Data Formats

Every chart takes a table. There are 15 layouts between them.

Paste, type or upload a table in the studio and the chart redraws on it. Commas, tabs and semicolons all work; a header row is detected, and 1,234, $99 and 42% all read as numbers. A title row above the table is skipped, and the editor says how many it dropped. The gallery can also go the other way — paste a table into it and it narrows itself to the charts that can read it, offering the columns of your table a chart can take where it cannot take all of them.

At a glance

Layout	Charts	In one line
`labelSeries`	25	The first column names each row; every column after it becomes its own series.
`items`	21	One row per item: a name and the number beside it.
`labelValue`	17	A label and a single value per row.
`observations`	9	Raw measurements, one per row, as a group name and a value — or one column per group.
`pairs`	6	A fixed set of columns per row, usually a label and two values set against each other.
`ohlc`	5	Open, high, low and close, in that order.
`tree`	5	A hierarchy: one level per column, a `Parent > Child` path in a single cell, or both in the same table.
`edges`	4	A source and a target, and nothing else.
`places`	4	A place and where it sits: a name, a longitude, a latitude and a value.
`regions`	4	A country name and its value.
`rowSeries`	4	The transpose: each row is one series and every column after the name is a point along it.
`xyGroups`	4	A group name and an x/y position per row — or just x and y where there is one group.
`links`	3	A row is a whole path, not one hop.
`matrix`	2	A grid: the first column labels the row, every column after it is one cell.
`dimensions`	1	One column per dimension, named by its heading, then the count.

labelSeries

The first column names each row; every column after it becomes its own series. The ordinary spreadsheet layout.

An example, as Basic Line opens:

region,2023,2024
North,520,680
South,440,575
East,610,720
West,380,495

25 charts read this layout:

Chart	Columns it expects
Basic Line	`region`, `2023`, `2024`
Multi-Series Line	`region`, `2023`, `2024`
Stepped Line	`region`, `2023`, `2024`
Stepped Line — Multi	`region`, `2023`, `2024`
Area	`region`, `2023`, `2024`
Stacked Area	`region`, `2023`, `2024`
100% Stacked Area	`region`, `2023`, `2024`
Step Area	`region`, `2023`, `2024`
Vertical Bar	`region`, `2023`, `2024`
Stacked Bar	`region`, `2023`, `2024`
100% Stacked Bar	`region`, `2023`, `2024`
Radar	`axis`, `Score`
Radar — Comparison	`axis`, `Us`, `Them`
Radar — Filled	`axis`, `Team`
Scatterplot Matrix	`item`, `Price`, `Rating`, `Reviews`
Radial Line	`month`, `2024`, `2025`
Stream Graph	`region`, `2023`, `2024`
Bump Chart	`region`, `2023`, `2024`
Bar + Line	`quarter`, `Revenue`, `Growth`
Stacked Bar + Total Line	`region`, `2023`, `2024`
Cycle Plot	`month`, `2023`, `2024`, `2025`
Dot Plot	`role`, `Berlin`, `London`
Line — Custom Engine	`region`, `2023`, `2024`
Area — Custom Engine	`region`, `2023`, `2024`
Bar — Custom Engine	`region`, `2023`, `2024`

items

One row per item: a name and the number beside it. What that number means differs by chart — the columns below say which.

An example, as Waterfall opens:

step,change
FY2023,0
New sales,2.1
Churn,-0.5
FY2024,0

21 charts read this layout:

Chart	Columns it expects
Waterfall	`step`, `change`
Lollipop	`category`, `value`
Waffle	`browser`, `share`
Word Cloud	`term`, `count`
Dot Matrix	`category`, `value`
Tally Chart	`category`, `value`
Circle Pack	`name`, `value`
Proportional Area	`scope`, `value`
Nested Proportional Area	`source`, `value`
Venn Diagram	`set`, `size`
Funnel	`stage`, `count`
Marimekko	`segment`, `share`
Pareto Chart	`cause`, `count`
Bar with Error Bars	`group`, `mean`, `error`
Quadrant Chart	`item`, `x`, `y`
Timeline	`event`, `start`, `end`, `lane`
Tile Grid Map	`code`, `value`, `row`, `col`
Bullet Chart	`measure`, `actual`, `target`, `max`
Radial Bar	`device`, `value`
Pictogram (Isotype)	`mode`, `percent`
Pie / Doughnut — Custom Engine	`category`, `value`

labelValue

A label and a single value per row. The narrowest layout there is.

An example, as Confidence Band opens:

day,mean
Day 1,18
Day 2,19
Day 3,21
Day 4,22

17 charts read this layout:

Chart	Columns it expects
Confidence Band	`day`, `mean`
Fan Chart	`year`, `value`
Spiral Plot	`period`, `value`
Surplus / Deficit Line	`month`, `value`
Horizontal Bar	`category`, `value`
Diverging Bar	`category`, `value`
Pie	`category`, `value`
Doughnut	`category`, `value`
Gauge	`label`, `value`
Polar Area	`category`, `value`
Nightingale Rose	`category`, `value`
Scatter	`x`, `y`
Hexagonal Binning	`x`, `y`
2D Density Contour	`x`, `y`
Radial Histogram	`direction`, `count`
Radial Column	`direction`, `speed`
Calendar Heatmap	`date`, `count`

observations

Raw measurements, one per row, as a group name and a value — or one column per group. Repeated group names are the point: they are what gives the chart a distribution.

An example, as Histogram opens:

group,value
Control,52
Control,48
Control,61
Treatment,64
Treatment,71
Treatment,58

9 charts read this layout:

Chart	Columns it expects
Histogram	`group`, `value`
Box Plot	`group`, `value`
Violin	`group`, `value`
Density Plot	`group`, `value`
Ridgeline Plot	`group`, `value`
Cumulative Curve (ECDF)	`group`, `value`
Beeswarm	`group`, `value`
Barcode Plot	`group`, `value`
Stem & Leaf Plot	`group`, `value`

pairs

A fixed set of columns per row, usually a label and two values set against each other.

An example, as Spine Chart opens:

band,Desktop,Mobile
Under 25,34,66
25-34,48,52

6 charts read this layout:

Chart	Columns it expects
Spine Chart	`band`, `Desktop`, `Mobile`
Floating Bar (Gantt)	`task`, `start`, `end`
Butterfly (Population Pyramid)	`band`, `Male`, `Female`
Slope Chart	`label`, `2015`, `2025`
Dumbbell	`label`, `2015`, `2025`
Span Chart	`city`, `min`, `max`

ohlc

Open, high, low and close, in that order. A leading date column is ignored, so it is safe to keep one.

An example, as Candlestick opens:

open,high,low,close
148.2,151.0,147.1,150.4
150.4,152.8,149.9,151.2
151.2,151.9,148.0,148.6

5 charts read this layout:

Chart	Columns it expects
Candlestick	`open`, `high`, `low`, `close`
OHLC Bar	`open`, `high`, `low`, `close`
Renko	`open`, `high`, `low`, `close`
Point & Figure	`open`, `high`, `low`, `close`
Kagi	`open`, `high`, `low`, `close`

tree

A hierarchy: one level per column, a Parent > Child path in a single cell, or both in the same table.

An example, as Treemap opens:

path,value
Women > Dresses > Silk,180
Women > Tops > Tees,75
Men > Shirts > Oxford,95

5 charts read this layout:

Chart	Columns it expects
Treemap	`path`, `value`
Sunburst	`path`, `value`
Icicle	`path`, `value`
Dendrogram	`path`, `value`
Radial Dendrogram	`path`, `value`