> AI agents: this is one page from Mammoth Analytics documentation. The index of all pages as Markdown is https://mammoth.io/docs/llms.txt. Append `.md` to any docs URL, or send `Accept: text/markdown`, to get Markdown.

# Explore Cards, Metrics, View Insights or Data Quality?

> Compare Mammoth's explore tools: what Explore Cards, Metrics, View Insights and the Data Quality Report give you, what each reads and when it refreshes.
>
> Applies to: Roles: Viewers can read Explore Cards; filtering needs edit access to the workspace. Where: View › action bar (Explore, Metrics, View Insights) and the footer (View Data Quality)

Mammoth has four tools that show what is in a View before you transform it. **Explore Cards** and the **Metrics** panel are interactive and follow your filters; **View Insights** and the Data Quality Report are read-only snapshots of the whole View. All four are in the data editor; how to combine them is on [Use the explore tools together](https://mammoth.io/docs/learn/explore/explore-workflows/).

![View interface with the Explore toggle and Explore Cards panel, the 5 Key Insights button, the Metrics panel with a Sum of quantity metric, and the Data Quality Score footer](https://mammoth.io/docs/images/20261009_195655_DiscoveryToolsOverview.webp)

## The four explore tools at a glance

| Tool | Question it answers | What it gives you | Who decides | How you use it | What you do with the result |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Explore Cards** | "What's in this column?" | Text: a ranked list (or donut, treemap). Number and date: a vertical bar chart (or list; timeline for dates) | You | High interaction: click values to filter | Turn filters into a pipeline task or a new View; add a card's chart to a dashboard |
| **Metrics** panel | "What do I want to measure?" | Single numbers you define (Count, Sum, Average, formulas) | You | High interaction: formulas and conditions. Open it from the action bar | KPI calculations and dashboard preparation |
| **View Insights** | "What's interesting here?" | 3–7 AI-written business observations | The AI | None: read only. Click the button | Informational only |
| **Data Quality Report** | "What needs fixing?" | A quality score, six dimension scores, issues and recommended pipeline tasks | DAMA quality rules, with AI help | Low: read only. Click the button | You build the recommended tasks in the pipeline yourself |

![Comparison of the four discovery tools by analysis time, output type, interactivity and actionable result](https://mammoth.io/docs/images/20260408_101547_Side-by-sidecomparison.webp)

## Pick an explore tool by your goal

| Goal | Start with | Then |
| --- | --- | --- |
| I loaded new data and want to understand it | Explore Cards | |
| "I have 10 minutes to understand this dataset" | Explore Cards | View Insights, a few metrics, then the Data Quality Report. Use any time left to plan next steps |
| I need to check data quality before building a pipeline | Data Quality Report | |
| "This data feeds our production dashboard" | Data Quality Report | Explore Cards for thresholds, Metrics for exact KPIs. View Insights is optional |
| I want a quick summary of key numbers | Metrics panel | |
| "My boss needs insights for tomorrow's meeting" | View Insights | Metrics for the numbers, Explore Cards if questions come up. Skip the Data Quality Report unless quality is on the agenda |
| I want AI to tell me what's interesting in my data | View Insights | |
| "I'm not sure what questions to ask" | View Insights | Explore Cards to follow its leads, the Data Quality Report for limits, then Metrics for ratios you find |
| I want to investigate a specific pattern or segment | Explore Cards | Filter by clicking values |

For a full analysis, use all four in sequence: see [Use the explore tools together](https://mammoth.io/docs/learn/explore/explore-workflows/).

![Decision tree: Quick Look, Find Patterns, Check Quality and Calculate KPIs lead to four different tools](https://mammoth.io/docs/images/20260407_120504_Decisiontreeflowchart.webp)

![Four scenario flows with ordered tool sequences, from 10-Minute Analysis to Unknown Questions](https://mammoth.io/docs/images/20260407_155808_Decisionscenarioflowchart.webp)

## What each tool is good for, and not for

| Tool | Good for | Not for | Example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Explore Cards | A first look at new data, value distribution checks, spotting outliers, testing filter logic before you automate it | AI business observations, a full quality score, or calculations beyond the card statistics (Sum, Min, St.Dev, Avg and Max for numbers; Earliest and Latest for dates) | "I uploaded sales data and want to see the spread by geography before I build regional reports." |
| Metrics panel | Specific KPIs, ratios and percentages, watching a number as you filter, comparing aggregations. It prepares numbers for dashboards but does not create dashboards | Basic column statistics (Explore Cards already show them) or full data profiling | "I'm building a sales dashboard and need conversion rate, average deal size and quota attainment." |
| View Insights | Briefings, finding trends you didn't know to look for, "what should I know about this data?" | Quality scores or interactive exploration | "I need to present quarterly results to the board and want the main trends highlighted." |
| Data Quality Report | Checks before production, audit and compliance evidence, planning which cleaning steps to build. Run it as soon as you connect a new data source, and fix critical issues before you spend time on a pipeline | Quick exploration, or issues you already know and accept | "This data feeds our finance dashboard. I need to check it before executives see it." |

![Explore panel showing a text card, a numeric card and a date card](https://mammoth.io/docs/images/20261009_193601_ExploreCardsPanel.webp)

![Metrics panel with three metrics: Sum of Price, Sum of Tax filtered by Department, and Minimum Quantity](https://mammoth.io/docs/images/20260407_120648_metric_panel1.webp)

View Insights limits (no follow-up questions, no export, current View only) are on [View Insights](https://mammoth.io/docs/learn/explore/view-insights/).

![View Insights panel under the 7 Key Insights button, listing seven insights about customer revenue and churn](https://mammoth.io/docs/images/20260407_120539_KeyInsightspanel1.webp)

The Data Quality Report recommends tasks but has no one-click apply; its limits are on [Check data quality](https://mammoth.io/docs/learn/explore/data-quality/#data-quality-report-limits).

![Data Quality dialog Recommended Actions section listing Edit Cells and three Fill Missing Values cards with High Priority and Medium labels](https://mammoth.io/docs/images/20261009_195602_DataQualityRecommended.webp)

## What each explore tool sees and when it refreshes

| Tool | Data it reads | When it refreshes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Explore Cards | The View after its pipeline, narrowed by your explore filters | As you filter and as the View's data changes |
| Metrics panel | The same, unless a metric is locked | As you filter and as the View's data changes |
| View Insights, Data Quality Report | The whole View after its pipeline; explore filters don't change it | Only when you click the button. A saved result is cleared when the View's data changes |

To make View Insights or the Data Quality Report look at a subset, add a Conditional Filter task to the pipeline. See [Filter rows](https://mammoth.io/docs/learn/clean-and-shape/filter-rows/).

## Troubleshooting explore tool choices

| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| "I used View Insights but need specific numbers" | View Insights gives observations, not calculations | Use the Metrics panel |
| "The button showed 5 Key Insights but now I get 3" | The AI sets the count each time, between 3 and 7, and it can differ on the same data | Nothing to fix. You can't set the count |
| "The Data Quality Report found issues but I need quick insights" | Patterns on dirty data can mislead | Build the recommended tasks for critical issues first, then run View Insights |
| "Explore Cards don't show the patterns I expected" | A card to the right of a filtered card shows only the filtered rows (its header notes this), or the column has no card | Use **Clear filters**, and check you added the columns you want |
| "The tools give different numbers" | Explore Cards and Metrics follow your explore filters; View Insights and the Data Quality Report don't | Clear the explore filters, or add a Conditional Filter task so every tool reads the same rows |

## Related

- [Use the explore tools together](https://mammoth.io/docs/learn/explore/explore-workflows/): sequences for a new dataset, a briefing or a production pipeline.
- [Explore Cards](https://mammoth.io/docs/learn/explore/explore-cards/): filter the grid by clicking values.
- [View Insights](https://mammoth.io/docs/learn/explore/view-insights/): get an AI summary.
- [Data quality report](https://mammoth.io/docs/learn/explore/data-quality/): score the View and get suggested fixes.

---
Source: https://mammoth.io/docs/learn/explore/compare-explore-tools.md · Updated: 2026-11-08