Shareable links

Build and share deep links with your teammates to open Foxglove with specific layouts, data sources, and timeline views.

To open Foxglove using a specific layout or data source, construct a "deep link" URL using the format:

https://app.foxglove.dev/~/view?param1=value1&param2=value2

Supported query parameters are documented below, or you can copy any URL while you are using the app.

Web vs. desktop

By default, links will open in the browser. You can open the desktop app instead using the openIn parameter:

parameter	type	required	description
openIn	string		web (default) desktop

openIn=desktop opens in the Foxglove app. If it is not installed, it presents a landing page that prompts the user to download the app or open the link in the browser. This is the preferred approach to open the Foxglove app.

In the web app, you can instead select Open in desktop app in the data source menu to open the current view in the Foxglove app at the current playback time. This option is not available for local files.

The foxglove:// URL scheme also opens in the Foxglove app. This fails silently if the Foxglove app is not installed.

prefix	example
https://app.foxglove.dev/~/view	https://app.foxglove.dev/~/view?ds=foxglove-websocket&ds.url=ws://localhost:8765&openIn=desktop
foxglove://open	foxglove://open?ds=foxglove-websocket&ds.url=ws://localhost:8765

Layouts

To load a saved layout (personal or team):

parameter	type	required	description
layoutId	string	✓	Foxglove's ID for a remotely saved layout

To get a URL with the correct layoutId param, open the web app and click your desired layout in the "Layouts" menu.

Timestamp

parameter	type	required	description
time	timestamp (RFC3339)		Timestamp to seek to (for non-live data sources)

Data sources

To specify your data source, use the ds parameter as documented according to your desired data source below.

For example, a Rosbridge connection may look like the following:

https://app.foxglove.dev/~/view?ds=rosbridge-websocket&ds.url=ws%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%3A9090&layoutId=2644147b-f205-456c-ace9-69466aaac0b7

Foxglove WebSocket

parameter	type	required	description
ds	string	✓	foxglove-websocket
ds.url	string	✓	WebSocket URL (i.e. ws://localhost:8765)

Rosbridge

parameter	type	required	description
ds	string	✓	rosbridge-websocket
ds.url	string	✓	WebSocket URL (i.e. ws://localhost:9090)

ROS 1 Native

(Supported on desktop only)

parameter	type	required	description
ds	string	✓	ros1-socket
ds.url	string	✓	ROS Master URI

Foxglove

parameter	type	required	description
ds	string	✓	foxglove-stream
ds.deviceId	string	See below*	The device id in Foxglove
ds.deviceName	string	See below*	User assigned device name
ds.start	timestamp (RFC3339)		Start of data playback range
ds.end	timestamp (RFC3339)		End of data playback range
ds.recordingId	string	See below*	ID of the recording to open
ds.recordingKey	string	See below*	Key of the recording to open
ds.eventId	string	See below*	ID of the event to open
ds.sessionId	string	See below*	ID of the session to open
ds.sessionKey	string	See below*	Key of the session to open
ds.merge	string		Set to true to open multiple recordings as one source. Requires two or more ds.recordingId values. See Multiple recordings, sessions, or events.
ds.compare	string		Set to true to open multiple recordings, sessions, or events in comparison mode. Requires two or more ds.recordingId, ds.sessionId, or ds.eventId values.
ds.compareStart	number		Comparison only. Start offset, in seconds, for each source. Provide one value per source, in the same order as the IDs.

info

One of ds.deviceId, ds.deviceName, ds.recordingId, ds.recordingKey, ds.eventId, ds.sessionId, or ds.sessionKey is required. If multiple are provided, Foxglove uses the first one in this order: ds.recordingId, ds.recordingKey, ds.deviceId, ds.deviceName, ds.eventId, ds.sessionId, ds.sessionKey.

Multiple recordings, sessions, or events

To open more than one source at once, repeat the ID parameter and set ds.merge or ds.compare.

Merge recordings to play them back as one source on a single timeline, as if they were one file. Merge supports recordings only:

https://app.foxglove.dev/~/view?ds=foxglove-stream&ds.recordingId=<recording-1>&ds.recordingId=<recording-2>&ds.merge=true

Compare recordings, sessions, or events to keep each source distinct on a shared timeline. See Comparison mode for details and plan availability. Use ds.compareStart to set each source's start offset in seconds:

https://app.foxglove.dev/~/view?ds=foxglove-stream&ds.sessionId=<session-1>&ds.sessionId=<session-2>&ds.compare=true&ds.compareStart=0&ds.compareStart=12.5

If both ds.merge=true and ds.compare=true are set with multiple ds.recordingId values, Foxglove merges the recordings.

Remote files

parameter	type	required	description
ds	string	✓	remote-file
ds.url	string	✓	URL to .bag or .mcap file(s). Use multiple parameter entries to specify multiple files. (i.e. ds.url="…"&ds.url="…")
ds.includeCredentials	string		Set to true to send browser cookies with each request for the files, for files behind a cookie-based access gateway.

Remote data loader

parameter	type	required	description
ds	string	✓	remote-data-loader
ds.dataLoaderUrl	string	✓	URL of your remote data loader deployment (for example https://loader.example/).
ds.manifestParams	string		Encoded manifest query parameters (application/x-www-form-urlencoded, without a leading ?). Example: ds.manifestParams=recording%3Dfirst-recording. When present, sibling ds.* keys are ignored.
ds.*	string		Legacy. Sibling manifest parameters when ds.manifestParams is omitted (for example ds.recording=…). Prefer ds.manifestParams.
ds.compare	string		Set to true to compare multiple sources. Requires two or more ds.manifestParams values.

Timeline

To share links to the timeline view, use the format:

https://app.foxglove.dev/~/timeline?param1=value1&param2=value2

Time range

Set the time range displayed on the timeline. Defaults to the last 7 days if omitted.

parameter	type	required	description
start	timestamp (RFC3339)		Start of the displayed time range
end	timestamp (RFC3339)		End of the displayed time range

Device filter

Filter which devices are shown on the timeline.

parameter	type	required	description
deviceFilter	string		Filter displayed devices by name or ID

Device selection

Highlight a time range on a specific device. These parameters are applied on load and then removed from the URL.

parameter	type	required	description
selectedDevice	string		Device ID or name
selectedStart	timestamp (RFC3339)		Start of the selected range
selectedEnd	timestamp (RFC3339)		End of the selected range