matplotlib
Matplotlib is Python's foundational visualization library for creating static, animated, and interactive plots.
Data & AnalyticsScience & Research
Matplotlib
Overview
Matplotlib is Python's foundational visualization library for creating static, animated, and interactive plots. This skill provides guidance on using matplotlib effectively, covering both the pyplot interface (MATLAB-style) and the object-oriented API (Figure/Axes), along with best practices for creating publication-quality visualizations.
When to Use This Skill
This skill should be used when:
- Creating any type of plot or chart (line, scatter, bar, histogram, heatmap, contour, etc.)
- Generating scientific or statistical visualizations
- Customizing plot appearance (colors, styles, labels, legends)
- Creating multi-panel figures with subplots
- Exporting visualizations to various formats (PNG, PDF, SVG, etc.)
- Building interactive plots or animations
- Working with 3D visualizations
- Integrating plots into Jupyter notebooks or GUI applications
Core Concepts
The Matplotlib Hierarchy
Matplotlib uses a hierarchical structure of objects:
- Figure - The top-level container for all plot elements
- Axes - The actual plotting area where data is displayed (one Figure can contain multiple Axes)
- Artist - Everything visible on the figure (lines, text, ticks, etc.)
- Axis - The number line objects (x-axis, y-axis) that handle ticks and labels
Two Interfaces
1. pyplot Interface (Implicit, MATLAB-style)
Subscribers only
The full skill, its 1 bundled files and every download is included with every paid Complete AI plan.
Details
| Source | community |
|---|---|
| License | https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/tree/main/LICENSE |
| Risk label | critical ("critical" means the skill may run commands or touch files — read before use) |
| Files | SKILL.md |
| Added | 2026-09-04 |
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