diff --git a/plugins/ui/src/deephaven/ui/components/dashboard.py b/plugins/ui/src/deephaven/ui/components/dashboard.py
index 44ae34491..15e28749f 100644
--- a/plugins/ui/src/deephaven/ui/components/dashboard.py
+++ b/plugins/ui/src/deephaven/ui/components/dashboard.py
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
-from typing import Any
-from ..elements import DashboardElement, FunctionElement
+from typing import Any, Union
+from ..elements import BaseElement, FunctionElement
 
 
-def dashboard(element: FunctionElement) -> DashboardElement:
+def dashboard(
+    element: FunctionElement,
+    show_close_icon: Union[bool, None] = None,
+    show_headers: Union[bool, None] = None,
+) -> BaseElement:
     """
     A dashboard is the container for an entire layout.
 
@@ -12,7 +16,11 @@ def dashboard(element: FunctionElement) -> DashboardElement:
         element: Element to render as the dashboard.
                  The element should render a layout that contains 1 root column or row.
 
+        show_close_icon: Whether to show the close icon in the top right corner of the dashboard. Defaults to False.
+        show_headers: Whether to show headers for the dashboard. Defaults to True.
+
     Returns:
         The rendered dashboard.
     """
-    return DashboardElement(element)
+    # return DashboardElement(element)
+    return BaseElement("deephaven.ui.components.Dashboard", element, show_close_icon=show_close_icon, show_headers=show_headers)  # type: ignore[return-value]
diff --git a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/DashboardPlugin.tsx b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/DashboardPlugin.tsx
index 9f27f04cf..7ecc7e3cf 100644
--- a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/DashboardPlugin.tsx
+++ b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/DashboardPlugin.tsx
@@ -70,7 +70,9 @@ export function DashboardPlugin(
     id,
     PLUGIN_NAME
   ) as unknown as [DashboardPluginData, (data: DashboardPluginData) => void];
-  const [initialPluginData] = useState(pluginData);
+  const [initialPluginData] = useState({
+    openWidgets: {},
+  } as DashboardPluginData);
 
   // Keep track of the widgets we've got opened.
   const [widgetMap, setWidgetMap] = useState<
@@ -147,20 +149,21 @@ export function DashboardPlugin(
       log.debug('loadInitialPluginData', initialPluginData);
 
       setWidgetMap(prevWidgetMap => {
-        const newWidgetMap = new Map(prevWidgetMap);
-        const { openWidgets } = initialPluginData;
-        if (openWidgets != null) {
-          Object.entries(openWidgets).forEach(
-            ([widgetId, { descriptor, data }]) => {
-              newWidgetMap.set(widgetId, {
-                id: widgetId,
-                widget: descriptor,
-                data,
-              });
-            }
-          );
-        }
-        return newWidgetMap;
+        return new Map();
+        // const newWidgetMap = new Map(prevWidgetMap);
+        // const { openWidgets } = initialPluginData;
+        // if (openWidgets != null) {
+        //   Object.entries(openWidgets).forEach(
+        //     ([widgetId, { descriptor, data }]) => {
+        //       newWidgetMap.set(widgetId, {
+        //         id: widgetId,
+        //         widget: descriptor,
+        //         data,
+        //       });
+        //     }
+        //   );
+        // }
+        // return newWidgetMap;
       });
     },
     [initialPluginData, id]
@@ -278,7 +281,7 @@ export function DashboardPlugin(
             <DashboardWidgetHandler
               widgetDescriptor={wrapper.widget}
               id={wrapper.id}
-              initialData={wrapper.data}
+              // initialData={wrapper.data}
               onDataChange={handleWidgetDataChange}
               onClose={handleWidgetClose}
             />
diff --git a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/layout/Column.tsx b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/layout/Column.tsx
index c60cbae36..62e24881e 100644
--- a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/layout/Column.tsx
+++ b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/layout/Column.tsx
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ function LayoutColumn({
   children,
   width,
 }: ColumnElementProps): JSX.Element | null {
+  console.log('xxx doing a LayoutColumn');
   const layoutManager = useLayoutManager();
   const parent = useParentItem();
 
diff --git a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/layout/Dashboard.tsx b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/layout/Dashboard.tsx
index 9ce1fe0c1..c9280fb8e 100644
--- a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/layout/Dashboard.tsx
+++ b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/layout/Dashboard.tsx
@@ -1,20 +1,193 @@
-import React from 'react';
+import React, {
+  useCallback,
+  useEffect,
+  useMemo,
+  useRef,
+  useState,
+} from 'react';
+import { nanoid } from 'nanoid';
+import {
+  Dashboard as DHCDashboard,
+  LayoutManagerContext,
+} from '@deephaven/dashboard';
+import GoldenLayout, {
+  Settings as LayoutSettings,
+} from '@deephaven/golden-layout';
+import { useDashboardPlugins } from '@deephaven/plugin';
+import Log from '@deephaven/log';
 import {
   normalizeDashboardChildren,
   type DashboardElementProps,
 } from './LayoutUtils';
 import { ParentItemContext, useParentItem } from './ParentItemContext';
+import ReactPanel from './ReactPanel';
+import { ReactPanelContext, usePanelId } from './ReactPanelContext';
+import useWidgetStatus from './useWidgetStatus';
+import { ReactPanelManagerContext } from './ReactPanelManager';
+import PortalPanelManager from './PortalPanelManager';
+
+const log = Log.module('@deephaven/js-plugin-ui/DocumentHandler');
+
+const DEFAULT_SETTINGS: Partial<LayoutSettings> = Object.freeze({
+  showCloseIcon: false,
+  constrainDragToContainer: true,
+});
 
-function Dashboard({ children }: DashboardElementProps): JSX.Element | null {
-  const parent = useParentItem();
+function Dashboard({
+  children,
+  showCloseIcon = false,
+  showHeaders = true,
+}: DashboardElementProps): JSX.Element | null {
+  const [childLayout, setChildLayout] = useState<GoldenLayout>();
+  // const parent = useParentItem();
+  const plugins = useDashboardPlugins();
 
   const normalizedChildren = normalizeDashboardChildren(children);
+  console.log('xxx doing a dashboard with layout', childLayout, showCloseIcon);
+
+  const panelIdIndex = useRef(0);
+  // panelIds that are currently opened within this document. This list is tracked by the `onOpen`/`onClose` call on the `ReactPanelManager` from a child component.
+  // Note that the initial widget data provided will be the `panelIds` for this document to use; this array is what is actually opened currently.
+  const panelIds = useRef<string[]>([]);
+
+  // Flag to signal the panel counts have changed in the last render
+  // We may need to check if we need to close this widget if all panels are closed
+  const [isPanelsDirty, setPanelsDirty] = useState(false);
+
+  const handleOpen = useCallback(
+    (panelId: string) => {
+      if (panelIds.current.includes(panelId)) {
+        throw new Error('Duplicate panel opens received');
+      }
+
+      panelIds.current.push(panelId);
+      log.debug('Panel opened, open count', panelIds.current.length);
+
+      setPanelsDirty(true);
+    },
+    [panelIds]
+  );
+
+  const handleClose = useCallback(
+    (panelId: string) => {
+      const panelIndex = panelIds.current.indexOf(panelId);
+      if (panelIndex === -1) {
+        throw new Error('Panel close received for unknown panel');
+      }
+
+      panelIds.current.splice(panelIndex, 1);
+      log.debug('Panel closed, open count', panelIds.current.length);
+
+      setPanelsDirty(true);
+    },
+    [panelIds]
+  );
+
+  /**
+   * When there are changes made to panels in a render cycle, check if they've all been closed and fire an `onClose` event if they are.
+   * Otherwise, fire an `onDataChange` event with the updated panelIds that are open.
+   */
+  // useEffect(
+  //   function syncOpenPanels() {
+  //     if (!isPanelsDirty) {
+  //       return;
+  //     }
+
+  //     setPanelsDirty(false);
+
+  //     // Check if all the panels in this widget are closed
+  //     // We do it outside of the `handleClose` function in case a new panel opens up in the same render cycle
+  //     log.debug2('dashboard', 'open panel count', panelIds.current.length);
+  //     if (panelIds.current.length === 0) {
+  //       // Let's just ignore this for now ...
+  //       log.debug('Dashboard', 'closed all panels, triggering onClose');
+  //       // onClose?.();
+  //     } else {
+  //       // onDataChange({ ...widgetData, panelIds: panelIds.current });
+  //     }
+  //   },
+  //   [isPanelsDirty]
+  // );
+
+  const getPanelId = useCallback(() => {
+    // On rehydration, yield known IDs first
+    // If there are no more known IDs, generate a new one.
+    // This can happen if the document hasn't been opened before, or if it's rehydrated and a new panel is added.
+    // Note that if the order of panels changes, the worst case scenario is that panels appear in the wrong location in the layout.
+    const panelId = nanoid();
+    panelIdIndex.current += 1;
+    return panelId;
+  }, []);
+
+  const widgetStatus = useWidgetStatus();
+  const panelManager = useMemo(
+    () => ({
+      metadata: widgetStatus.descriptor,
+      onOpen: handleOpen,
+      onClose: handleClose,
+      onDataChange: () => log.debug('xxx Panel data changed'),
+      getPanelId,
+      getInitialData: () => [],
+    }),
+    [
+      widgetStatus,
+      getPanelId,
+      handleClose,
+      handleOpen,
+      // handleDataChange,
+      // getInitialData,
+    ]
+  );
+  const [isLayoutInitialized, setLayoutInitialized] = useState(false);
+  const layoutSettings: Partial<LayoutSettings> = useMemo(
+    () => ({
+      ...DEFAULT_SETTINGS,
+      showCloseIcon,
+      hasHeaders: showHeaders,
+    }),
+    [showCloseIcon, showHeaders]
+  );
 
   return (
-    <ParentItemContext.Provider value={parent}>
-      {normalizedChildren}
-    </ParentItemContext.Provider>
+    // <>
+    <>
+      {/* <ReactPanelManagerContext.Provider value={panelManager}> */}
+      <DHCDashboard
+        onGoldenLayoutChange={setChildLayout}
+        onLayoutInitialized={() => setLayoutInitialized(true)}
+        layoutSettings={layoutSettings}
+      >
+        {plugins}
+        <PortalPanelManager>
+          <ReactPanelManagerContext.Provider value={panelManager}>
+            <ParentItemContext.Provider value={null}>
+              <ReactPanelContext.Provider value={null}>
+                {isLayoutInitialized && normalizedChildren}
+              </ReactPanelContext.Provider>
+            </ParentItemContext.Provider>
+          </ReactPanelManagerContext.Provider>
+        </PortalPanelManager>
+      </DHCDashboard>
+      {/* </ReactPanelManagerContext.Provider> */}
+      {/* Resetting the panel ID so the children don't get confused */}
+      {/* <ReactPanelContext.Provider value={null}>
+        <ReactPanelManagerContext.Provider value={panelManager}>
+          {childLayout != null && (
+            <LayoutManagerContext.Provider value={childLayout}>
+              <ParentItemContext.Provider value={childLayout.root}>
+                {normalizedChildren}
+              </ParentItemContext.Provider>
+            </LayoutManagerContext.Provider>
+          )}
+        </ReactPanelManagerContext.Provider>
+      </ReactPanelContext.Provider> */}
+    </>
+    // </>
   );
+  // <ParentItemContext.Provider value={parent}>
+  //       {normalizedChildren}
+  //     </ParentItemContext.Provider>
+  // </DashboardLayout>
 }
 
 export default Dashboard;
diff --git a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/layout/LayoutUtils.tsx b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/layout/LayoutUtils.tsx
index b2d78ec49..ff7934df3 100644
--- a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/layout/LayoutUtils.tsx
+++ b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/layout/LayoutUtils.tsx
@@ -113,9 +113,12 @@ export function isStackElementNode(obj: unknown): obj is StackElementNode {
   );
 }
 
-export type DashboardElementProps = React.PropsWithChildren<
-  Record<string, unknown>
->;
+export type DashboardElementProps = React.PropsWithChildren<{
+  /** Whether to show the close icon in the top right corner of the dashboard */
+  showCloseIcon?: boolean;
+  /** Whether to show headers for the dashboard */
+  showHeaders?: boolean;
+}>;
 
 /**
  * Describes a dashboard element that can be rendered in the UI.
@@ -153,6 +156,7 @@ export function isDashboardElementNode(
 export function normalizeDashboardChildren(
   children: React.ReactNode
 ): React.ReactNode {
+  console.log('xxx normalizeDashboardChildren', children);
   const needsWrapper = Children.count(children) > 1;
   const hasRows = Children.toArray(children).some(
     child => isValidElement(child) && child.type === Row
diff --git a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/layout/Row.tsx b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/layout/Row.tsx
index cad61b97e..7c7c1dcb2 100644
--- a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/layout/Row.tsx
+++ b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/layout/Row.tsx
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { ParentItemContext, useParentItem } from './ParentItemContext';
 import { usePanelId } from './ReactPanelContext';
 
 function LayoutRow({ children, height }: RowElementProps): JSX.Element | null {
+  console.log('xxx doing a LayoutRow');
   const layoutManager = useLayoutManager();
   const parent = useParentItem();
   const row = useMemo(() => {
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ function Row({ children, height }: RowElementProps): JSX.Element {
     return <LayoutRow height={height}>{children}</LayoutRow>;
   }
 
+  console.log('xxx doing a flexRow with panelId', panelId);
   return (
     <Flex height={`${height}%`} direction="row">
       {children}
diff --git a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/styles.scss b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/styles.scss
index 223537d1c..9bf789692 100644
--- a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/styles.scss
+++ b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/styles.scss
@@ -59,15 +59,19 @@
         position: absolute;
       }
     }
+
+    .dashboard-container {
+      border: 1px solid var(--dh-color-bg);
+    }
   }
 
-  &:has(.dh-inner-react-panel > .iris-grid:only-child),
+  &:has(> .dh-inner-react-panel > .iris-grid:only-child),
   &:has(
-      .dh-inner-react-panel
+      > .dh-inner-react-panel
         > .ui-table-container:only-child
         > .iris-grid:only-child
     ),
-  &:has(.dh-inner-react-panel > .chart-wrapper:only-child) {
+  &:has(> .dh-inner-react-panel > .chart-wrapper:only-child) {
     // remove the default panel padding when grid or chart is the only child
     padding: 0 !important; // important required to override inline spectrum style
     .iris-grid {
@@ -75,6 +79,15 @@
       border-radius: 0;
     }
   }
+
+  // remove padding and border around single child dashboards in react panels
+  &:has(> .dh-inner-react-panel > .dashboard-container:only-child) {
+    padding: 0 !important; // important required to override inline spectrum style
+
+    > .dh-inner-react-panel > .dashboard-container {
+      border: none;
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 .ui-text-wrap-balance {
diff --git a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/widget/DocumentHandler.tsx b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/widget/DocumentHandler.tsx
index 8791a86b3..f381d36ea 100644
--- a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/widget/DocumentHandler.tsx
+++ b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/widget/DocumentHandler.tsx
@@ -130,6 +130,7 @@ function DocumentHandler({
         panelIds.current.length
       );
       if (panelIds.current.length === 0) {
+        // Let's just ignore this for now ...
         log.debug('Widget', widget.id, 'closed all panels, triggering onClose');
         onClose?.();
       } else {
diff --git a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/widget/DocumentUtils.tsx b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/widget/DocumentUtils.tsx
index c145b5874..0274ea4b8 100644
--- a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/widget/DocumentUtils.tsx
+++ b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/widget/DocumentUtils.tsx
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ export function getRootChildren(
     throw new MixedPanelsError('Cannot mix Panel and Dashboard elements');
   }
 
-  if (nonLayoutCount === childrenArray.length) {
+  if (nonLayoutCount === childrenArray.length || dashboardCount > 0) {
     // Just wrap it in a panel
     return (
       <ReactPanel title={widget.name ?? widget.id ?? widget.type}>
diff --git a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/widget/WidgetHandler.tsx b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/widget/WidgetHandler.tsx
index 91646d7db..57dd97185 100644
--- a/plugins/ui/src/js/src/widget/WidgetHandler.tsx
+++ b/plugins/ui/src/js/src/widget/WidgetHandler.tsx
@@ -98,12 +98,12 @@ function WidgetHandler({
 
   if (widget !== prevWidget) {
     setPrevWidget(widget);
-    if (widget != null && widget.type === DASHBOARD_ELEMENT) {
-      log.info(
-        'Dashboard widget has changed, removing previous elements from layout'
-      );
-      layoutManager.root.contentItems.forEach(item => item.remove());
-    }
+    // if (widget != null && widget.type === DASHBOARD_ELEMENT) {
+    //   log.info(
+    //     'Dashboard widget has changed, removing previous elements from layout'
+    //   );
+    //   layoutManager.root.contentItems.forEach(item => item.remove());
+    // }
   }
 
   if (widgetError != null && isLoading) {