---
title: Explore
description: Self-serve data exploration from Analytics Chat, dashboards, or any semantic view — governed by your data model, shareable via URL.
---

Explore is a quick way to explore data in your semantic layer either by point and click or with an AI agent. Unlike workbooks, Explore doesn't require you to create a workbook—you can start exploring immediately from a dashboard, Analytics Chat, or any semantic view.

Explore leverages your data model definitions, ensuring that all queries use consistent metrics, respect access control policies, and benefit from pre-aggregations for fast performance.

## Using Explore

You can start exploring from three places in Cube:

### Exploring from Analytics Chat

When the AI agent returns a query result in Analytics Chat, click **Explore** to open that result in an exploration. This allows you to further analyze and visualize the data returned by the AI agent.

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### Exploring from a published dashboard

Hover over a chart widget in a published dashboard, and click **Explore**. The exploration will use the same view and data that feeds into the visualization, giving you access to all measures and dimensions available in that view.

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### Starting a new exploration from scratch

Navigate to the **Explore** page in the sidebar. From here, you can select any semantic view as the data source and start building visualizations from scratch.


## Explore functionality

The functionality in Explore is similar to when working with semantic views in workbooks. You can build visualizations, pivot tables, and tables by selecting measures and dimensions from your semantic views, apply filters, group and aggregate data.

Explore state is also saved in the URL, making it easy to share your exploration with other users by simply copying and sharing the link.

If you have developer or admin access, you can [apply a security context](/docs/explore-analyze/workbooks/querying-data#applying-a-security-context) to an exploration to verify what a specific end user—or an AI agent querying on their behalf—would see.

Explore results carry the same [freshness and pre-aggregation indicators](/docs/explore-analyze/workbooks/querying-data#result-freshness-and-provenance) as workbook reports.

## Saving explorations

You can save an exploration so you can return to it later without
re-building your query. An exploration is the same kind of object as a
workbook [report](/docs/explore-analyze/workbooks) — the only difference is
whether it belongs to a workbook. [Analytics Chat](/docs/explore-analyze/analytics-chat)
and the Cube MCP `createReport` tool save a standalone exploration the same
way: by leaving the workbook unset.

- **Save** — For an unsaved exploration, click **Save** to open the
  **Save Exploration** dialog. Give your exploration a name and click
  **Save**. The exploration is now persisted and appears in your
  workspace.
- **Save (existing)** — After you modify a previously saved exploration,
  click **Save** to update it in place.
- **Save as** — For a saved exploration, open the chevron menu next to
  **Save** and choose **Save as...** to create a copy under a new name.

You can also rename a saved exploration at any time by clicking its title
in the header and typing a new name.

## Converting to a workbook

When you're ready to build a more permanent analysis, you can convert
your exploration to a [workbook](/docs/explore-analyze/workbooks). Click
**Convert to workbook** to create a new workbook with your exploration
as its first tab.

## Copying to clipboard

You can copy an exploration to your clipboard and paste it as a new tab
in any [workbook](/docs/explore-analyze/workbooks). Click the chevron
next to **Convert to workbook** and select **Copy to Clipboard**.

Then navigate to the target workbook and press **Cmd+V** (macOS) or
**Ctrl+V** (Windows/Linux) to paste the exploration as a new tab.
