fix(query-context): ensure operator is correctly suggested

* fix: the query being updated after deleting the variables

* fix: use exact variable string match when removing clauses on delete

Passing `true` to removeKeysFromExpression removed the first clause whose
value contained any `$`, which corrupted expressions when two variables
shared the same filter attribute (e.g. $env and $env_region both backed
by deployment.environment). Switching to the exact variable string
(`$${variableName}`) ensures only the deleted variable's clause is removed.

Also adds 9 targeted edge-case tests covering shared-key variables,
variable-name boundary ($env vs $environment), mixed literal/variable
clauses, multi-value array filter items, clickhouse_sql, idempotency,
empty widgets, and unrelated-variable no-ops.

* fix: refined the deletiong process

* fix: adding toast

* fix: resolved comments

* fix: updated the tests and moved func to utils

frontend/src/components/QueryBuilderV2/utils.ts

@@ -721,6 +721,53 @@ export const removeKeysFromExpression = (
 	return result?.text ?? '';
 };
 
+const escapeRegExp = (value: string): string =>
+	value.replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, '\\$&');
+
+export const createVariablePlaceholderRegExp = (
+	variableName: string,
+): RegExp => {
+	const escapedName = escapeRegExp(variableName);
+	// (?![\w.]) prevents $env from matching inside $environment or $env.attr
+	return new RegExp(
+		`(\\$${escapedName}(?![\\w.])|\\{\\{\\s*\\.?${escapedName}\\s*\\}\\}|\\[\\[\\s*${escapedName}\\s*\\]\\])`,
+		'g',
+	);
+};
+
+const matchesVariablePlaceholder = (
+	text: string,
+	variableName: string,
+): boolean => createVariablePlaceholderRegExp(variableName).test(text);
+
+export const removeVariableFromExpression = (
+	expression: string | undefined,
+	variableName: string,
+): string => {
+	if (!expression) {
+		return '';
+	}
+
+	const queryPairs = extractQueryPairs(expression);
+
+	const keysToRemove = queryPairs
+		.filter((pair) => {
+			const singleValue = pair.value?.toString() ?? '';
+			const listValues = (pair.valueList ?? []).join(' ');
+			return (
+				matchesVariablePlaceholder(singleValue, variableName) ||
+				matchesVariablePlaceholder(listValues, variableName)
+			);
+		})
+		.map((pair) => pair.key);
+
+	if (keysToRemove.length === 0) {
+		return expression;
+	}
+
+	return removeKeysFromExpression(expression, keysToRemove, `$${variableName}`);
+};
+
 /**
  * Convert old having format to new having format
  * @param having - Array of old having objects with columnName, op, and value

frontend/src/container/DashboardContainer/DashboardSettings/DashboardVariableSettings/addTagFiltersToDashboard.test.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,328 @@
+import { PANEL_TYPES } from 'constants/queryBuilder';
+import { Dashboard } from 'types/api/dashboard/getAll';
+import { EQueryType } from 'types/common/dashboard';
+import { DataSource } from 'types/common/queryBuilder';
+import { removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard } from './addTagFiltersToDashboard';
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Shared fixture helpers
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+const EMPTY_BUILDER = {
+	queryData: [] as any,
+	queryFormulas: [],
+	queryTraceOperator: [],
+};
+
+const BASE_WIDGET = {
+	opacity: '1',
+	nullZeroValues: 'null',
+	timePreferance: 'GLOBAL_TIME' as const,
+	softMin: null,
+	softMax: null,
+	selectedLogFields: null,
+	selectedTracesFields: null,
+};
+
+const DEFAULT_QUERY_DATA = {
+	queryName: 'q1',
+	// In QB v5, expression holds the query label (A/B/C), not a filter expression
+	expression: 'A',
+	dataSource: DataSource.METRICS,
+	functions: [],
+	groupBy: [],
+	filters: { items: [] as any[], op: 'AND' as const },
+	legend: '',
+	disabled: false,
+	having: [],
+	limit: null,
+	stepInterval: null,
+	orderBy: [],
+	selectColumns: [],
+	source: '' as const,
+};
+
+/**
+ * Build a dashboard with a single builder widget.
+ * Only supply the fields your test actually cares about.
+ */
+const buildBuilderDashboard = (
+	filterExpression: string,
+	queryDataOverrides: Record<string, any> = {},
+): Dashboard => ({
+	id: 'dash1',
+	createdAt: '',
+	updatedAt: '',
+	createdBy: '',
+	updatedBy: '',
+	data: {
+		title: 'Test Dashboard',
+		widgets: [
+			{
+				...BASE_WIDGET,
+				id: 'widget-1',
+				panelTypes: PANEL_TYPES.TIME_SERIES,
+				title: 'Widget 1',
+				description: '',
+				query: {
+					id: 'query1',
+					queryType: EQueryType.QUERY_BUILDER,
+					promql: [],
+					clickhouse_sql: [],
+					builder: {
+						queryData: [
+							{
+								...DEFAULT_QUERY_DATA,
+								...queryDataOverrides,
+								filter: { expression: filterExpression },
+							},
+						],
+						queryFormulas: [],
+						queryTraceOperator: [],
+					},
+					unit: '',
+				},
+			},
+		],
+		variables: {},
+	},
+});
+
+const buildClickhouseDashboard = (query: string): Dashboard => ({
+	id: 'dash-ch',
+	createdAt: '',
+	updatedAt: '',
+	createdBy: '',
+	updatedBy: '',
+	data: {
+		title: 'CH',
+		widgets: [
+			{
+				...BASE_WIDGET,
+				id: 'w1',
+				panelTypes: PANEL_TYPES.TIME_SERIES,
+				title: '',
+				description: '',
+				query: {
+					id: 'q1',
+					queryType: EQueryType.CLICKHOUSE,
+					promql: [],
+					clickhouse_sql: [{ name: 'A', query, legend: '', disabled: false }],
+					builder: EMPTY_BUILDER,
+					unit: '',
+				},
+			},
+		],
+		variables: {},
+	},
+});
+
+const buildPromqlDashboard = (query: string): Dashboard => ({
+	id: 'dash-prom',
+	createdAt: '',
+	updatedAt: '',
+	createdBy: '',
+	updatedBy: '',
+	data: {
+		title: 'PromQL Dashboard',
+		widgets: [
+			{
+				...BASE_WIDGET,
+				id: 'widget-prom',
+				panelTypes: PANEL_TYPES.TIME_SERIES,
+				title: 'PromQL Widget',
+				description: '',
+				query: {
+					id: 'query-prom',
+					queryType: EQueryType.PROM,
+					promql: [{ name: 'A', query, legend: '', disabled: false }],
+					clickhouse_sql: [],
+					builder: EMPTY_BUILDER,
+					unit: '',
+				},
+			},
+		],
+		variables: {},
+	},
+});
+
+/** Run removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard on a single-widget clickhouse dashboard and return the cleaned SQL. */
+const chQuery = (sql: string, varName: string): string => {
+	const result = removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard(
+		buildClickhouseDashboard(sql),
+		varName,
+	);
+	return (result!.data.widgets![0] as any).query.clickhouse_sql[0].query;
+};
+
+/** Extract the first builder queryData from a cleaned dashboard. */
+const firstBuilderQueryData = (dashboard: Dashboard | undefined): any =>
+	(dashboard!.data.widgets![0] as any).query.builder.queryData[0];
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Tests
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+describe('removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard', () => {
+	describe('builder filter expression cleanup', () => {
+		it('removes a variable clause from filter.expression', () => {
+			const dashboard = buildBuilderDashboard(
+				"service.name IN $service AND env = 'prod'",
+			);
+
+			const result = removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard(dashboard, 'service');
+
+			expect(firstBuilderQueryData(result).filter.expression).toBe("env = 'prod'");
+		});
+
+		it('leaves no dangling AND/OR after removing a variable clause', () => {
+			const dashboard = buildBuilderDashboard(
+				"service.name IN $service AND env = 'prod'",
+			);
+
+			const result = removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard(dashboard, 'service');
+			const { expression } = firstBuilderQueryData(result).filter;
+
+			expect(expression).toBe("env = 'prod'");
+			expect(expression).not.toMatch(/^\s*(AND|OR)/i);
+			expect(expression).not.toMatch(/(AND|OR)\s*$/i);
+		});
+
+		it('does not remove $environment clause when deleting $env', () => {
+			const dashboard = buildBuilderDashboard(
+				'env = $env AND deployment.environment = $environment',
+			);
+
+			const result = removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard(dashboard, 'env');
+
+			expect(firstBuilderQueryData(result).filter.expression).toBe(
+				'deployment.environment = $environment',
+			);
+		});
+
+		it('leaves literal filter expressions untouched when removing a variable', () => {
+			const dashboard = buildBuilderDashboard(
+				"service.name = 'api-gateway' AND env = 'prod'",
+			);
+
+			const result = removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard(dashboard, 'service');
+
+			expect(firstBuilderQueryData(result).filter.expression).toBe(
+				"service.name = 'api-gateway' AND env = 'prod'",
+			);
+		});
+
+		it('removes only the variable clause, preserving a literal clause on the same key', () => {
+			const dashboard = buildBuilderDashboard(
+				"service.name IN $service AND service.name = 'api-gateway'",
+			);
+
+			const result = removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard(dashboard, 'service');
+
+			expect(firstBuilderQueryData(result).filter.expression).toBe(
+				"service.name = 'api-gateway'",
+			);
+		});
+
+		it('returns filter.expression unchanged when the variable has no clauses in it', () => {
+			const dashboard = buildBuilderDashboard("env = 'prod'");
+
+			const result = removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard(dashboard, 'service');
+
+			expect(firstBuilderQueryData(result).filter.expression).toBe("env = 'prod'");
+		});
+	});
+
+	describe('PromQL query cleanup', () => {
+		it('removes variable placeholder from a promql query', () => {
+			const result = removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard(
+				buildPromqlDashboard('sum(rate(http_requests_total{$service}[5m]))'),
+				'service',
+			);
+
+			const widget = result!.data.widgets![0] as any;
+			expect(widget.query.promql[0].query).toBe(
+				'sum(rate(http_requests_total{}[5m]))',
+			);
+		});
+
+		it('strips only the variable token inside a PromQL label matcher (token-only path)', () => {
+			const result = removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard(
+				buildPromqlDashboard('up{env="$env", job="api"}'),
+				'env',
+			);
+
+			const widget = result!.data.widgets![0] as any;
+			expect(widget.query.promql[0].query).toBe('up{env="", job="api"}');
+		});
+	});
+
+	describe('ClickHouse SQL query cleanup', () => {
+		it('removes a quoted variable clause and its WHERE keyword', () => {
+			expect(
+				chQuery(
+					"SELECT count() FROM signoz_logs WHERE service_name = '$service'",
+					'service',
+				),
+			).toBe('SELECT count() FROM signoz_logs');
+		});
+
+		it('removes a middle clause: AND env={{.env}} AND', () => {
+			expect(
+				chQuery('SELECT count() FROM t WHERE a=1 AND env={{.env}} AND b=2', 'env'),
+			).toBe('SELECT count() FROM t WHERE a=1 AND b=2');
+		});
+
+		it('removes the first clause: env={{.env}} AND rest', () => {
+			expect(
+				chQuery('SELECT count() FROM t WHERE env={{.env}} AND b=2', 'env'),
+			).toBe('SELECT count() FROM t WHERE b=2');
+		});
+
+		it('removes the last clause: rest AND env=$env', () => {
+			expect(chQuery('SELECT count() FROM t WHERE a=1 AND env=$env', 'env')).toBe(
+				'SELECT count() FROM t WHERE a=1',
+			);
+		});
+
+		it('removes a clause with double-bracket syntax: service=[[svc]]', () => {
+			expect(chQuery('SELECT count() FROM t WHERE service=[[svc]]', 'svc')).toBe(
+				'SELECT count() FROM t',
+			);
+		});
+
+		it('falls back to token-only strip for a bare variable in SELECT', () => {
+			expect(chQuery('SELECT $metric FROM table', 'metric')).toBe(
+				'SELECT FROM table',
+			);
+		});
+	});
+
+	describe('edge cases', () => {
+		it('is idempotent — calling twice produces the same result', () => {
+			const dashboard = buildBuilderDashboard(
+				"service.name IN $service AND env = 'prod'",
+			);
+
+			const once = removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard(dashboard, 'service');
+			const twice = removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard(once, 'service');
+
+			expect(twice).toStrictEqual(once);
+		});
+
+		it('handles a dashboard with no widgets without throwing', () => {
+			const dashboard: Dashboard = {
+				id: 'dash-empty',
+				createdAt: '',
+				updatedAt: '',
+				createdBy: '',
+				updatedBy: '',
+				data: { title: 'Empty Dashboard', widgets: undefined, variables: {} },
+			};
+
+			expect(() =>
+				removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard(dashboard, 'service'),
+			).not.toThrow();
+		});
+	});
+});

frontend/src/container/DashboardContainer/DashboardSettings/DashboardVariableSettings/addTagFiltersToDashboard.tsx

@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import {
 	convertFiltersToExpressionWithExistingQuery,
+	createVariablePlaceholderRegExp,
 	removeKeysFromExpression,
+	removeVariableFromExpression,
 } from 'components/QueryBuilderV2/utils';
 import { cloneDeep, isArray, isEmpty } from 'lodash-es';
 import { Dashboard, Widgets } from 'types/api/dashboard/getAll';
@@ -157,6 +159,139 @@ const updateAfterRemoval = (
 	};
 };
 
+const removeVariablePlaceholders = (
+	text: string | undefined,
+	variableName: string,
+): string => {
+	if (!text) {
+		return '';
+	}
+
+	const tokenPattern = createVariablePlaceholderRegExp(variableName);
+
+	// Step 1: attempt clause-aware removal for SQL WHERE patterns.
+	// Strips the entire `key op $var` unit plus its adjacent AND/OR so we
+	// never leave a dangling `key = ` in unquoted ClickHouse SQL clauses.
+	// Handles three shapes:
+	//   (a) preceding conjunction:  AND key = $var
+	//   (b) following conjunction:  key = $var AND
+	//   (c) standalone clause:      key = $var  (end of expression)
+	const escapedToken = tokenPattern.source;
+	const clausePattern = new RegExp(
+		// (a) conjunction before the clause
+		`\\s*\\b(?:AND|OR)\\b\\s+[\\w."'\\[\\]]+\\s*(?:=|!=|<>|LIKE|ILIKE|IN|NOT\\s+IN)\\s*'?${escapedToken}'?` +
+			// (b)+(c) clause first, optional conjunction after
+			`|[\\w."'\\[\\]]+\\s*(?:=|!=|<>|LIKE|ILIKE|IN|NOT\\s+IN)\\s*'?${escapedToken}'?(?:\\s*\\b(?:AND|OR)\\b)?`,
+		'gi',
+	);
+
+	const withClauseRemoval = text.replace(clausePattern, '');
+	if (withClauseRemoval !== text) {
+		return withClauseRemoval
+			.replace(/\s{2,}/g, ' ')
+			.replace(/\bWHERE\s*$/i, '')
+			.trim();
+	}
+
+	// Step 2: fallback — bare variable usage outside a key-op-value pattern
+	// (e.g. SELECT $metric, LIMIT $n). Token-only removal is correct here.
+	return text
+		.replace(tokenPattern, '')
+		.replace(/\s{2,}/g, ' ')
+		.trim();
+};
+
+const removeVariableReferencesFromQueryData = (
+	queryData: IBuilderQuery,
+	variableName: string,
+): IBuilderQuery => {
+	const updatedFilter = queryData.filter?.expression
+		? {
+				...queryData.filter,
+				expression: removeVariableFromExpression(
+					queryData.filter.expression,
+					variableName,
+				),
+			}
+		: queryData.filter;
+
+	return { ...queryData, filter: updatedFilter };
+};
+
+const removeVariableReferencesFromWidget = (
+	widget: Widgets,
+	variableName: string,
+): Widgets => {
+	let updatedWidget = { ...widget };
+
+	if (updatedWidget.query?.builder?.queryData) {
+		updatedWidget = {
+			...updatedWidget,
+			query: {
+				...updatedWidget.query,
+				builder: {
+					...updatedWidget.query.builder,
+					queryData: updatedWidget.query.builder.queryData.map((queryData) =>
+						removeVariableReferencesFromQueryData(queryData, variableName),
+					),
+				},
+			},
+		};
+	}
+
+	if (updatedWidget.query?.promql) {
+		updatedWidget = {
+			...updatedWidget,
+			query: {
+				...updatedWidget.query,
+				promql: updatedWidget.query.promql.map((promqlQuery) => ({
+					...promqlQuery,
+					query: removeVariablePlaceholders(promqlQuery.query, variableName),
+				})),
+			},
+		};
+	}
+
+	if (updatedWidget.query?.clickhouse_sql) {
+		updatedWidget = {
+			...updatedWidget,
+			query: {
+				...updatedWidget.query,
+				clickhouse_sql: updatedWidget.query.clickhouse_sql.map((sqlQuery) => ({
+					...sqlQuery,
+					query: removeVariablePlaceholders(sqlQuery.query, variableName),
+				})),
+			},
+		};
+	}
+
+	return updatedWidget;
+};
+
+export const removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard = (
+	dashboard: Dashboard | undefined,
+	variableName: string,
+): Dashboard | undefined => {
+	if (!dashboard || !variableName) {
+		return dashboard;
+	}
+
+	const updatedDashboard = cloneDeep(dashboard);
+
+	if (updatedDashboard.data.widgets) {
+		updatedDashboard.data.widgets = updatedDashboard.data.widgets.map(
+			(widget) => {
+				if ('query' in widget) {
+					return removeVariableReferencesFromWidget(widget as Widgets, variableName);
+				}
+				return widget;
+			},
+		);
+	}
+
+	return updatedDashboard;
+};
+
 /**
  * A function that takes a dashboard configuration and a list of tag filters
  * and returns an updated dashboard with the filters appended to widget queries.

frontend/src/container/DashboardContainer/DashboardSettings/DashboardVariableSettings/index.tsx

@@ -18,10 +18,11 @@ import { convertVariablesToDbFormat } from 'container/DashboardContainer/Dashboa
 import { useAddDynamicVariableToPanels } from 'hooks/dashboard/useAddDynamicVariableToPanels';
 import { useDashboardVariables } from 'hooks/dashboard/useDashboardVariables';
 import { useUpdateDashboard } from 'hooks/dashboard/useUpdateDashboard';
-import { useNotifications } from 'hooks/useNotifications';
+import { toast } from '@signozhq/ui/sonner';
 import { IDashboardVariables } from 'providers/Dashboard/store/dashboardVariables/dashboardVariablesStoreTypes';
 import { useDashboardStore } from 'providers/Dashboard/store/useDashboardStore';
 import { IDashboardVariable } from 'types/api/dashboard/getAll';
+import { removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard } from './addTagFiltersToDashboard';
 
 import { TVariableMode } from './types';
 import VariableItem from './VariableItem/VariableItem';
@@ -92,8 +93,6 @@ function VariablesSettings({
 	const { dashboardData, setDashboardData } = useDashboardStore();
 	const { dashboardVariables } = useDashboardVariables();
 
-	const { notifications } = useNotifications();
-
 	const [variablesTableData, setVariablesTableData] = useState<any>([]);
 	const [variblesOrderArr, setVariablesOrderArr] = useState<number[]>([]);
 	const [existingVariableNamesMap, setExistingVariableNamesMap] = useState<
@@ -201,9 +200,7 @@ function VariablesSettings({
 				onSuccess: (updatedDashboard) => {
 					if (updatedDashboard.data) {
 						setDashboardData(updatedDashboard.data);
-						notifications.success({
-							message: t('variable_updated_successfully'),
-						});
+						toast.success(t('variable_updated_successfully'));
 					}
 				},
 			},
@@ -256,6 +253,11 @@ function VariablesSettings({
 	};
 
 	const handleDeleteConfirm = (): void => {
+		if (!dashboardData || !variableToDelete.current) {
+			setDeleteVariableModal(false);
+			return;
+		}
+
 		const newVariablesArr = variablesTableData.filter(
 			(variable: IDashboardVariable) =>
 				variable.id !== variableToDelete?.current?.id,
@@ -263,7 +265,31 @@ function VariablesSettings({
 
 		const updatedVariables = convertVariablesToDbFormat(newVariablesArr);
 
-		updateVariables(updatedVariables);
+		const cleanedDashboard =
+			removeVariableReferencesFromDashboard(
+				dashboardData,
+				variableToDelete.current.name || '',
+			) || dashboardData;
+
+		updateMutation.mutateAsync(
+			{
+				id: dashboardData.id,
+
+				data: {
+					...cleanedDashboard.data,
+					variables: updatedVariables,
+				},
+			},
+			{
+				onSuccess: (updatedDashboard) => {
+					if (updatedDashboard.data) {
+						setDashboardData(updatedDashboard.data);
+						toast.success(t('variable_updated_successfully'));
+					}
+				},
+			},
+		);
+
 		variableToDelete.current = null;
 		setDeleteVariableModal(false);
 	};
@@ -476,6 +502,7 @@ function VariablesSettings({
 				open={deleteVariableModal}
 				onOk={handleDeleteConfirm}
 				onCancel={handleDeleteCancel}
+				okButtonProps={{ loading: updateMutation.isLoading }}
 			>
 				<Typography.Text>
 					Are you sure you want to delete variable{' '}

frontend/src/container/ListOfDashboard/DashboardsList.tsx

@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ function DashboardsList(): JSX.Element {
 		isLocked: !!e.locked || false,
 		lastUpdatedBy: e.updatedBy,
 		image: e.data.image || Base64Icons[0],
-		variables: e.data.variables,
+		variables: e.data.variables ?? {},
 		widgets: e.data.widgets,
 		layout: e.data.layout,
 		panelMap: e.data.panelMap,

frontend/src/hooks/dashboard/__test__/useTransformDashboardVariables.test.tsx

@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ describe('useTransformDashboardVariables', () => {
 
 			const result = transformDashboardVariables(dashboard);
 
-			const orders = Object.values(result.data.variables).map((v) => v.order);
+			const orders = Object.values(result.data.variables!).map((v) => v.order);
 			expect(orders).toContain(0);
 			expect(orders).toContain(1);
 		});
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ describe('useTransformDashboardVariables', () => {
 
 			const result = transformDashboardVariables(dashboard);
 
-			expect(result.data.variables.v1.order).toBe(5);
+			expect(result.data.variables!.v1.order).toBe(5);
 		});
 
 		it('assigns unique orders across multiple variables that all lack an order', () => {
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ describe('useTransformDashboardVariables', () => {
 
 			const result = transformDashboardVariables(dashboard);
 
-			const orders = Object.values(result.data.variables).map((v) => v.order);
+			const orders = Object.values(result.data.variables!).map((v) => v.order);
 			// All three newly assigned orders must be distinct
 			expect(new Set(orders).size).toBe(3);
 		});
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ describe('useTransformDashboardVariables', () => {
 
 			const result = transformDashboardVariables(dashboard);
 
-			expect(result.data.variables.v1.id).toMatch(
+			expect(result.data.variables!.v1.id).toMatch(
 				/^[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-4[0-9a-f]{3}-[89ab][0-9a-f]{3}-[0-9a-f]{12}$/i,
 			);
 		});
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ describe('useTransformDashboardVariables', () => {
 
 			const result = transformDashboardVariables(dashboard);
 
-			expect(result.data.variables.v1.id).toBe('keep-me');
+			expect(result.data.variables!.v1.id).toBe('keep-me');
 		});
 	});
 
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ describe('useTransformDashboardVariables', () => {
 
 			const result = transformDashboardVariables(dashboard);
 
-			expect(result.data.variables.v1.defaultValue).toBe('hello');
+			expect(result.data.variables!.v1.defaultValue).toBe('hello');
 		});
 
 		it('does not overwrite an existing defaultValue', () => {
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ describe('useTransformDashboardVariables', () => {
 
 			const result = transformDashboardVariables(dashboard);
 
-			expect(result.data.variables.v1.defaultValue).toBe('keep');
+			expect(result.data.variables!.v1.defaultValue).toBe('keep');
 		});
 	});
 
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ describe('useTransformDashboardVariables', () => {
 
 			const result = transformDashboardVariables(dashboard);
 
-			expect(result.data.variables.v1.selectedValue).toBe('staging');
+			expect(result.data.variables!.v1.selectedValue).toBe('staging');
 		});
 
 		it('applies localStorage allSelected over DB value', () => {
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ describe('useTransformDashboardVariables', () => {
 
 			const result = transformDashboardVariables(dashboard);
 
-			expect(result.data.variables.v1.allSelected).toBe(true);
+			expect(result.data.variables!.v1.allSelected).toBe(true);
 		});
 	});
 
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ describe('useTransformDashboardVariables', () => {
 
 			const result = transformDashboardVariables(dashboard);
 
-			expect(result.data.variables.v1.allSelected).toBe(true);
+			expect(result.data.variables!.v1.allSelected).toBe(true);
 		});
 
 		it('sets selectedValue from URL and clears allSelected when showALLOption is true', () => {
@@ -237,8 +237,8 @@ describe('useTransformDashboardVariables', () => {
 
 			const result = transformDashboardVariables(dashboard);
 
-			expect(result.data.variables.v1.selectedValue).toBe('dev');
-			expect(result.data.variables.v1.allSelected).toBe(false);
+			expect(result.data.variables!.v1.selectedValue).toBe('dev');
+			expect(result.data.variables!.v1.allSelected).toBe(false);
 		});
 
 		it('does not set allSelected=false when showALLOption is false', () => {
@@ -258,8 +258,8 @@ describe('useTransformDashboardVariables', () => {
 
 			const result = transformDashboardVariables(dashboard);
 
-			expect(result.data.variables.v1.selectedValue).toBe('dev');
-			expect(result.data.variables.v1.allSelected).toBe(true);
+			expect(result.data.variables!.v1.selectedValue).toBe('dev');
+			expect(result.data.variables!.v1.allSelected).toBe(true);
 		});
 
 		it('normalizes array URL value to single value for single-select variable', () => {
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ describe('useTransformDashboardVariables', () => {
 
 			const result = transformDashboardVariables(dashboard);
 
-			expect(result.data.variables.v1.selectedValue).toBe('prod');
+			expect(result.data.variables!.v1.selectedValue).toBe('prod');
 		});
 
 		it('wraps single URL value in array for multi-select variable', () => {
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ describe('useTransformDashboardVariables', () => {
 
 			const result = transformDashboardVariables(dashboard);
 
-			expect(result.data.variables.v1.selectedValue).toStrictEqual(['prod']);
+			expect(result.data.variables!.v1.selectedValue).toStrictEqual(['prod']);
 		});
 
 		it('looks up URL variable by variable id when name is absent', () => {
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ describe('useTransformDashboardVariables', () => {
 
 			const result = transformDashboardVariables(dashboard);
 
-			expect(result.data.variables.v1.selectedValue).toBe('fallback');
+			expect(result.data.variables!.v1.selectedValue).toBe('fallback');
 		});
 	});
 
@@ -327,11 +327,11 @@ describe('useTransformDashboardVariables', () => {
 			const dashboard = makeDashboard({
 				v1: makeVariable({ id: 'id1', name: 'env', selectedValue: 'prod' }),
 			});
-			const originalValue = dashboard.data.variables.v1.selectedValue;
+			const originalValue = dashboard.data.variables!.v1.selectedValue;
 
 			transformDashboardVariables(dashboard);
 
-			expect(dashboard.data.variables.v1.selectedValue).toBe(originalValue);
+			expect(dashboard.data.variables!.v1.selectedValue).toBe(originalValue);
 		});
 	});
 });

frontend/src/hooks/dashboard/useTransformDashboardVariables.ts

@@ -22,11 +22,12 @@ export function useTransformDashboardVariables(dashboardId: string): Pick<
 		localStorageVariables: any,
 	): Dashboard => {
 		const updatedData = data;
-		if (data && localStorageVariables) {
-			const updatedVariables = data.data.variables;
+		const variables = data?.data?.variables;
+		if (data && localStorageVariables && variables) {
+			const updatedVariables = variables;
 			const variablesFromUrl = getUrlVariables();
-			Object.keys(data.data.variables).forEach((variable) => {
-				const variableData = data.data.variables[variable];
+			Object.keys(variables).forEach((variable) => {
+				const variableData = variables[variable];
 
 				// values from url
 				const urlVariable = variableData?.name
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@ export function useTransformDashboardVariables(dashboardId: string): Pick<
 					: variablesFromUrl[variableData.id];
 
 				let updatedVariable = {
-					...data.data.variables[variable],
+					...variables[variable],
 					...localStorageVariables[variableData.name as any],
 				};
 

frontend/src/pages/DashboardWidget/index.tsx

@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ function DashboardWidgetInternal({
 			setDashboardData(updatedDashboardData);
 			setDashboardVariablesStore({
 				dashboardId,
-				variables: updatedDashboardData.data.variables,
+				variables: updatedDashboardData.data.variables ?? {},
 			});
 		},
 	});

frontend/src/providers/Dashboard/store/dashboardVariables/__tests__/dashboardVariablesStoreUtils.test.ts

@@ -41,6 +41,20 @@ describe('dashboardVariablesStoreUtils', () => {
 			expect(result).toStrictEqual([]);
 		});
 
+		it('should return empty array when variables is undefined', () => {
+			const result = buildSortedVariablesArray(
+				undefined as unknown as IDashboardVariables,
+			);
+			expect(result).toStrictEqual([]);
+		});
+
+		it('should return empty array when variables is null', () => {
+			const result = buildSortedVariablesArray(
+				null as unknown as IDashboardVariables,
+			);
+			expect(result).toStrictEqual([]);
+		});
+
 		it('should create copies of variables (not references)', () => {
 			const original = createVariable({ name: 'a', order: 0 });
 			const variables: IDashboardVariables = { a: original };

frontend/src/providers/Dashboard/store/dashboardVariables/dashboardVariablesStoreUtils.ts

@@ -17,11 +17,11 @@ import {
  * Build a sorted array of variables by their order property
  */
 export function buildSortedVariablesArray(
-	variables: IDashboardVariables,
+	variables?: IDashboardVariables,
 ): IDashboardVariable[] {
 	const sortedVariablesArray: IDashboardVariable[] = [];
 
-	Object.values(variables).forEach((value) => {
+	Object.values(variables ?? {}).forEach((value) => {
 		sortedVariablesArray.push({ ...value });
 	});
 

frontend/src/types/api/dashboard/getAll.ts

@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ export interface DashboardData {
 	title: string;
 	layout?: Layout[];
 	panelMap?: Record<string, { widgets: Layout[]; collapsed: boolean }>;
-	variables: Record<string, IDashboardVariable>;
+	variables?: Record<string, IDashboardVariable>;
 	version?: string;
 	image?: string;
 }

frontend/src/utils/__tests__/queryContextUtils.test.ts

@@ -648,3 +648,176 @@ describe('getQueryContextAtCursor - trailing dot in key/value', () => {
 		expect(ctx.keyToken).toBe('k8s.namespace');
 	});
 });
+
+describe('getQueryContextAtCursor - partial operator', () => {
+	it('treats text after an incomplete key as an operator prefix', () => {
+		const q = 'service.name c';
+		const ctx = getQueryContextAtCursor(q, q.length);
+
+		expect(ctx.isInOperator).toBe(true);
+		expect(ctx.isInKey).toBe(false);
+		expect(ctx.keyToken).toBe('service.name');
+		expect(ctx.operatorToken).toBe('c');
+		expect(ctx.currentPair).toStrictEqual(
+			expect.objectContaining({
+				key: 'service.name',
+				operator: 'c',
+				position: expect.objectContaining({
+					operatorStart: 13,
+					operatorEnd: 13,
+				}),
+			}),
+		);
+	});
+
+	it('keeps the operator context while completing contains', () => {
+		const q = 'service.name cont';
+		const ctx = getQueryContextAtCursor(q, q.length);
+
+		expect(ctx.isInOperator).toBe(true);
+		expect(ctx.keyToken).toBe('service.name');
+		expect(ctx.operatorToken).toBe('cont');
+	});
+
+	it('treats cursor mid-token as operator context', () => {
+		const q = 'service.name cont';
+		// cursor sits between "con" and "t" — user still typing the operator
+		const ctx = getQueryContextAtCursor(q, 15);
+
+		expect(ctx.isInOperator).toBe(true);
+		expect(ctx.isInKey).toBe(false);
+		expect(ctx.keyToken).toBe('service.name');
+		expect(ctx.operatorToken).toBe('cont');
+	});
+
+	it('keeps operator context when an AND conjunction precedes the pair', () => {
+		const q = 'a = 1 AND service.name c';
+		const ctx = getQueryContextAtCursor(q, q.length);
+
+		expect(ctx.isInOperator).toBe(true);
+		expect(ctx.isInKey).toBe(false);
+		expect(ctx.keyToken).toBe('service.name');
+		expect(ctx.operatorToken).toBe('c');
+		expect(ctx.currentPair).toStrictEqual(
+			expect.objectContaining({
+				key: 'service.name',
+				operator: 'c',
+				position: expect.objectContaining({
+					operatorStart: 23,
+					operatorEnd: 23,
+				}),
+			}),
+		);
+	});
+
+	it('keeps operator context when an open parenthesis precedes the pair', () => {
+		const q = '(service.name c';
+		const ctx = getQueryContextAtCursor(q, q.length);
+
+		expect(ctx.isInOperator).toBe(true);
+		expect(ctx.isInKey).toBe(false);
+		expect(ctx.keyToken).toBe('service.name');
+		expect(ctx.operatorToken).toBe('c');
+	});
+
+	it('re-glues a partial operator that follows a NOT negation', () => {
+		const q = 'service.name NOT c';
+		const ctx = getQueryContextAtCursor(q, q.length);
+
+		expect(ctx.isInOperator).toBe(true);
+		expect(ctx.isInKey).toBe(false);
+		expect(ctx.keyToken).toBe('service.name');
+		expect(ctx.operatorToken).toBe('NOT c');
+		// operatorStart points at the partial operator (post-NOT), not at the
+		// negation — so suggestion selection only replaces the partial, never
+		// the user's typed NOT.
+		expect(ctx.currentPair).toStrictEqual(
+			expect.objectContaining({
+				key: 'service.name',
+				operator: 'NOT c',
+				hasNegation: true,
+				position: expect.objectContaining({
+					negationStart: 13,
+					negationEnd: 15,
+					operatorStart: 17,
+					operatorEnd: 17,
+				}),
+			}),
+		);
+	});
+
+	it('re-glues a multi-character partial operator after NOT', () => {
+		const q = 'service.name NOT lik';
+		const ctx = getQueryContextAtCursor(q, q.length);
+
+		expect(ctx.isInOperator).toBe(true);
+		expect(ctx.keyToken).toBe('service.name');
+		expect(ctx.operatorToken).toBe('NOT lik');
+		expect(ctx.currentPair?.hasNegation).toBe(true);
+	});
+
+	it('re-glues an uppercase partial operator after NOT', () => {
+		const q = 'service.name NOT EXI';
+		const ctx = getQueryContextAtCursor(q, q.length);
+
+		expect(ctx.isInOperator).toBe(true);
+		expect(ctx.keyToken).toBe('service.name');
+		expect(ctx.operatorToken).toBe('NOT EXI');
+		expect(ctx.currentPair?.hasNegation).toBe(true);
+	});
+
+	it('preserves original NOT casing in the operator text', () => {
+		const q = 'service.name not c';
+		const ctx = getQueryContextAtCursor(q, q.length);
+
+		expect(ctx.isInOperator).toBe(true);
+		expect(ctx.keyToken).toBe('service.name');
+		expect(ctx.operatorToken).toBe('not c');
+		expect(ctx.currentPair?.hasNegation).toBe(true);
+	});
+
+	it('tolerates extra whitespace between NOT and the partial operator', () => {
+		const q = 'service.name NOT  c';
+		const ctx = getQueryContextAtCursor(q, q.length);
+
+		expect(ctx.isInOperator).toBe(true);
+		expect(ctx.keyToken).toBe('service.name');
+		// Display text uses a canonical single space between NOT and the
+		// partial, regardless of how many spaces the user typed.
+		expect(ctx.operatorToken).toBe('NOT c');
+		expect(ctx.currentPair?.hasNegation).toBe(true);
+	});
+
+	it('keeps operator context for NOT-prefixed partial inside parentheses', () => {
+		const q = '(service.name NOT c';
+		const ctx = getQueryContextAtCursor(q, q.length);
+
+		expect(ctx.isInOperator).toBe(true);
+		expect(ctx.keyToken).toBe('service.name');
+		expect(ctx.operatorToken).toBe('NOT c');
+		expect(ctx.currentPair?.hasNegation).toBe(true);
+	});
+
+	it('keeps operator context for NOT-prefixed partial after an AND conjunction', () => {
+		const q = 'a = 1 AND service.name NOT c';
+		const ctx = getQueryContextAtCursor(q, q.length);
+
+		expect(ctx.isInOperator).toBe(true);
+		expect(ctx.keyToken).toBe('service.name');
+		expect(ctx.operatorToken).toBe('NOT c');
+		expect(ctx.currentPair?.hasNegation).toBe(true);
+	});
+
+	it('re-glues the most recent incomplete pair when three partial tokens are typed', () => {
+		// Pins documented behavior: with two trailing partial pairs (`c` and
+		// `k`), the heuristic pairs the most recent two — `c` becomes the
+		// key, `k` becomes the partial operator. The earlier `service.name`
+		// is dropped from the current pair view.
+		const q = 'service.name c k';
+		const ctx = getQueryContextAtCursor(q, q.length);
+
+		expect(ctx.isInOperator).toBe(true);
+		expect(ctx.keyToken).toBe('c');
+		expect(ctx.operatorToken).toBe('k');
+	});
+});

frontend/src/utils/queryContextUtils.ts

@@ -605,6 +605,98 @@ export function getQueryContextAtCursor(
 			queryPairs,
 		);
 
+		// Re-glue a partial operator that ANTLR has lexed as a second key.
+		//
+		// When the user types `service.name c` (or `service.name NOT c`), the
+		// lexer sees two KEY tokens (`service.name`, `c`) instead of a key +
+		// partial operator, so `extractQueryPairs` emits two consecutive
+		// key-only incomplete pairs. Downstream, that makes the dropdown
+		// suggest keys when it should be suggesting operators.
+		//
+		// Detect that pattern — a previous incomplete key-only pair followed
+		// by another incomplete key-only `currentPair`, separated only by
+		// whitespace (or by a negation token attached to the previous pair) —
+		// and rebuild a single synthetic pair where the previous pair's key
+		// is the key and the current pair's key is treated as the partial
+		// operator. The synthetic pair inherits the previous pair's negation
+		// flag and positions via the spread, so `NOT <partial>` propagates
+		// correctly to consumers.
+		const previousIncompletePair = queryPairs
+			.filter(
+				(pair) =>
+					!pair.isComplete &&
+					!!pair.key &&
+					!pair.operator &&
+					pair.position.keyEnd < (currentPair?.position.keyStart ?? cursorIndex),
+			)
+			.sort((a, b) => b.position.keyEnd - a.position.keyEnd)[0];
+
+		if (
+			previousIncompletePair &&
+			currentPair &&
+			currentPair !== previousIncompletePair &&
+			!currentPair.operator &&
+			currentPair.position.keyStart > previousIncompletePair.position.keyEnd
+		) {
+			const negationStart = previousIncompletePair.position.negationStart ?? 0;
+			const negationEnd = previousIncompletePair.position.negationEnd ?? 0;
+			const negationAfterKey =
+				previousIncompletePair.hasNegation &&
+				negationStart > previousIncompletePair.position.keyEnd;
+			const gapStart = negationAfterKey
+				? negationEnd + 1
+				: previousIncompletePair.position.keyEnd + 1;
+			const textBetweenPairs = query.slice(
+				gapStart,
+				currentPair.position.keyStart,
+			);
+
+			if (textBetweenPairs.trim() === '') {
+				// The replacement range (operatorStart/operatorEnd) must point
+				// at the partial operator only, NOT the leading negation.
+				// Consumers like QuerySearch use it to splice the chosen
+				// suggestion in-place, so including the negation would let a
+				// `NOT lik` -> `LIKE` selection erase the user's typed `NOT`.
+				// Matches the convention used for complete pairs in
+				// extractQueryPairs, where operatorStart starts after the
+				// negation token.
+				const operatorStart = currentPair.position.keyStart;
+				const operatorEnd = currentPair.position.keyEnd;
+				const partialOperator = query.slice(operatorStart, operatorEnd + 1);
+				const operatorText = negationAfterKey
+					? `${query.slice(negationStart, negationEnd + 1)} ${partialOperator}`
+					: partialOperator;
+
+				return {
+					tokenType: -1,
+					text: '',
+					start: cursorIndex,
+					stop: cursorIndex,
+					currentToken: operatorText,
+					isInKey: false,
+					isInNegation: false,
+					isInOperator: true,
+					isInValue: false,
+					isInConjunction: false,
+					isInFunction: false,
+					isInParenthesis: false,
+					isInBracketList: false,
+					keyToken: previousIncompletePair.key,
+					operatorToken: operatorText,
+					queryPairs,
+					currentPair: {
+						...previousIncompletePair,
+						operator: operatorText,
+						position: {
+							...previousIncompletePair.position,
+							operatorStart,
+							operatorEnd,
+						},
+					},
+				};
+			}
+		}
+
 		// Check if cursor is within any of the specific context boundaries
 		// FIXED: Include the case where the cursor is exactly at the end of a boundary
 		const isInKeyBoundary =