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More Chart Types

Beyond the common charts, Dataface supports a fixed set of authored built-in chart types plus registered custom chart types. Arbitrary Vega-Lite mark, encoding, spec, config, transform, params, and composition blocks are not part of the authored Dataface schema.

Heatmap

Best for: Two-dimensional patterns, matrix data

source: examples_db
charts:
  heatmap_example:
    query:
      sql: |
        SELECT region, category, SUM(revenue) AS revenue
        FROM ecommerce_orders
        GROUP BY region, category
        ORDER BY region, category
    type: heatmap
    title: Revenue by Region and Category
    x: region
    y: category
    color: revenue
rows:
  - heatmap_example
Dataface DF-UNKNOWN-INTERNALChart Error: heatmap_exampleQuery execution failed: Source 'examples_db' not found. No source profiles are configured. Declare sources under `sources:` in your dataface.yml. (query: _inline_query_heatmap_example)https://docs.it-dataface.com/guides/error-handling/?code=DF-UNKNOWN-INTERNAL 2026-07-17 15:04 UTC made with dataface
▶
Field Required Description
x Yes Column categories
y Yes Row categories
color Yes Value to color by

Histogram

Best for: Distribution of continuous values

source: examples_db
charts:
  histogram_example:
    query:
      sql: |
        SELECT * FROM ecommerce_orders
    type: histogram
    title: Revenue Distribution
    x: revenue
rows:
  - histogram_example
Dataface DF-UNKNOWN-INTERNALChart Error: histogram_exampleQuery execution failed: Source 'examples_db' not found. No source profiles are configured. Declare sources under `sources:` in your dataface.yml. (query: _inline_query_histogram_example)https://docs.it-dataface.com/guides/error-handling/?code=DF-UNKNOWN-INTERNAL 2026-07-17 15:04 UTC made with dataface
▶
Field Required Description
x Yes Continuous field to bin
color No Category grouping

Histograms automatically bin the x-axis values.

Supported Built-In Types

Use type with one of the built-in names below, or with a registered custom chart type name. Unknown chart type names fail validation.

Type Description Use Case
bar Bar chart Category comparisons
histogram Auto-binned bar chart Distributions
line Line chart Time series
area Area chart Stacked trends
scatter Scatter plot Scatter plots
heatmap Color-coded matrix Density, calendars
pie Pie chart Part-to-whole
donut Pie with inner radius Part-to-whole
kpi Single-value indicator Big numbers
table Tabular display Detailed values
geoshape Geographic shapes Maps
map Filled region map State/country metrics
point_map Location markers Plotting locations
bubble_map Sized markers Location + magnitude
layered Composed layers Multiple charts on one canvas
callout Annotated value Highlighted measure
spark_bar Inline mini bar chart Compact trends

Vega-Lite mark names such as boxplot, errorbar, errorband, tick, rect, rule, text, trail, circle, square, image, and arc are not accepted as authored chart type values unless your project registers them as custom chart types.

Input Requirements

Quick reference for what each chart type needs:

Type Required Optional
bar x, y color, size
line x, y color
area x, y color
scatter x, y color, size, shape
heatmap x, y, color —
pie / donut theta, color style.inner_radius
histogram x color
kpi value label, support, format, href
table — —
geoshape / map Usually geo or geo_source lookup, value, color, projection
point_map / bubble_map Usually latitude, longitude size, color, projection
layered layers x, color, x_domain
callout message title, style.tone
spark_bar x, y style.max_bars
  • Charts Overview - High-level chart guidance
  • Maps - Filled-region, point, and bubble maps
  • Charts Overview - Field reference and styling
  • Vega-Lite marks documentation: https://vega.github.io/vega-lite/docs/mark.html