tool-inventory

Data Visualisation Tool Inventory

This is a curated, purpose-first catalogue. It exists so that when a task arrives, the right tool can be located by jumping to the matching section rather than reasoning from scratch.

This is a guide, not a cage. Every entry here has been validated as a sensible default for its category. If none of them fit, reach for whatever works — but start here, because the categories below cover the overwhelming majority of real-world dataviz work.

How to use

1. Identify the task's primary purpose from the section headings below (e.g. "Graph / network", "Geospatial maps", "Story-driven animation").
2. Jump to that section.
3. Pick from the listed tools — each entry notes the sweet spot.
4. If nothing in the matching section fits, scan adjacent sections before going off-inventory.

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1. Static publication figures (Python / R / C++)

For print, PDF reports, journal figures, Typst embeds — anywhere the output is a high-DPI PNG / SVG / PDF.

Tool	Repo	Sweet spot
Matplotlib	https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib	Default for any Python static figure
Seaborn	https://github.com/mwaskom/seaborn	Statistical plots on top of Matplotlib — distributions, regressions, facets
ggplot2	https://github.com/tidyverse/ggplot2	The R classic; grammar of graphics; default for R workflows
matplotplusplus	https://github.com/alandefreitas/matplotplusplus	C++ projects needing Matplotlib-style output without Python

2. Interactive web charts — general purpose

For embedding in blog posts, web apps, dashboards, static reports. Canvas or SVG output, runs in the browser.

Tool	Repo	Sweet spot
Chart.js	https://github.com/chartjs/Chart.js	Simple canvas charts, ubiquitous, low ceremony
Chartist	https://github.com/chartist-js/chartist	Lightweight, responsive SVG
Apache ECharts	https://github.com/apache/echarts	Rich built-in chart types, dashboards, annotation-heavy work
ApexCharts	https://github.com/apexcharts/apexcharts.js	Modern SVG charts with good defaults; easy React/Vue/Angular wrappers
C3	https://github.com/c3js/c3	D3-backed wrapper, straightforward API
charts.css	https://github.com/ChartsCSS/charts.css	Pure CSS — no JS, great for static/email-safe charts
Plotly.js	https://github.com/plotly/plotly.js	Scientific chart types in JS; same API as Python Plotly
Highcharts	https://github.com/highcharts/highcharts	Classic polished charts; ubiquitous; commercial licence for commercial use

3. High-performance / large-dataset web

When the dataset is big, the refresh rate is high, or latency matters.

Tool	Repo	Sweet spot
uPlot	https://github.com/leeoniya/uPlot	Millions of points in milliseconds, tiny footprint, time-series
Perspective	https://github.com/perspective-dev/perspective	Streaming analytics viewer (WebAssembly), pivotable grids + charts
Lightweight Charts	https://github.com/tradingview/lightweight-charts	Financial / time-series, TradingView quality

4. Low-level / bespoke

When the visual idiom isn't a stock chart — custom layouts, unusual encodings, data art.

Tool	Repo	Sweet spot
D3	https://github.com/d3/d3	Ultimate flexibility; reach for this when no chart library fits
Observable Plot	https://github.com/observablehq/plot	Grammar-of-graphics layer on D3 — concise code, quick exploration
Vega	https://github.com/vega/vega	Declarative visualisation grammar (JSON spec)
Vega-Lite	https://github.com/vega/vega-lite	Concise higher-level grammar over Vega — the modern declarative classic
visx	https://github.com/airbnb/visx	React primitives built on D3, bring-your-own-composition
Victory	https://github.com/FormidableLabs/victory	React component charts, good for product UIs
Three.js	https://github.com/mrdoob/three.js	3D scenes — reach for it when a chart needs true 3D beyond react-globe.gl

5. Python / R dashboards & data apps

Interactive Python and R — dashboards, notebook-embedded viz, data apps.

Tool	Repo	Sweet spot
Bokeh	https://github.com/bokeh/bokeh	Interactive browser plots from Python, streaming, dashboards
Plotly Dash	https://github.com/plotly/dash	Full reactive dashboards in Python
Altair	https://github.com/vega/altair	Declarative Python charts (Vega-Lite backend) — concise, composable
Streamlit	https://github.com/streamlit/streamlit	Python → web app in minutes; the modern classic for data demos
Gradio	https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio	ML/data demos, quick shareable UIs
Shiny	https://github.com/rstudio/shiny	R's classic reactive web-app framework (Python port exists)
D-Tale	https://github.com/man-group/dtale	Drop-in pandas DataFrame explorer — EDA without writing plot code
Briefer	https://github.com/briefercloud/briefer	Notebook + dashboard platform, shareable reports
Preswald	https://github.com/StructuredLabs/preswald	Lightweight Python data apps

6. Data storytelling — animated / narrative

Persuasion and explanation. See skills/data-storytelling for the design side.

Tool	Repo	Sweet spot
Vizzu	https://github.com/vizzuhq/vizzu-lib	Animated transitions between chart states — scrollytelling
VChart (VisActor)	https://github.com/VisActor/VChart	Narrative-first charting library
vue-data-ui	https://github.com/graphieros/vue-data-ui	Vue component set with story/presentation-friendly chart types
SandDance	https://github.com/microsoft/SandDance	Unit-visualisation explorer — every row becomes a mark, memorable for audiences

7. Graph / network visualisation

Nodes and edges — knowledge graphs, social networks, dependency trees.

Tool	Repo	Sweet spot
Constellation	https://github.com/constellation-app/constellation	Desktop analytics for large network datasets
G6 (AntV)	https://github.com/antvis/G6	Web graph library, rich layouts, good defaults
sigma.js	https://github.com/jacomyal/sigma.js	Large-scale graph rendering in the browser, WebGL
GoJS	https://github.com/NorthwoodsSoftware/GoJS	Commercial, diagramming / interactive diagrams (flowcharts, org charts)
Cytoscape.js	https://github.com/cytoscape/cytoscape.js	Mature graph analysis + viz in the browser; strong algorithms
Gephi	https://github.com/gephi/gephi	Desktop classic for exploring and laying out large graphs
Graphviz	https://gitlab.com/graphviz/graphviz	DOT language — generated/diagrammatic graphs from code or pipelines
3d-force-graph	https://github.com/vasturiano/3d-force-graph	Force-directed 3D graphs

8. Geospatial / maps / globes

Tool	Repo	Sweet spot
deck.gl (visgl)	https://github.com/visgl/deck.gl	WebGL geospatial layers at scale — hex bins, arcs, trips
react-map-gl (visgl)	https://github.com/visgl/react-map-gl	React wrapper for MapLibre / Mapbox GL
Leaflet	https://github.com/Leaflet/Leaflet	The classic lightweight web map — simplest path to an interactive map
MapLibre GL JS	https://github.com/maplibre/maplibre-gl-js	OSS fork of Mapbox GL; vector tiles, the modern default
OpenLayers	https://github.com/openlayers/openlayers	Classic; powerful projection / GIS-grade features
folium	https://github.com/python-visualization/folium	Python → Leaflet maps in notebooks
react-globe.gl	https://github.com/vasturiano/react-globe.gl	Interactive 3D globes

9. Mobile

Tool	Repo	Sweet spot
fl_chart	https://github.com/imaNNeo/fl_chart	Flutter charting
F2 (AntV)	https://github.com/antvis/F2	Mobile-first web charting, small footprint

10. Exploratory / auto-EDA tools

When the user doesn't yet know what they want to show — hand them a tool that surfaces structure.

Tool	Repo	Sweet spot
DataWarrior	https://github.com/thsa/datawarrior	Desktop multi-dimensional exploration; chemistry-aware
RATH (Kanaries)	https://github.com/Kanaries/Rath	Auto-EDA, pattern discovery
D-Tale	https://github.com/man-group/dtale	Pandas DataFrame explorer (also listed under Python)
SandDance	https://github.com/microsoft/SandDance	Unit-viz exploration (also listed under storytelling)

11. BI-style dashboards (self-hosted)

When the user wants a full BI tool they can host.

Tool	Repo	Sweet spot
Apache Superset	https://github.com/apache/superset	Full-featured OSS BI — SQL-driven dashboards, classic enterprise pick
Metabase	https://github.com/metabase/metabase	Friendly OSS BI — quick setup, good for non-technical users
Grafana	https://github.com/grafana/grafana	Ubiquitous for time-series / monitoring dashboards
Kibana	https://github.com/elastic/kibana	The Elastic stack's viz layer (logs, search, observability)
Redash	https://github.com/getredash/redash	SQL-first dashboards and query sharing
Chartbrew	https://github.com/chartbrew/chartbrew	Open-source BI / client reporting
Briefer	https://github.com/briefercloud/briefer	Notebooks + dashboards (also listed under Python)

12. Database / schema visualisation

Not chart-of-data, but visualisation of the data's structure.

Tool	Repo	Sweet spot
Liam	https://github.com/liam-hq/liam	Auto-generate ERDs from schema
WhoDB	https://github.com/clidey/whodb	Lightweight database explorer / visualiser

13. Diagrams-as-code

When the visual is a diagram (flow, sequence, architecture, ER) generated from text — great for docs and repos.

Tool	Repo	Sweet spot
Mermaid	https://github.com/mermaid-js/mermaid	Markdown-native diagrams (GitHub renders inline); flow, sequence, Gantt, ER
PlantUML	https://github.com/plantuml/plantuml	Classic — UML, sequence, deployment diagrams
Graphviz (DOT)	https://gitlab.com/graphviz/graphviz	See §7; the foundational diagrams-as-code tool

14. Domain-specific

Tool	Repo	Sweet spot
Iris (SciTools)	https://github.com/SciTools/iris	Earth-science / gridded data (netCDF, climate)
QuantInvestStrats	https://github.com/ArturSepp/QuantInvestStrats	Quant finance research & strategy visualisations
XCharts	https://github.com/XCharts-Team/XCharts	Unity / in-game charts
BizCharts (Alibaba)	https://github.com/alibaba/BizCharts	Enterprise React charts, large Chinese-ecosystem deployments
Dataverse	https://github.com/multiverseweb/Dataverse	General-purpose dataviz platform

15. Java / JVM

Tool	Repo	Sweet spot
Tablesaw	https://github.com/jtablesaw/tablesaw	Java dataframe + built-in plotting

16. Upstream data preparation (not visualisation, but adjacent)

For when the data isn't ready to plot yet. Dataviz-adjacent — use before reaching for a chart tool.

Tool	Repo	Sweet spot
Data-Juicer	https://github.com/datajuicer/data-juicer	Multimodal data processing (oriented at LLM training corpora but useful for viz prep)

For general tabular/JSON cleaning and enrichment before visualisation, defer to the separate Claude-Data-Wrangler plugin.

Discovery beyond the inventory

The catalogue above is a head start, not an endpoint. If a task genuinely doesn't fit any category here, scan these topic feeds before committing to something arbitrary:

• https://github.com/topics/datavisualization
• https://github.com/topics/data-visualization
• https://github.com/topics/matlab

State explicitly when going off-inventory and say why nothing on the list fit.

Selection heuristic

1. Presentation medium → section (static → §1, web embed → §2/3/4, dashboard → §5/11, story → §6, graph → §7, map → §8, mobile → §9, exploration → §10).
2. Data shape → narrow within the section (time-series → uPlot/Lightweight Charts, tabular → ECharts/Plotly, network → §7, gridded/geo → §8).
3. Runtime → eliminate mismatches (Python-only, React-only, no-JS, etc.).
4. Interactivity level → pick the smallest tool that covers it.

Hand off to skills/choose-tool for the full decision protocol.