Setting Up an Analytics Dashboard Using Supabase and Chart.js

Setting Up an Analytics Dashboard Using Supabase and Chart.js

Every modern web application needs visibility into how it’s being used , whether it’s tracking user signups, engagement, or feature adoption. With tools like Supabase and Chart.js, you can create a lightweight yet powerful analytics dashboard that provides real-time insights and a polished UI without the overhead of full-scale data platforms.

In this guide, we’ll walk through setting up a basic analytics dashboard using Supabase as the backend and Chart.js for visualizing the data on the frontend. You’ll learn how to fetch metrics from your database and render them dynamically in charts that are easy to update and extend.

Why Use Supabase and Chart.js?

Supabase is an open-source Firebase alternative built on PostgreSQL, offering:

• A real-time database with row-level security
• Built-in authentication and storage
• RESTful and GraphQL APIs
• Easy integration with modern JavaScript frameworks

Chart.js is a flexible, open-source JavaScript library for creating interactive charts. It supports bar, line, pie, radar, and custom visualizations with minimal configuration.

Together, they’re perfect for a developer-friendly, fast-to-deploy analytics system.

Step-by-Step: Build the Dashboard

1. Set Up Your Supabase Project

1. Go to Supabase.io and create a free account.
2. Create a new project and note your project URL and anon/public API key.
3. Set up a table (e.g., user_events) to track events like signups or logins.

Example schema:

You can insert data manually or through your app’s logic using Supabase’s client.

2. Create a React App

If you don’t have one already:

npx create-react-app supabase-dashboard
cd supabase-dashboard
npm install @supabase/supabase-js chart.js react-chartjs-2

3. Connect to Supabase

In src/supabaseClient.js:

import { createClient } from '@supabase/supabase-js';

const supabaseUrl = 'https://your-project.supabase.co';
const supabaseAnonKey = 'your-anon-key';

export const supabase = createClient(supabaseUrl, supabaseAnonKey);

4. Fetch Data and Format It

In your Dashboard.js component:

import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
import { supabase } from './supabaseClient';
import { Line } from 'react-chartjs-2';

function Dashboard() {
  const [chartData, setChartData] = useState({});

  useEffect(() => {
    async function fetchData() {
      const { data, error } = await supabase
        .from('user_events')
        .select('timestamp')
        .eq('event_type', 'signup');

      if (error) console.error(error);

      const labels = data.map(row => new Date(row.timestamp).toLocaleDateString());
      const counts = labels.reduce((acc, label) => {
        acc[label] = (acc[label] || 0) + 1;
        return acc;
      }, {});
      
      const sortedLabels = Object.keys(counts).sort();
      const values = sortedLabels.map(label => counts[label]);

      setChartData({
        labels: sortedLabels,
        datasets: [
          {
            label: 'User Signups',
            data: values,
            fill: false,
            borderColor: 'blue',
          }
        ]
      });
    }

    fetchData();
  }, []);

  return (
    <div>
      <h2>User Signup Analytics</h2>
      <Line data={chartData} />
    </div>
  );
}

export default Dashboard;

5. Customize and Expand

Once the base is working, you can:

• Add more datasets (e.g., logins, page views)
• Switch to Bar, Pie, or Radar charts
• Enable real-time updates with Supabase’s subscriptions
• Filter by date ranges, user roles, or regions

You can also use Supabase Functions for more complex analytics logic, like aggregating stats or scheduled cron jobs.

Best Practices

• Limit data on initial load: Use pagination or time filters
• Cache results client-side if your metrics don’t need to be real-time
• Secure your API keys and RLS policies: Make sure only authorized users access analytics
• Use loading states while fetching data to improve UX

Conclusion

By combining Supabase and Chart.js, you can quickly create a functional analytics dashboard without needing a heavy backend or expensive BI tools. This stack gives you real-time visibility into your app’s usage and scales as your needs grow.

With a few extra queries and customizations, you can build out a full suite of performance dashboards tailored to your product and team.

Disclaimer

Article written with the help of AI.

Read the full Disclaimer HERE