Pinned filters not working when following Markdown hyperlink to separate dashboard

[dougburks]

Kibana version:
Kibana 7.9.3 and 7.10

Elasticsearch version:
Elasticsearch 7.9.3 and 7.10

Server OS version:
Ubuntu 16.04 and CentOS 7

Browser version:
Chrome 87

Browser OS version:
Ubuntu 20.04

Original install method (e.g. download page, yum, from source, etc.):
Official Elastic Docker images

Describe the bug:
We have a Markdown visualization that contains hyperlinks to other dashboards. In Kibana 6, we could pin a filter, click one of those hyperlinks to a separate dashboard, and the pinned filter would be retained. In Kibana 7.9.3 and 7.10, the pinned filter is NOT retained. It should be noted that if instead of using the Markdown hyperlink we go to Dashboard at the top of the page and then browse through the entire list of Dashboards, the pinned filter is retained.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Create a Markdown visualization that contains hyperlinks to other dashboards.
2. Pin a filter.
3. Click a hyperlink to a separate dashboard.

Expected behavior:
Pinned filters should be retained across dashboards as they were in Kibana 6.

Any additional context:
Originally reported here:
https://groups.google.com/u/1/g/security-onion/c/XqObohUrcKA

[branchnetconsulting]

We are significantly affected by this same issue. We have been relying on Markdown visualizations as navigation tools to move between a suite of related dashboards such that we can carry our analysis from one dashboard to another, bringing accumulated pinned criteria with us. While the new drilldown feature in Kibana is contributing to movement between dashboards, it does not cover the need to carry arbitrary combinations of pinned criteria from one dashboard to the next. Please restore the maintaining of pinned criteria state when one clicks on markdown visualization links to other dashboards, or advise if the markdown links just need to be revised in some way to properly retain pinned criteria state as before.

[kmfreder1]

+1

[elasticmachine]

Pinging @elastic/kibana-presentation (Team:Presentation)

[ThomThomson]

I am unable to recreate this in Master, in 7.10.1, or in 7.9.3.

This is clearly a problem encountered by many users, so I'd like to get to the bottom of it.
I have a few questions that might help me narrow it down.

1. Are there any filters saved in the destination url?
2. Is a time range or any filters saved with the destination dashboard?
3. Are you using the markdown embeddable from visualize? Or the markdown section in TSVB?
4. Is the link of to the destination dashboard in view mode or in edit mode?

[dougburks]

Hi @ThomThomson ,

Thanks for the quick reply!

Here are the answers to your questions:

1. No, the destination URL simply points to the dashboard ID.
2. Our Kibana default time range is Last 24 hours. There are no filters saved in the destination dashboard.
3. We are using the markdown embeddable from visualize.
4. The link to the destination dashboard is in view mode.

Here are some screenshots from Kibana 7.9.3:

I've pinned a filter:

If I then click the Connections hyperlink in our Navigation visualization on the left side, I go to the Connections dashboard but the filter is no longer pinned:

Here is the markdown visualization and its dashboard hyperlinks:

I know that Kibana had a long standing issue with relative hyperlinks, so I almost wonder if that could be a factor here.

[ThomThomson]

Thanks for sharing all these images of your configuration, @dougburks!

My first thought was the relative hyperlinks as well, but on closer inspection it looks like you are using legacy dashboard URLs. When the dashboard application was made part of the core application service in #63443, the url format for it was changed:

from /app/kibana#/dashboard/{yourIdHere} to /app/dashboards#/view/{yourIdHere}.

The legacy urls should carry over pinned filters properly, so I will take a look into getting that working. That said, the best solution, would be to update the urls in this markdown to the new format. This would give you the added bonus of removing the loading screen when using your navigation and making the transitions much faster.

Let me know if this works for you!

[dougburks]

Looks like the new url format works properly.

[kmartastic]

@ThomThomson Did you ever determine the cause of the break?

[ThomThomson]

It seems like time to close this one.

Basically, the markdown had a link using an old URL format, and the BWC couldn't carry over the pinned filters because the link caused a hard refresh. The best fix for users encountering this problem would be to update their links.