---
title: "Overview"
url: https://flexie.io/resources/reports/overview
description: "A report is a saved query plus a presentation. It turns your live data into operational lists, KPIs, custom dashboards-in-a-page, and a feed other parts of Flexie can read."
---

# Overview

Last updated 25 May 2026

![A Flexie report producing both a data grid and a fully custom HTML page from the same saved query](https://flexie.io/image/resources/reports-overview.png)

A **report** in Flexie is a saved query plus a presentation. When someone opens it, Flexie runs the query, applies any user-supplied filters, and shows the result in one of two forms: a **data grid** (a sortable, filterable, exportable table) or a fully custom **HTML page** you wrote yourself.

## What a report turns into

A single report can be used as:

* An **operational list** ("all deals closing this month")
* An **aggregate number** ("revenue per salesperson, last 90 days")
* A **cross-record summary** ("top accounts by case volume")
* A **bespoke dashboards-in-a-page** (an HTML report can do anything HTML can do)
* A **data source for [dashboard widgets](https://flexie.io/resources/dashboards/report-widgets)**
* A **data source for [scripts and workflows](https://flexie.io/resources/reports/reports-in-workflows-and-widgets)**

There is no separate BI tool to learn; reports live alongside everything else.

## The two output formats

When you create a report you pick **one of two** output formats. This is the central decision and changes both what you write and what the report can do.

| Output format           | What you write                                | What gets rendered                      | When to use it                                                                                     |
| ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Data Grid** (default) | A SELECT query                                | A sortable, filterable, paginated table | Lists, exports, anything tabular                                                                   |
| **HTML**                | HTML + CSS + JavaScript with Flexie Scripting | Whatever you wrote, rendered as a page  | Fully custom layouts: cards, dashboards, kanban boards, anything you can build with web technology |

You can mix and match in your account: some reports are grids, others are fully bespoke HTML pages. They are stored in the same table and listed together.

> The output format is fixed for the life of the report. Once a report exists as a grid you can't flip it to HTML; create a new report if you need to switch.

## What every report has

Whether it is a grid or HTML, every report has:

* **Name, description, category**, for finding it later.
* **Output format**, `Data Grid` or `HTML`.
* **The body**, your query (for grid) or your template (for HTML).
* **Filters**, optional user-input controls shown above the report when someone opens it. See [Report filters (in depth)](https://flexie.io/resources/reports/filters).
* **Default sort**, which column to order by, ascending or descending.
* **Access list**, who can see it. Combinations of "all users", specific permissions, groups, or individual users.
* **Owner**, the user who created it (relevant for permission checks).

## The lifecycle of a report

1. **Create** at `/reports/new`, writing a query or HTML template.
2. **Open** at `/reports/view/{id}`. Sort, filter, paginate, export to CSV.
3. **Refine** the filters, sort, and columns and save.
4. **Reuse** as a dashboard widget, or query it from a script.

The data refreshes on every open, so there is no stale-cache surprise. Heavy queries are protected by a hard **1,000-row cap** (see [Restrictions](https://flexie.io/resources/reports/data-grid-reports#what-the-query-can-do-and-what-it-cant)).

## What is in this section

1. [Data Grid reports](https://flexie.io/resources/reports/data-grid-reports): writing the `SELECT`, the placeholder variables Flexie injects for you (`{user_id}`, `{group_id}`, `{role_id}`, `{timezone}`), the `{filters}` substitution, what queries are allowed and what is blocked, default sorting, and column ordering at view time.
2. [HTML reports](https://flexie.io/resources/reports/html-reports): building a fully custom report from HTML + CSS + JavaScript with Flexie Scripting; using the full Flexie Scripting toolkit inside the template; calling multiple data lookups and weaving the results together; the security model.
3. [Viewing, exporting & access](https://flexie.io/resources/reports/viewing-exporting-sharing): the view page, sorting and pagination, **CSV export**, and the "Who can access this report?" permission model.
4. [Reports in workflows and dashboards](https://flexie.io/resources/reports/reports-in-workflows-and-widgets): using a saved report as a **dashboard widget** (with six visualisation subtypes), pulling its data from a Flexie Scripting context, and the `getReportData(...)` accessor.
5. [Report filters (in depth)](https://flexie.io/resources/reports/filters): user-input filters above the grid. The JSON shape, the six filter types and their operators, the three substitution modes (`{filters}` placeholder, automatic, and `manual`), and, uniquely, **using Flexie Scripting _inside_ the filter JSON** to build dynamic option lists, conditional filters, and date-aware labels.

## Closely related

* [Dashboards](https://flexie.io/resources/dashboards/overview): collections of widgets, where most reports end up being displayed.
* [Flexie Scripting](https://flexie.io/resources/flexie-scripting/overview): the language you use inside HTML reports.
* [Workflows](https://flexie.io/resources/workflows/overview): workflows can pull values from saved reports.