Demo days - 2026-05-29
Version-aware improved schema filtering
Demo by @knudtty
ClickStack now applies the direct_read optimization only on ClickHouse versions 26.2 and above, where the full-text search index properly supports the alias columns added to open-source schemas. Previously the optimization could be attempted on older versions where it wouldn't work correctly. The version check happens at query time by inspecting the schema, and the alias columns themselves are now included in the open-source schemas by default.
Also shown: work in progress on replacing the autocomplete materialized view with direct queries against the text index. Right now both do overlapping work, adding ingest pressure. If benchmarks confirm the text index queries hold up performance-wise, the materialized view can be simplified or removed. Aaron also fielded questions from the team about how positional encoding in future ClickHouse text index versions might make key-value filter lookups even more accurate.
Related PRs: #2341 feat: adds direct_read optimization by default for logs and traces, #2405 feat(common-utils): apply direct_read KV items optimization to SQL filters, #2376 feat: use text index to power filters and autocomplete
Better log parsing
Demo by @dhable
A customer had logs where the event body was a JSON object containing a level field. The severity inference logic was doing two things: parsing the body as JSON to extract attributes, and then falling back to string matching if no severity was set at the OTel level. The string matching was picking up the word "alert" from an alert manager name inside the body, misclassifying the log level.
The fix adds a guard condition: if the body parses as JSON and already contains a level field, skip the string inference step entirely. A smoke test suite built about a year ago made it easy to verify the fix and catch related edge cases just by adding new test cases, which is exactly what it was designed for.
Related PRs: #2363 fix(log-parser): skip string inference when body parses as JSON with a level field
MCP server improvements
Demo by @brandon-pereira
Several MCP improvements shipped this week: better event pattern bucketing and scoring, improved error hints, and shared helper cleanup. Tool prefixes were also renamed from hyperdx_ to clickstack_ to match the product name.
Related PRs: #2337 feat(mcp): improve MCP tool quality — error hints, shared helpers, better messages, #2396 refactor(mcp): rename tool prefixes from hyperdx_ to clickstack_, #2343 feat(mcp): add patch_dashboard, get_dashboard_tile, search_dashboards tools, #2418 fix(mcp): improve alias descriptions and examples for readable chart legends, #2412 refactor: simplify MCP ObjectId validation with shared helpers and schema-level checks
New series color palette
Demo by @elizabetdev
Elizabet worked on unifying the data visualization color palette across HyperDX and ClickStack themes, in support of Alex's color picker work. The two themes had separate palettes with exception rules for each, which made reasoning about colors unnecessarily complicated. The goal was a single palette that works for both.
She tested against industry-standard palettes (Tableau, Observable, IBM) using a color vision simulation tool to check contrast and accessibility. The ClickHouse palette performed poorly — the green doesn't have sufficient contrast on a white background. Tableau and Observable both fail on at least one check each; IBM's palette passes everything but only has five colors, which isn't enough. Observable's palette came closest overall, with a small blue tweak, and will now be shared across both themes.
Related PRs: #2362 refactor(theme): rename chart palette tokens to hue names + unify across themes
New page layout with sticky header
Demo by @elizabetdev
A new PageHeader and PageLayout component pair has been rolled out across all major pages: dashboards, service map, client sessions, Kubernetes, and the ClickHouse dashboard. Every page now shares the same padding, border line below the header, and title structure. Before this, pages were inconsistent — some had a title on the left with controls on the right, others had no title at all.
The sticky behavior is opt-in via a prop. Whatever you pass into the sticky slot stays pinned below the header as you scroll; everything else scrolls normally. If nothing is passed, just the breadcrumbs or page options, those get sticky automatically.
Related PRs: #2282 Add PageHeader/PageLayout and migrate Sessions, #2345 Use PageHeader title on list pages, #2346 Migrate Service Map to PageLayout, #2347 Migrate Kubernetes dashboard to PageLayout, #2348 Migrate ClickHouse dashboard to PageLayout, #2364 feat(dashboard): migrate to PageLayout with sticky query toolbar, #2394 fix(PageHeader): keep sticky header below drawer overlays
New datasource selector and color picking for series
Demo by @alex-fedotyev
Two UI improvements from Alex. The datasource selector has been cleaned up: clicking on it now only shows datasources to pick from. Management actions like viewing the schema or creating a new source are moved into a separate kebab menu. This separates selection from configuration — something that's been on the to-do list for a while and addresses feedback from the team.
Number tiles now also have a static color picker so you can assign a specific color to a metric. Conditional color rules (turning red, green, or yellow based on a threshold value or column) are in progress too. Once Elizabet's unified palette lands, both will use properly named colors rather than the current "color 1, 2, 3" labels, which should be a meaningful improvement for users coming from tools like Grafana.
Related PRs: #2365 feat(source-picker): chip + kebab menu UX, #2265 feat(app): number tile static color picker
Better hints for dashboard actions
Demo by @alex-fedotyev
Dashboard table tile rows now show a more useful hover state. The cursor and icon change on mouseover to signal what will happen when you click — either opening a linked dashboard or drilling down into a data source. Before this change it wasn't obvious that the rows were clickable at all, let alone what they'd do.
Related PRs: #2321 feat(app): hover hint and native link affordance for dashboard table tile row click
