Plotly chart reference

This page is generated from the live chart-template registry (scripts/gen-chart-reference.ts). Do not edit it by hand — run npm 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 as x, y, color, size, column, or row.
Options — template-specific chart_spec.chartProperties keys, 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

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Plotly chart reference

What this page covers

How to set encodings and options

Scatter & Point

Scatter Plot

Regression

Connected Scatter Plot

Ranged Dot Plot

Strip Plot

Bar

Bar Chart

Grouped Bar Chart

Stacked Bar Chart

Lollipop Chart

Waterfall Chart

Pyramid Chart

Distributions

Histogram

Boxplot

Violin Plot

Density Plot

ECDF Plot

Candlestick Chart

Density Contour

Line & Area

Line Chart

Area Chart

Bump Chart

Slope Chart

Streamgraph

Range Area Chart

Circular

Pie Chart

Donut Chart

Radar Chart

Rose Chart

Tables & KPIs

Heatmap

Gantt Chart

Bullet Chart

KPI Card

Sparkline

Bar Table

Maps

Map

Choropleth

Opportunity

Funnel Chart

Gauge Chart