Pygraphistry visualization

PyGraphistry Visualization

Doc routing (local + canonical)

• First route with ../pygraphistry/references/pygraphistry-readthedocs-toc.md.
• Use ../pygraphistry/references/pygraphistry-readthedocs-top-level.tsv for section-level shortcuts.
• Only scan ../pygraphistry/references/pygraphistry-readthedocs-sitemap.xml when a needed page is missing.
• Use one batched discovery read before deep-page reads; avoid cat * and serial micro-reads.
• Use local icon lookup notes from references/fa-icons.md.
• In user-facing answers, prefer canonical https://pygraphistry.readthedocs.io/en/latest/... links.

Core pattern

g2 = (
    # Keep a plain 'type' column on both nodes and edges for legend-friendly defaults
    g.bind(point_label='label', point_color='type', edge_color='type')
     .encode_point_color('type', categorical_mapping={'agent': '#3b82f6'}, default_mapping='#94a3b8')
     # Optional: default node sizing is often degree for exploratory passes
     .encode_point_size('degree')
     .settings(url_params={'play': 3000, 'info': True})
)
g2.plot()

External layout pattern

# nodes_df contains x/y layout columns
g2 = graphistry.edges(edges_df, 'src', 'dst').nodes(nodes_df, 'id').bind(point_x='x', point_y='y').settings(url_params={'play': 0})
g2.plot()

URL parameters reference

Use settings(url_params={...}) to control visualization behavior. Full reference: https://hub.graphistry.com/docs/api/1/rest/url/#urloptions

Layout

Param	Type	Default	Range	Description
play	int	5000	0-10000 (0, 1000, 2000, 5000)	Layout duration ms. 0=fixed
lockedX	bool	false		Lock X axis (with bind(point_x=...))
lockedY	bool	false		Lock Y axis (with bind(point_y=...))
lockedR	bool	false		Lock radial position
linLog	bool	false		Strong separation; good for <1000 nodes
scalingRatio	float	1.0	0.1-10 (0.5, 1, 2, 5)	Expansion ratio. Combine with linLog
strongGravity	bool	false		Compact layout with pull to center
dissuadeHubs	bool	false		Reduce hub dominance in layout
gravity	float	1.0	0.1-10 (0.1, 1, 2, 10)	Pull strength toward center
edgeInfluence	float	1.0	0-10 (0, 0.7, 1, 2, 5, 7)	Edge weight impact on layout
precisionVsSpeed	float	1.0	0.1-10 (0.1, 1, 10)	Higher=precise but slower
left/right/top/bottom	int	auto		Manual camera bounds on load

Scene / Rendering

Param	Type	Default	Range	Description
pointSize	float	1.0	0.1-10 (0.3, 0.5, 1, 2, 3)	Point size multiplier (not encoding)
pointOpacity	float	1.0	0-1 (0.3, 0.5, 0.8, 1)	Node transparency
pointStrokeWidth	float	0	0-5 (0, 1, 2)	Node border width
edgeCurvature	float	0	0-1 (0, 0.5, 1)	Edge bending amount
edgeOpacity	float	1.0	0-1 (0.3, 0.5, 0.8, 1)	Edge transparency
showArrows	bool	true		Show edge direction arrows
neighborhoodHighlight	str	both	incoming/outgoing/both/node	Hover highlight mode
neighborhoodHighlightHops	int	1	1-5 (1, 2, 3)	Hops in hover highlight

Labels / Points of Interest

Param	Type	Default	Range	Description
showLabels	bool	true		Toggle all label visibility
showLabelOnHover	bool	true		Show labels only on hover
showPointsOfInterest	bool	true		Highlight key nodes as POI
showPointsOfInterestLabel	bool	true		Show labels on POI nodes
pointsOfInterestMax	int	5	0-100 (0, 5, 10, 20)	Max POIs. 0=disable
shortenLabels	bool	true		Truncate long labels
showLabelPropertiesOnHover	bool	false		Show extra properties on hover
labelOpacity	float	1.0	0-1 (0.5, 0.8, 1)	Label transparency
labelColor	str		hex no # (000000, FFFFFF)	Label text color
labelBackground	str		hex no # (000000, FFFFFF)	Label bg color

Note: URL params use hex without #. Python API (encode_*, palette) uses # prefix.

UI Controls

Param	Type	Default	Description
menu	bool	true	Show all menus
info	bool	true	Show graph size stats
showHistograms	bool	true	Show histogram panel
showInspector	bool	true	Show entity inspector
showCollections	bool	false	Show collections panel

Examples

# Ring layout with strong separation for small graphs (<1000 nodes)
g2 = g.settings(url_params={'play': 3000, 'linLog': True, 'scalingRatio': 2.0})

# Fixed position layout (external coordinates)
g2 = g.bind(point_x='x', point_y='y').settings(url_params={'play': 0, 'lockedX': True, 'lockedY': True})

# Disable POI labels entirely
g2 = g.settings(url_params={'showLabels': False, 'pointsOfInterestMax': 0})

# Larger points, more transparent edges
g2 = g.settings(url_params={'pointSize': 3.0, 'edgeOpacity': 0.3})

# Minimal UI for embedding
g2 = g.settings(url_params={'menu': False, 'info': False, 'showHistograms': False, 'showInspector': False})

Icon/badge pattern

g2 = (
    g.encode_point_icon('type', categorical_mapping={'person': 'user', 'org': 'building'})
     .encode_point_badge('risk', categorical_mapping={'high': 'exclamation-triangle'})
)
g2.plot()

Use valid Font Awesome names and keep icon mappings category-driven by type. See references/fa-icons.md for lookup links and examples.

Continuous-color pattern (beyond categorical maps)

g2 = g.encode_edge_color('amount', palette=['#46327e', '#1fa187', '#fde724'], as_continuous=True)
g2.plot()

Focused subgraph views (collection-like workflow)

# Use GFQL slices to publish multiple focused views from one base graph (use .gfql(), not deprecated .chain())
high_risk = g.gfql([...]).name('high-risk-slice')
partner_flow = g.gfql([...]).name('partner-flow-slice')
urls = [high_risk.plot(render=False), partner_flow.plot(render=False)]

Privacy-safe sharing pattern

graphistry.privacy(mode='private')
plot_url = g.plot(render=False)

• Use explicit graphistry.privacy(mode='private'|'organization'|'public') before plotting share links.
• Do not treat plot() kwargs like as_files or memoize as privacy controls.

Common tasks

• Encodings: encode_point_color, encode_edge_color, encode_point_size, encode_point_icon, encode_point_badge.
• Layouts: runtime force layout settings, ring/GIB/modularity, graphviz/igraph/cugraph plugin layouts.
• Static outputs: plot_static() for SVG/PNG and text engines like graphviz-dot/mermaid-code.
• Sharing controls: graphistry.privacy(mode='private'|'organization'|'public').
• For advanced gradients, use palette=[...] with as_continuous=True on encode_point_color/encode_edge_color.
• For large investigations, generate multiple focused GFQL slices instead of one overloaded plot.

Big-graph defaults

• Filter and aggregate before plotting.
• Keep only essential columns (drop large text blobs unless needed).
• Use focused subgraphs (time slice, one-hop neighborhood, top-k signals).
• Prefer plain type columns on both nodes and edges so legends and default category encodings stay stable.
• Avoid dotted column names like node.type / edge.type; prefer plain names.
• Use native datetime types for time encodings and time-sliced comparisons.

Canonical docs

• Visualization hub: https://pygraphistry.readthedocs.io/en/latest/visualization/index.html
• 10min visualization: https://pygraphistry.readthedocs.io/en/latest/visualization/10min.html
• Layout guide: https://pygraphistry.readthedocs.io/en/latest/visualization/layout/intro.html
• Layout catalog: https://pygraphistry.readthedocs.io/en/latest/visualization/layout/catalog.html
• URL parameters reference: https://hub.graphistry.com/docs/api/1/rest/url/#urloptions
• Privacy/sharing: https://pygraphistry.readthedocs.io/en/latest/server/privacy.html
• Visualization notebooks index: https://pygraphistry.readthedocs.io/en/latest/notebooks/visualization.html
• Icon lookup reference: references/fa-icons.md