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A Sankey chart shows the flow of values between two or more stages, with the width of each flow proportional to its magnitude. Sankey chart showing flow from various user acquisition sources
Recreate this chart in Omni by downloading the sample data and then uploading the CSV as a source table!

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Use cases

Sankey charts are particularly useful for visualizing:
  • User flows through a website or application
  • Conversion funnels showing drop-off at each stage
  • Resource allocation across different categories
  • Migration patterns or transitions between states
  • Budget flows and spending breakdowns

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Data structure

Sankey charts require at least two dimensions and a measure:
  • Source - The starting node for each flow (dimension)
  • Target - The destination node for each flow (dimension)
  • Link width - The magnitude of each flow (measure)
The Sankey chart option becomes available once you have at least three fields in your query. When setting up your query, keep the following in mind:
  • Sankey charts work best with a manageable number of nodes. Too many nodes can make the visualization difficult to read.
  • Ensure your data includes all relevant flows between stages for an accurate representation

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Multi-level sankeys

You can create multi-level sankey charts when nodes appear in both the source and target fields. For example, if your dataset has nodes A → B → C, where B serves as both a target (from A) and a source (to C), the chart will display multiple levels of flow. For example, consider the dataset used for the chart at the top of this page: Example dataset used for sankey chart, showing source, target, and users columns

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Configuration

To view the configuration options for a sankey chart, open the Chart options panel in a workbook:

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Orientation

Located in the Sankey section of the Chart options panel, the Orientation setting controls how the flows are displayed:
  • Horizontal - Default. Nodes arranged left to right with flows moving horizontally.
  • Vertical - Nodes arranged top to bottom with flows moving vertically

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Nodes

The Nodes section controls the appearance of the bars at each stage of the flow.

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Field mapping

  • Source - The dimension representing the starting point of each flow
  • Target - The dimension representing the destination of each flow

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Color

Nodes support two coloring modes:
  • Discrete - Assigns a distinct color from the palette to each node
  • Gradient - Applies a continuous color scale based on node size, where larger nodes receive more saturated colors
Sankey charts inherit modeled colors when defined. You can also apply color overrides to individual nodes. Use the reset option to return to default colors (modeled colors plus palette) or clear all assigned colors to ignore modeled colors and apply only the palette.

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Labels

Toggle data labels to display node names on the chart. Label options include:
  • Position - Top, bottom, left, right, or inside
  • Font size - Adjust the label text size
  • Styling - Bold and italic options
The Links section controls the appearance of the flows between nodes.

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Field mapping

  • Link width - The measure that determines the width of each flow

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Color

Links support four coloring options:
  • Source-target gradient - Default. A gradient from the source node color to the target node color.
  • Source - Solid color matching the source node
  • Target - Solid color matching the target node
  • Custom - A single color of your choice for all links

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Data labels

Toggle data labels to display values on the links. Link labels support:
  • Font size and styling - Standard text formatting options
  • Format - Number formatting options, such as currency or percentage

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Tooltips

Tooltips appear when hovering over links and display information about the flow. Node tooltips always show the node name and total value. Use the tooltip configuration to add additional fields to link tooltips.

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Troubleshooting

The Sankey chart type requires at least three fields in your query:
  • two dimensions (for source and target nodes)
  • one measure (for link width)
If you don’t see the sankey option in the Chart selector, add the required fields to your query.
Sankey charts require data that flows in one direction without loops. “DAG” stands for Directed Acyclic Graph. This error appears when your data contains circular references. For example, if A → B and B → A both exist in your dataset.To fix this, review your data for bidirectional flows or loops where a node eventually flows back to itself. You’ll need to either remove the rows that create the cycle or restructure your data so flows only move forward through the stages.