Chart settings

Every setting in the chart editor, what it does, and when to change it.

Shape

How the numbers are drawn. Each shape answers a different question; pick by the question.

Bars, side by side (bar) — One bar per series in each slot along the bottom, standing next to each other.
Bars, horizontal (bar_horizontal) — One bar per category running left to right, the names down the left and each value at its bar’s end — longest first.
Bars, stacked (stacked_bar) — The series in each slot are stacked into one column, so its height is their total.
Bars, horizontal, stacked (stacked_bar_horizontal) — One bar per category running left to right, its series stacked end to end so the bar is their total — names down the left, the total at the bar’s end, longest first.
Line (line) — One line per series across the slots along the bottom.
Area (area) — A line with the space under it filled in.
Area, stacked (stacked_area) — Filled areas stacked on each other, so the top edge is the total over time.
One number (number) — A single figure for the whole table — a count, a sum or an average — with no axis.
Funnel (funnel) — Steps drawn top to bottom, each narrower than the last, with the drop between them.
Pie (pie) — Shares of one whole as wedges of a circle.
Timeline (when things happened) (timeline) — Each row drawn as a bar from its start to its end, one lane per row — a Gantt chart.
How many at once (concurrency) — How many rows were in progress at each moment, stepped along a time axis.
Range (dot and whisker) (range) — For each slot along the bottom and each series, a dot at the average of a number column and a whisker from its smallest to its largest value — a price ladder.

Show as

On a stacked chart: the amounts themselves, or each part’s share of its own bar, so every bar reaches 100%.

Share when the question is the MIX — what share of each brand’s answers recommend it — and the totals would only get in the way. Ordered by one series, a share chart ranks by that part’s share.

Applies to: Bars, stacked, Bars, horizontal, stacked, Area, stacked.

Amounts (amount) — Each part at its own size; the bar is their total.
Share of each bar (100%) (share) — Each part as a percentage of its bar; a 4-answer bar and a 400-answer bar are the same length, and hovering still shows the count.

Subtitle

One line under the title. What the reader should take from it.

Always worth writing: say the finding, not the method.

Along the bottom

The column whose values become the slots along the bottom — a date for a trend, a category for a comparison.

Pick a date to show change over time. When no date column fits, ‘when the row arrived’ is the natural choice for anything per day.

Applies to: Bars, side by side, Bars, horizontal, Bars, horizontal, stacked, Line, Area, Bars, stacked, Area, stacked, How many at once, Range (dot and whisker), Timeline (when things happened).

Grouped by

Only applies when the column along the bottom is a date: which stretch of time each slot covers.

Match the question’s rhythm — per day for operations, per month for a trend over a year.

Applies to: Bars, side by side, Bars, horizontal, Bars, horizontal, stacked, Line, Area, Bars, stacked, Area, stacked, How many at once, Range (dot and whisker).

Day (day) — One slot per calendar day.
Week (week) — One slot per week.
Month (month) — One slot per month.
Hour (hour) — One slot per hour — for a day or two of data.
Day of week (day_of_week) — Monday to Sunday, every week folded together — for a weekly pattern.
Hour of day (hour_of_day) — 0 to 23, every day folded together — for a daily pattern.
Month of year (month_of_year) — January to December, every year folded together — for a seasonal pattern.
Not a date — use the value itself ((empty)) — Each distinct value is its own slot.

Series

Each series is one measure, optionally narrowed to the rows that match a condition.

Prefer few: two clear series beat six. A funnel is one series per step; a pie is one series per wedge.

Measure

What each series computes over the rows in a slot.

Count of (count) — How many rows. Needs no column.
Sum of (sum) — The total of a number column.
Average of (avg) — The average of a number column.
Smallest (min) — The smallest value of a number column.
Largest (max) — The largest value of a number column.
Count of different values (count_distinct) — How many different values a column holds. Set through the API or the drafter; the editor does not offer it yet.
Time between two dates (time_between) — How long passed between a start date and an end date on each row — reply time, lead time.

Unit

For ‘time between two dates’: the unit the gap is measured in.

Minutes (minutes)
Hours (hours)
Days (days)

Aggregate

For ‘time between two dates’: how several rows’ gaps become one number.

Average (avg)
Shortest (min)
Longest (max)

Set in the editor; the AI drafter leaves it at its default.

Where

Narrows one series to the rows matching a condition — how several series share one axis.

Split one measure into parts (status is open / status is closed), or mark a funnel’s steps.

Colour

A plain colour picks a pigment and says nothing about the data. A named meaning — went well, needs attention, went wrong — tells the reader something they will believe.

Use a meaning only where the series label carries that judgement. A plain category (rooms, people, products, regions, months) carries none. Painting Room 1 green is fine; calling Room 1 ‘went well’ claims something untrue. Otherwise leave it automatic.

Automatic (auto) — The palette assigns the next unused colour.
Went well (success) — Claims the series is a good outcome.
Needs attention (warning) — Claims the series needs a look.
Went wrong (error) — Claims the series is a failure.
Deliberately unremarkable (neutral) — Claims the series is background.
Orange (1) — A pigment; claims nothing.
Teal (2) — A pigment; claims nothing.
Amber (3) — A pigment; claims nothing.
Violet (4) — A pigment; claims nothing.
Red (5) — A pigment; claims nothing.
Blue (6) — A pigment; claims nothing.
Green (7) — A pigment; claims nothing.
Pink (8) — A pigment; claims nothing.
Cyan (9) — A pigment; claims nothing.
Brown (10) — A pigment; claims nothing.
Slate (11) — A pigment; claims nothing.
Olive (12) — A pigment; claims nothing.

Show numbers as

How the value axis, the tooltips and the printed values spell a number.

Plain number (plain) — Grouped digits, in the workspace’s language.
Thousands (1.2k) (thousands) — Shortened: 1.2k, 3.4M.
Currency (currency) — With the currency symbol set beside it.
Currency, compact (1.1B / 1,1 mld.) (compact) — Shortened money, for large amounts.
Percent (value is already 0–100) (percent) — Adds a percent sign to a number that is already a percentage.
Ratio (value is 0–1) (ratio) — A 0–1 fraction, printed as a percentage.
Duration (2 d 5 h) (duration) — A number of time units, spelled as days, hours and minutes.

Show dates as

Only applies to a date axis; anything else is left exactly as stored.

Applies to: Bars, side by side, Bars, horizontal, Bars, horizontal, stacked, Line, Area, Bars, stacked, Area, stacked, How many at once, Range (dot and whisker).

Automatic (drops the repeated year) (auto) — Leaves out whatever every label repeats.
08-13 (short) — Month and day, numeric.
13 Aug (day_month) — Day and month name.
Mon (weekday) — The day of the week.
2026-08-13 (full) — The full date.
Aug 2026 (month_year) — Month and year — for monthly slots.
14:30 (time) — The time of day — for hourly slots.
Exactly as stored (raw) — No formatting at all.

Draw a line between the slots

A faint line at each boundary between two slots along the bottom, so every mark reads against its own label. On by default for a range, off for bars.

Many slots with several marks each — a range’s side-by-side dots, grouped bars under tilted labels — where the eye cannot tell which slot a mark belongs to from the gap alone.

Applies to: Bars, side by side, Bars, stacked, Range (dot and whisker).

Set in the editor; the AI drafter leaves it at its default.

Targets

A flat line at a goal, a floor or an SLA the chart is judged against. Not something the data produced.

Only when the request states a number to hit or stay under.

Applies to: Bars, side by side, Bars, horizontal, Bars, horizontal, stacked, Line, Area, Bars, stacked, Area, stacked, How many at once, Range (dot and whisker), One number.

Good side of the target

Which side of the target is good — it colours how far a number is from it.

‘Below’ for anything measuring lag, cost or errors; ‘above’ for output.

Applies to: Bars, side by side, Bars, horizontal, Bars, horizontal, stacked, Line, Area, Bars, stacked, Area, stacked, How many at once, Range (dot and whisker), One number.

Above the line (above)
Below the line (below)

Legend

Where the series names sit, if anywhere.

Leave it out when the subtitle already names the series; it costs the chart height.

Applies to: Bars, side by side, Bars, horizontal, Bars, horizontal, stacked, Line, Area, Bars, stacked, Area, stacked, How many at once, Range (dot and whisker), Timeline (when things happened), Pie.

Under the chart (bottom)
Above the chart (top)
Left of the chart (left)
Right of the chart (right)
Don’t show one (none)

Set in the editor; the AI drafter leaves it at its default.

Value axis

Whether the numbers up the side are drawn. On unless switched off.

Switch it off when the values are printed on the marks and the scale adds nothing.

Applies to: Bars, side by side, Bars, horizontal, Bars, horizontal, stacked, Line, Area, Bars, stacked, Area, stacked, How many at once, Range (dot and whisker).

Set in the editor; the AI drafter leaves it at its default.

Labels along the axis

Whether the slot names along the bottom are drawn. On unless switched off.

Switch them off on a small tile where the legend or subtitle already says what the slots are.

Applies to: Bars, side by side, Line, Area, Bars, stacked, Area, stacked, How many at once, Range (dot and whisker).

Set in the editor; the AI drafter leaves it at its default.

Gridlines

Whether the faint lines across the plot at each value step are drawn. On unless switched off.

Applies to: Bars, side by side, Bars, horizontal, Bars, horizontal, stacked, Line, Area, Bars, stacked, Area, stacked, How many at once, Range (dot and whisker).

Set in the editor; the AI drafter leaves it at its default.

Title under the axis

A title under the labels along the bottom, up to 60 characters.

Applies to: Bars, side by side, Line, Area, Bars, stacked, Area, stacked, How many at once, Range (dot and whisker).

Set in the editor; the AI drafter leaves it at its default.

Inside each step

What a funnel prints inside each band.

Applies to: Funnel.

Nothing (none)
% of the first step (total) — The compounded rate from the top.
% of the step before (step) — The drop from the band above.

Set in the editor; the AI drafter leaves it at its default.

Around each dot

What a range chart draws around the dot at each series’ average.

Leave the whisker on unless the spread is noise and the ranking of averages is the whole message.

Applies to: Range (dot and whisker).

Smallest to largest (minmax) — A whisker from the slot’s smallest value to its largest.
Nothing — the dot alone (none) — Only the average.

Set in the editor; the AI drafter leaves it at its default.

Line style

How a line is stroked. Only draws on a line or area shape.

Applies to: Line, Area, Area, stacked.

Solid (solid) — A measurement.
Dashed (dashed) — A reference or a projection.
Dotted (dotted)

Set in the editor; the AI drafter leaves it at its default.

Coordinates

The two number columns that place each pin: latitude and longitude.

The map builder guesses them from the column names and asks you to confirm.

Applies to: Map.

Set in the editor; the AI drafter leaves it at its default.

Auto-generated from the tile registry (core/custom_tables/tile_registry.py) — the same text the chart editor and the AI drafter read. Do not edit by hand.