# Create a business dashboard from Cloud Logging logs using Looker Studio

A few months ago, I created a POC for a startup client to visualise their new user registration data. This use case can be interesting for small companies who need a quick way to create a business dashboard. I would like to share it with you.

## Logs
Assuming you run your business on Google Cloud. Your API is powered by Cloud Function. When there is a new user registration, the Cloud Function instance writes a log to Cloud Logging. 

![image.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1669293541613/w9ay9PD82.png align="left")


## Create a Log Sink
[Sinks](https://cloud.google.com/logging/docs/routing/overview#sinks) control how Cloud Logging routes logs. Using sinks, you can route some or all of your logs to supported destinations. 

From the Log Sink page, click `CREATE SINK`. When creating the sink, route the logs to BigQuery:


![image.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1669293869998/-CMCpBPbv.png align="left")

After creating the sink, it looks like:

![image.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1669293924088/Sm_Bvk0d6.png align="left")

A new BigQuery table was created:

![image.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1669293953287/Mn_Pg0hek.png align="left")

## Write some logs
Now I put a few logs to Cloud Logging via `gcloud` command:

![image.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1669294000844/X7F2Vu7of.png align="left")

## Query the logs and navigate to Looker Studio

![image.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1669294053290/vVdILrFDw.png align="left")

On Looker Studio(formerly Data Studio), I built a simple dashboard:

![image.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1669294112741/zqGKcRKfg.png align="left")

Note that, for testing purposes, I had to switch to minutes so we can see a few bars, but in most cases, the time interval should be hourly or daily.

# Summary
Using Cloud Logging, BigQuery and Looker Studio, you can quickly build a dashboard to visualise business data, such as user registrations.