Sentry Discover filters: limits of persisted queries across projects and sessions

Answer

Discover filter selections that you apply but do not explicitly save are kept only in the browser’s URL and temporary localStorage. They disappear when you reload the page, change the URL manually, clear browser storage, or open an incognito/private window.

When you click Save in Discover, the query is stored server‑side under your Sentry user account. Saved queries appear in your personal “Saved Queries” list and are available from any browser or device after you log in.

Confirmed facts

• Unsaved filter state = browser‑only (URL + temporary localStorage).
• Saved query = server‑side, user‑specific.
• Saved queries are not automatically visible to teammates.
• Project scope: a saved query created while viewing a specific project applies only to that project unless you enable the “All projects” option during save, which makes it usable across any project in the same organization.
• Incognito or cleared‑storage sessions still show your saved queries after you log in because they are server‑side; any unsaved changes made in that session are lost when the session ends.
• Keyboard‑only navigation retains filter state as long as the query is saved; unsaved UI state may not be restored after a reload if reliance on temporary localStorage is broken by privacy settings.

Likely explanation (based on typical behavior)

The persistence mechanism relies on two layers: a client‑side layer for transient UI state and a server‑side layer for explicitly saved queries. Sharing a standardized set of filters across a team therefore requires each member to save the query individually (or use a shared Discover Dashboard, if your plan includes it).

Steps to verify for your setup

1. Open Discover for a project, apply several filters, reload the page without saving – observe that the filters disappear.
2. Click Save, name the query, log out, open an incognito window, log back in, open Discover for the same project – confirm the saved query appears in the Saved Queries list and can be loaded.
3. Create a saved query while viewing Project A, then switch to Project B in the same organization – check whether the query is available; repeat with the “All projects” option enabled to confirm cross‑project availability.

Missing diagnostic detail

If you need organization‑wide sharing without each user manually saving, confirm whether your Sentry plan includes Discover Dashboards (or another sharing feature). This detail changes the recommendation from “each user must save individually” to “you can publish a dashboard for the team”.