/graphic-chart

name: graphic-chart
description: Generates data visualization charts (bar, line, area, pie, doughnut, scatter, radar, treemap) as PNG using Apache ECharts v6. 1080×1080px default, 5 style presets, highlight annotations. Trigger when user says "create a chart", "visualize data", "make a bar chart", "line graph", "pie chart", "data visualization", "chart this data", "plot", "graph", or "visualize these numbers".
compatibility: [claude-code, gemini-cli, github-copilot]
author: OpenDirectory
version: 2.0.0

graphic-chart

Generates data visualization charts as PNG. Renders HTML with Apache ECharts v6 in headless Chromium via Playwright → screenshots at 2× retina quality.

CDN: `https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/echarts@6.0.0/dist/echarts.min.js`

---

Critical Rules (read before every generation)

1. **`area` type → `type: 'line'` + `areaStyle: {}`** — ECharts has no `type: 'area'`. 2. **`doughnut` → `type: 'pie'` + `radius: ['40%', '70%']`** — ECharts has no `type: 'doughnut'`. 3. **Readiness signal: register `chart.on('finished', fn)` BEFORE `chart.setOption()`** — ECharts bug #14101/#17500: if listener is registered after setOption, it silently never fires. Always register both `finished` and `rendered` events before setOption. 4. **`xAxis.type: 'category'` must be explicit** — ECharts does not infer it from the data. Forgetting this produces a blank chart. 5. **Category labels go in `xAxis.data`**, not in a `data.labels` array. ECharts structure is flat: `{ xAxis, yAxis, series, grid, title, legend }` — not nested under `data` or `options`. 6. **Data labels are fully built-in** — use `label: { show: true }` on any series. No plugin needed. 7. **Highlight a specific bar/point via per-item `itemStyle`** — put `{ value: N, itemStyle: { color: '#...' } }` directly in the `data` array. Do NOT use Chart.js-style `backgroundColor` arrays. 8. **ECharts init uses a `<div>` container, not `<canvas>`** — `echarts.init(document.getElementById('chart'))`. The container div needs explicit dimensions. 9. **`animation: false` in option** — disables animation for instant render. Still register `finished` + `rendered` events before setOption for the readiness signal. 10. **Never dump HTML in chat.** Save to file, show summary only. 11. **Title states the insight, not the subject.** "Revenue grew 3× in 12 months" not "Monthly Revenue". 12. **Pie/doughnut: use body `padding: 64px 80px` and `.chart-container { max-height: 860px }`** — prevents edge-to-edge fill when no title.

---

Step 1: Intake

**Required:** `chart_type`, `data`

**Optional parameters and defaults:**

| Parameter | Default | Description | |---|---|---| | chart_type | — | bar / line / area / pie / doughnut / scatter / radar / treemap | | data | — | JSON array or CSV — required | | title | — | States the insight, ≤10 words | | subtitle | — | 1-sentence context line | | style | clean-slate | clean-slate / midnight-editorial / matt-gray / electric-burst / brutalist | | dimensions | 1080x1080 | WxH pixels (output PNG = 2× via deviceScaleFactor) | | x_label | — | X-axis label text | | y_label | — | Y-axis label text | | source | — | Data source shown in footer | | highlight | — | Data label to highlight (e.g. "Q4", "Dec", index 3) |

**If `chart_type` or `data` is missing, ask exactly:**

> "To create the chart, I need: > 1. **Chart type** — bar / line / area / pie / doughnut / scatter / radar / treemap > 2. **Data** — provide as JSON array or CSV (e.g. `[12, 18, 22, 25, 31]` with labels `['Q1','Q2','Q3','Q4','Q5']`) > > Optional: title, style (default: clean-slate), dimensions (default: 1080×1080), highlight a specific data point"

If both present → skip to Step 2.

---

Step 2: Internal Architecture (never shown to user)

**1. Normalize chart type:**

• `area` → `line` + `areaStyle: {}` on series
• `doughnut` → `pie` + `radius: ['40%', '70%']` on series
• `horizontal bar` → `bar` + swap xAxis/yAxis (category axis on y)
• All others: use as-is

**2. Read `references/chart-library.md`** — load full config spec for this chart type.

**3. Read `references/style-presets.md`** — load CSS tokens + data palette for chosen style.

**4. Commit to design direction:**

| Decision | Derive from | |---|---| | Tone | Professional / editorial / bold / technical — match the data's audience | | Data story | Single insight this chart proves (becomes the title) | | Highlight strategy | Which data point needs visual emphasis and why? | | Background | Light (clean-slate, matt-gray) or dark (midnight-editorial, electric-burst, brutalist) |

**5. Parse data:**

• Simple array `[12, 18, 22]` → series.data, labels provided separately
• Object array `[{x: 'Jan', y: 12}]` → xAxis.data from x keys, series.data from y values
• CSV: parse header row as xAxis.data, value row as series.data
• Multi-series: multiple `series` entries each with `type`, `name`, `data`
• Scatter: `series.data: [[x1,y1], [x2,y2], ...]` format

**6. Parse dimensions:** `"1080x1080"` → W=1080, H=1080. Body = WxH. Output PNG = 2W × 2H.

---

Step 3: HTML Generation

Read ALL before generating:

• `references/chart-library.md` for this chart type's full ECharts config spec
• `references/style-presets.md` for the chosen style's CSS tokens + palette

**Required HTML structure:**

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
[font CDN link from style preset]
<style>
:root {
  [all CSS tokens from style preset]
}

*, *::before, *::after { margin: 0; padding: 0; box-sizing: border-box; }
html, body {
  width: [W]px; height: [H]px;
  overflow: hidden;
  background: var(--bg);
  font-family: var(--font-body);
}
body {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  padding: 40px 48px 32px;   /* pie/doughnut: use 64px 80px */
}

/* ECharts container must have explicit size */
.chart-container {
  flex: 1;
  min-height: 0;
  /* pie/doughnut only: max-height: 860px; */
}

.chart-header { margin-bottom: 24px; }
.chart-title {
  font-family: var(--font-display);
  font-size: c