Kibana reporting is essential for sharing insights from dashboards with non-technical stakeholders. While Kibana dashboards centralize data, access is often limited to engineers and analysts, leaving business users out of the loop.

This creates data silos where important information stays locked inside dashboards. By using automated reporting, teams can seamlessly create Kibana reports and export dashboards, then send and share them directly with non-technical stakeholders. This ensures critical insights reach decision-makers, compliance teams, and clients without needing Kibana access. Automating and distributing Kibana reports breaks down barriers, improves collaboration, and maximizes the value of your data.

What is Kibana Reporting?

Kibana Reporting refers to the process of exporting visualizations, dashboards, and saved searches from Kibana into formats like PDF, PNG, or CSV for sharing and archival. It enables users to take snapshots of live dashboards and deliver them in a static and distributable format.

What is the Purpose of Kibana Reporting?

The primary purpose is to make Kibana data accessible to non-technical users and stakeholders who do not have direct access to the Kibana interface. Reports help teams satisfy compliance requirements, share operational metrics, and communicate critical insights without requiring Kibana logins or training.

Can I Create Kibana Reports?

Yes, Kibana supports native reporting capabilities such as PDF/PNG export and CSV downloads, but these features are gated behind Elastic’s Platinum and Enterprise licenses. OSS users or teams with automation and external delivery needs typically look for alternatives.

Can Kibana Send Email Reports?

Kibana does not support automated email reporting natively in its open-source edition. The ability to schedule and send reports via email is only available under Elastic’s commercial license tiers. Even then, customization and advanced delivery workflows are limited. To enable email delivery of reports from Kibana, external tools like Skedler are required.

Limitations of Kibana Reporting

• Requires Enterprise subscription for PDF/HTML/PNG reports
• No native email delivery in the open-source edition
• Limited scheduling and automation
• No conditional logic or query-based triggering
• No report, audit trail, or access control

What Makes an Effective Kibana Reporting Tool?

An effective reporting tool should fulfill more than just exporting visuals. It must support a range of use cases:

• Automation: Scheduled generation and delivery of reports without manual intervention
• Conditional Logic: Triggered reports based on thresholds or query filters
• Format Flexibility: Output in PDF, PNG, Excel, or CSV based on recipient needs
• Delivery Options: Email, local storage, S3, or webhook integrations
• Access Control: Role-based permissions to govern who can create, view, or modify reports
• Auditability: Logs to track report generation history, delivery status, and user actions.

Tools that lack these capabilities tend to become bottlenecks in production observability workflows.

Extending the ELK Stack : Introducing the ELKS Stack for Reporting (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana, Skedler)

Skedler adds reporting capabilities to the ELK Stack without altering core data flow or requiring changes in Elasticsearch or Kibana configurations. It operates as a parallel component that reads from Kibana and Elasticsearch, then generates and distributes reports based on configurable schedules or conditions.

This architecture allows teams to:

• Add automated reporting without changing dashboards
• Support multiple output formats (PDF, PNG, Excel)
• Create Conditional reports based on query filters
• Distribute reports externally without embedding them into Kibana
• Avoid dependency on Elastic’s paid features

ELKS Stack Architecture Diagram

Logstash  →  Elasticsearch  ←→  Kibana  →  Skedler (Reporting)

• Logstash ingests and transforms data.
• Elasticsearch stores and indexes the data.
• Kibana visualizes the data.
• Skedler connects to Kibana/Elasticsearch and automates reporting.

How to Automate Kibana Reports Using Skedler

1. Deploy and Access Skedler

Set up your Skedler instance by deploying it within your environment. Once deployed, open the Skedler Web UI in your browser and log in using your admin credentials to begin configuration.

Need Installation Kit? Contact Skedler Team 

2. Connect Skedler to Your ELK Stack

Go to Settings → Data Source and configure the Kibana connection:

• Type: Kibana 6/7/8, based on your version
• Host: IP or domain where Kibana is hosted
• Port: Typically 5601
• Authentication: Provide credentials if Shield or X-Pack is enabled
• Index pattern: Optional, for saved searches

Click Save and Test to validate

3. Create a New Report Template

Go to Reports → Add New Report.

For Dashboards:

• Select Report Type: Dashboard
• Choose Data Source
• Select Dashboard
• Choose Output Format: PDF, PNG, Excel

For Saved Searches:

• Select Report Type: Saved Search
• Choose Saved Search
• Select Format: Excel or CSV
  

4. Define Report Schedule

5. Configure Report Delivery

Delivery options include: Email (SMTP), Slack, Amazon S3

6. Save and Enable the Report

Click Save & Enable. Skedler will now generate and deliver reports based on the defined schedule.

Final Thoughts

Skedler extends the ELK Stack by providing production-grade reporting capabilities for dashboards and saved searches. If your team needs to create, generate or automate ELK reports for clients, Skedler offers a configurable, schedulable, and auditable approach.

Skedler works alongside your existing observability tools. It doesn’t require you to change how you monitor, visualize, or store data. Instead, it builds on your ELK setup and closes the loop with automated, secure, and structured reporting.

To explore how Skedler fits into your environment, try it with your own ELK stack setup.