Plotly chart reference
July 27, 2026 · View on GitHub
This page is generated from the live chart-template registry (
scripts/gen-chart-reference.ts). Do not edit it by hand — runnpm run gen:reference.
The Plotly backend compiles to a Plotly.js figure ({ data, layout }) and leans on Plotly-native trace types wherever one exists (candlestick, box, violin, heatmap, waterfall, scatterpolar/barpolar, indicator, scattergeo/choropleth) instead of hand-building the mark. Funnel and Gauge have no Vega-Lite equivalent and showcase Plotly-specific native primitives. Map and Choropleth use Plotly's own built-in geo atlas (no external TopoJSON fetch/join needed). Sparkline and Bar Table are composite, self-contained figures (their own multi-axis-pair grid + annotations) rather than the generic column/row facet combiner.
What this page covers
This reference lists the 38 chart types currently supported by the Plotly backend, grouped into 8 categories. Each chart entry shows:
- Encoding channels — the visual roles accepted in
chart_spec.encodings, such asx,y,color,size,column, orrow. - Options — template-specific
chart_spec.chartPropertieskeys, including control type, domain, default, availability, and description.
Use the chart type name exactly as shown in chart_spec.chartType.
How to set encodings and options
Set encodings in chart_spec.encodings and chart-specific options in chart_spec.chartProperties. Option keys match the parameter names below:
{
"chartType": "Bar Chart",
"encodings": { "x": { "field": "category" }, "y": { "field": "value" } },
"chartProperties": { "cornerRadius": 4, "stackMode": "normalize" }
}
The Availability column shows whether a parameter is always available or conditional, meaning it appears only when the data and encodings make it relevant. For example, log-scale controls appear only on wide-range axes. Non-applicable parameters are safe to pass; the assembler ignores them.
Scatter & Point
Scatter Plot
Encoding channels: x, y, color, size, opacity, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
opacity | number | 0.1 – 1 (step 0.05) | 1 | always | Mark opacity. |
Regression
Encoding channels: x, y, size, color, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
regressionMethod | choice | linear (Linear), log (Logarithmic), exp (Exponential), pow (Power), quad (Quadratic), poly (Polynomial) | linear | always | Regression fit method. |
polyOrder | number | 2 – 10 (step 1) | 3 | always | Polynomial order for the regression fit. |
opacity | number | 0.1 – 1 (step 0.05) | 1 | always | Mark opacity. |
Connected Scatter Plot
Encoding channels: x, y, order, color, detail, column, row
No template-specific parameters.
Ranged Dot Plot
Encoding channels: x, y, color
No template-specific parameters.
Strip Plot
Encoding channels: x, y, color, size, column, row
No template-specific parameters.
Bar
Bar Chart
Encoding channels: x, y, color, opacity, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
cornerRadius | number | 0 – 15 (step 1) | 0 | always | Corner radius for supported marks. |
Grouped Bar Chart
Encoding channels: x, y, group, color, column, row
No template-specific parameters.
Stacked Bar Chart
Encoding channels: x, y, color, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
stackMode | choice | Stacked (default) (default), normalize (Normalize (100%)) | — | conditional | Stacking strategy for overlapping series. |
Lollipop Chart
Encoding channels: x, y, color, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
dotSize | number | 20 – 300 (step 10) | 80 | always | Size of the dot mark. |
Waterfall Chart
Encoding channels: x, y, color, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
totals | choice | auto (Auto), none (None), first (First only), last (Last only), both (First and last) | auto | always | Totals |
showTextLabels | toggle | on / off | false | always | Render value labels on the marks. |
Pyramid Chart
Encoding channels: x, y, color
No template-specific parameters.
Distributions
Histogram
Encoding channels: x, color, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
binCount | number | 5 – 50 (step 1) | 10 | always | Maximum bin cap; Auto lets the backend choose. |
Boxplot
Encoding channels: x, y, color, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
showOutliers | toggle | on / off | true | always | Outliers |
Violin Plot
Encoding channels: x, y, color, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
showBox | toggle | on / off | true | always | Inner box |
showPoints | toggle | on / off | false | always | Overlay point markers on the line. |
Density Plot
Encoding channels: x, color, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
bandwidth | number | 0.05 – 2 (step 0.05) | 0 | always | Kernel-density bandwidth (0 = auto). |
ECDF Plot
Encoding channels: x, color, detail, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
showPoints | toggle | on / off | false | always | Overlay point markers on the line. |
Candlestick Chart
Encoding channels: x, open, high, low, close, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
showMA | toggle | on / off | false | always | Show a moving-average overlay. |
maWindow | number | 3 – 30 (step 1) | 5 | always | Moving-average window size. |
Density Contour
Encoding channels: x, y, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
binCount | number | 5 – 50 (step 1) | 20 | always | Maximum bin cap; Auto lets the backend choose. |
showPoints | toggle | on / off | true | always | Overlay point markers on the line. |
Line & Area
Line Chart
Encoding channels: x, y, color, opacity, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
interpolate | choice | Default (linear) (default), linear (Linear), monotone (Monotone (smooth)), step (Step), step-before (Step Before), step-after (Step After), basis (Basis (smooth)), cardinal (Cardinal), catmull-rom (Catmull-Rom) | — | always | Line or area interpolation method. |
showPoints | toggle | on / off | false | always | Overlay point markers on the line. |
Area Chart
Encoding channels: x, y, color, opacity, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
interpolate | choice | Default (linear) (default), linear (Linear), monotone (Monotone (smooth)), step (Step), step-before (Step Before), step-after (Step After), basis (Basis (smooth)), cardinal (Cardinal), catmull-rom (Catmull-Rom) | — | always | Line or area interpolation method. |
opacity | number | 0.1 – 1 (step 0.05) | 0.4 | always | Mark opacity. |
stackMode | choice | Stacked (default) (default), normalize (Normalize (100%)), layered (Layered (overlap)) | — | conditional | Stacking strategy for overlapping series. |
Bump Chart
Encoding channels: x, y, color, detail, column, row
No template-specific parameters.
Slope Chart
Encoding channels: x, y, color, detail, column, row
No template-specific parameters.
Streamgraph
Encoding channels: x, y, color, column, row
No template-specific parameters.
Range Area Chart
Encoding channels: x, y, y2, color, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
opacity | number | 0.1 – 1 (step 0.05) | 0.35 | always | Mark opacity. |
Circular
Pie Chart
Encoding channels: size, color
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sortSlices | choice | none (Data order), descending (Largest first), ascending (Smallest first) | none | always | Sort slices |
labelType | choice | categoryPercent (Name + %), category (Name), value (Value), percent (Percent), none (None) | categoryPercent | always | Labels |
Donut Chart
Encoding channels: size, color
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
innerRadius | number | 20 – 80 (step 5) | 55 | always | Inner radius as a percentage of the outer radius. |
sortSlices | choice | none (Data order), descending (Largest first), ascending (Smallest first) | none | always | Sort slices |
labelType | choice | categoryPercent (Name + %), category (Name), value (Value), percent (Percent), none (None) | categoryPercent | always | Labels |
Radar Chart
Encoding channels: x, y, color, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
filled | choice | true (Filled (default)), false (Outline only) | — | always | Fill the enclosed radar area. |
fillOpacity | number | 0.05 – 0.8 (step 0.05) | 0.3 | always | Fill opacity for the area or region. |
Rose Chart
Encoding channels: x, y, color
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sortSlices | choice | none (Data order), descending (Largest first), ascending (Smallest first) | none | always | Sort slices |
Tables & KPIs
Heatmap
Encoding channels: x, y, color, column, row
No template-specific parameters.
Gantt Chart
Encoding channels: y, x, x2, color, detail, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
taskHeight | number | 40 – 90 (step 5) | 70 | always | Task bar height as a percentage of each row. |
cornerRadius | number | 0 – 8 (step 1) | 2 | always | Corner radius for supported marks. |
intervalLabels | toggle | on / off | false | always | Text shown on task intervals. |
Bullet Chart
Encoding channels: y, x, goal, color, column, row
No template-specific parameters.
KPI Card
Encoding channels: metric, value, goal
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
layout | choice | horizontal (Horizontal (default)), vertical (Vertical), grid (Grid) | — | always | Layout |
Sparkline
Encoding channels: x, y, color, detail
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
baseline | choice | mean (Average), zero (Zero), median (Median), none (None) | mean | always | Reference line |
trendWidth | number | 80 – 600 (step 10) | 240 | always | Sparkline width |
Bar Table
Encoding channels: y, x, color, column, row
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
maxRows | number | 5 – 100 (step 1) | 20 | always | Maximum number of table rows to display. |
showPercent | toggle | on / off | false | conditional | Show each value as a percentage of the total. |
Maps
Map
Encoding channels: longitude, latitude, color, size, opacity
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
region | choice | auto (Auto-detect), us (United States), world (World) | auto | always | Region |
projection | choice | default (Default), mercator (Mercator), equalEarth (Equal Earth), orthographic (Orthographic (Globe)), stereographic (Stereographic), conicEqualArea (Conic Equal Area), conicEquidistant (Conic Equidistant), azimuthalEquidistant (Azimuthal Equidistant), mollweide (Mollweide) | default | conditional | Projection |
projectionCenter | choice | Default (default), 0,0 (World (Atlantic) [0, 0]), 150,0 (World (Pacific) [150, 0]), 105,35 (China [105, 35]), -98,39 (USA [-98, 39]), 10,50 (Europe [10, 50]), 138,36 (Japan [138, 36]), 78,22 (India [78, 22]), -52,-14 (Brazil [-52, -14]), 134,-25 (Australia [134, -25]), 100,60 (Russia [100, 60]), 20,0 (Africa [20, 0]), 45,28 (Middle East [45, 28]), 115,5 (Southeast Asia [115, 5]), -60,-15 (South America [-60, -15]), -100,45 (North America [-100, 45]), -2,54 (UK [-2, 54]), 10,51 (Germany [10, 51]), 2,47 (France [2, 47]), 128,36 (Korea [128, 36]) | — | conditional | Center |
Choropleth
Encoding channels: id, color, detail
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
region | choice | auto (Auto-detect), us (United States), world (World) | auto | always | Region |
Opportunity
Funnel Chart
Encoding channels: y, size
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
sort | choice | descending (Descending (default)), ascending (Ascending), none (Original order) | descending | always | Sort order for ordered stages or categories. |
Gauge Chart
Encoding channels: size, column
| Parameter | Control | Domain | Default | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
min | number | 0 – 1000 (step 10) | 0 | always | Min |
max | number | 0 – 10000 (step 100) | 100 | always | Max |