise, then chart.
Step 1 of 3Choose the table, then narrow the rows. Here: only orders created in the last 30 days.
Orders → Filter → Created At → Previous 30 days
Step 2 of 3Group the remaining rows and calculate a number for each group: total sales per week.
Summarize → Sum of Total → by Created At: Week
Step 3 of 3Metabase suggests a chart for the shape of the answer. A value over time becomes a line.
Visualization → Line
On a table you are allowed to read, build one question that filters to a single status, groups by a date or a category, and saves a bar or a line. Open it again from the collection. If you cannot find it, it was not saved.
Checked against vendor documentation in October 2026. Screens and plan names still change, so confirm the control in your own instance.