Support a dedicated download button for shared standalone chart iframes

[splatter0]

Feature request

Please support an optional, dedicated download button for charts embedded through the Share iframe URL, especially standalone table and report embeds.

For example:

/superset/explore/p/<permalink-key>/?standalone=1&show_download=1

Background and use case

In our use case, tables and reports created in Superset need to be embedded individually into existing business applications.

We do not want to embed a complete dashboard or expose the full Explore interface. The embedded content should remain a clean, standalone table or report.

However, users of the host application still need to download the displayed report data, for example as CSV or XLSX.

Currently, when a chart is shared using a standalone iframe such as:

<iframe
  src="https://superset.example.com/superset/explore/p/<permalink-key>/?standalone=1"
></iframe>

the chart toolbar and download actions are hidden. There does not appear to be a supported iframe parameter for displaying only the download action.

Proposed solution

Add an iframe option such as:

show_download=1

Alternatively, add a "Show download control" option to the Share / Embed dialog.

When enabled, the standalone iframe should display a compact download button or menu without displaying the complete Explore toolbar.

Expected behavior

• The option should be disabled by default for backward compatibility.
• The download button should be displayed only when explicitly enabled.
• It should respect existing Superset export permissions, such as can_csv or can_export_data.
• Unauthorized users should not see or be able to use the download action.
• The exported data should respect the report's current filters, table filters, search conditions, and sorting.
• Available formats could follow the chart's existing export capabilities, such as CSV or XLSX.
• The feature should work for a single shared chart iframe and should not require creating a one-chart dashboard.

Alternatives considered

1. Using standalone=0, which exposes more of the Explore interface than desired.
2. Creating a dashboard containing only one table, which adds unnecessary complexity.
3. Implementing a custom download function in every host application using Superset APIs, which requires additional integration and maintenance.

Environment

• Apache Superset 6.1.0
• Chart type: Table / tabular report
• Embedding method: Share iframe using an Explore permalink

Thank you for considering this feature.

[RehanIslam09]

Hi! I'd be interested in working on this. I'm going to investigate the existing standalone Explore and chart export flows to understand how the download actions are currently handled.

If the approach looks feasible, I'd be happy to work on a PR that reuses the existing export functionality and permission checks while keeping the standalone UI minimal. Please let me know if there are any concerns with this direction or if someone is already working on it.

[sadpandajoe]

@dosu we currently do this with embedded dashboards, do we have the same path with embedded standalone charts?

[dosubot]

Short answer: no, standalone charts don't have the same download path that embedded dashboards do.

For embedded dashboards, download/export is handled through SliceHeaderControls — the "..." menu on each chart renders export options gated by the ALLOW_FULL_CSV_EXPORT feature flag and can_csv permission [1].

For standalone Explore charts (/superset/explore/p/<key>/?standalone=1), the standalone parameter strips all UI chrome. Specifically, when standalone is true, ExploreViewContainer only renders renderChartContainer(), bypassing the ExploreChartHeader (which has save/download/share buttons), and at the panel level, standalone mode renders only standaloneChartBody, skipping DataTablesPane which contains the download controls. There's no existing URL parameter or feature flag to selectively re-enable just the download button in standalone mode.

Additionally, there's no EmbeddedChart model analogous to EmbeddedDashboard — the EmbeddedDashboard model itself notes that "if we add new embeddable resource types, this model should probably be renamed". Standalone chart embedding is purely URL/permalink-based with no database-level embedding configuration.

So this feature request is asking for something genuinely new — a way to selectively show download controls in the standalone Explore view without exposing the full toolbar. The proposed show_download=1 parameter approach seems reasonable since it would require modifying ExploreViewContainer and ExploreChartPanel to conditionally render a compact download button when both standalone and the new parameter are set, while still respecting the existing can_download / can_csv permission checks.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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