Agent skill

Plotly Interactive Plots

by jaechang-hits in jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills

Interactive scientific visualization with Plotly. An agent skill from jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills.

MITAuto-check passedData & Analytics

Install Plotly Interactive Plots

skills CLI
$ npx skills add jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills --skill plotly-interactive-plots -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills plotly-interactive-plots --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/data-visualization/plotly-interactive-plots .claude/skills/plotly-interactive-plots && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
plotly-interactive-plots
GitHub stars
370
Used in
1 other repo
Token cost
~8.2k tokens
SKILL.md length
1,206 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
163
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Interactive scientific visualization with Plotly. An agent skill from jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills.

  • Works in 6 steps: Prefer px for DataFrame data, fall back… → Always include hovertemplate for… → Export HTML for sharing, PNG/SVG for… → …
  • Volcano plots with gene hover
  • SKILL.md covers Overview, When to Use, Prerequisites and Quick Start, plus 8 more sections
  • Calls pip

What it does

Plotly Interactive Plots is an agent skill from jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills. Interactive scientific visualization with Plotly. Two APIs: plotly.express (px) for one-liner DataFrame plots, plotly.graphobjects (go) for trace-level control. 40+ chart types with hover, zoom, pan, animation. Exports HTML or static PNG/SVG/PDF via kaleido. Use for volcano plots with gene hover, dose-response dashboards, expression heatmaps, 3D molecular views. Use seaborn for stats; matplotlib for publication figures.

Its SKILL.md is about 8.2k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Data & Analytics, covering Data visualization. It works with Plotly, Matplotlib and Seaborn. The repository describes itself as: 197 bioinformatics & life science skills for Claude Code and AI agents — BixBench 92.0% accuracy. RNA-seq, single-cell, drug discovery, proteomics, and more. Powers OmicsHorizon. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Volcano plots with gene hover
  • Dose-response dashboards
  • Expression heatmaps
  • 3D molecular views

Example prompts

  • “/plotly-interactive-plots”

Requirements

  • Python 3

Workflow steps

6 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Prefer px for DataFrame data, fall back to go for multi-trace composition. Use px.scatter() and its siblings for 80% of plots. Switch to…
  2. Always include hovertemplate for scientific figures. The default tooltip shows raw coordinates without units or gene names. A custom…
  3. Export HTML for sharing, PNG/SVG for journals. fig.write_html() produces a self-contained file with no external dependencies. Use scale=2…
  4. Don't use fig.show() in batch scripts. In non-interactive contexts (CI, HPC, cron jobs), fig.show() may open a browser window or fail. Use…
  5. Use color_continuous_midpoint=0 for diverging palettes on z-score data. Without it, the midpoint color defaults to the data midpoint, not…
  6. Set plot_bgcolor="white" for publication figures. Plotly defaults to a light-gray grid background. White background with subtle gridlines…

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 82c862c. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • pip

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):

    • plotly.com
    • github.com

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Plotly Interactive Plots loads about 8.2k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 112 tokens; SKILL.md has 1,206 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~112
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~8.2k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills at commit 82c862c, republished under its MIT licence (© jaechang-hits). 1,206 words, ~8,218 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/plotly-interactive-plots/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
plotly-interactive-plots
description
Interactive scientific visualization with Plotly. Two APIs: plotly.express (px) for one-liner DataFrame plots, plotly.graph_objects (go) for trace-level control. 40+ chart types with hover, zoom, pan, animation. Exports HTML or static PNG/SVG/PDF via kaleido. Use for volcano plots with gene hover, dose-response dashboards, expression heatmaps, 3D molecular views. Use seaborn for stats; matplotlib for publication figures.
license
MIT

Plotly Interactive Plots

Overview

Plotly is a Python library for producing interactive, web-ready figures backed by HTML and JavaScript. It exposes two complementary APIs: plotly.express (px) provides a high-level, DataFrame-oriented interface for generating common chart types in one line, while plotly.graph_objects (go) offers fine-grained control over every trace, axis, and layout property. Figures are fully interactive by default — supporting hover tooltips, zoom, pan, and click events — and can be embedded in web pages, Jupyter notebooks, or built into web applications using the Dash framework.

When to Use

  • You need hover tooltips that display gene names, p-values, or sample metadata without cluttering the static figure.
  • You are building a multi-panel interactive dashboard for dose-response curves, patient cohorts, or multi-condition comparisons.
  • You want to share figures as self-contained HTML files that non-programmers can explore in a browser.
  • You need 3D scatter or surface plots for structural biology, conformational landscapes, or PCA of high-dimensional data.
  • You are creating heatmaps of gene expression or correlation matrices where users need to zoom into specific gene clusters.
  • You require animation frames to show time-series or treatment-response trajectories.
  • Use seaborn instead when you need automatic statistical aggregation (confidence intervals, regression fits) with minimal code.
  • Use matplotlib when you need fine-grained control over every axis element for print-ready publication figures at exact journal specifications.

Prerequisites

  • Python packages: plotly, kaleido (static image export), pandas, numpy
  • Data requirements: pandas DataFrames or NumPy arrays; long-form (tidy) data works best with px
  • Environment: Jupyter Lab/Notebook (inline rendering), or save as HTML for browser display
bash
pip install plotly kaleido pandas numpy

For Jupyter Lab inline rendering (if not automatic):

bash
pip install "jupyterlab>=3" ipywidgets

Quick Start

python
import plotly.express as px
import pandas as pd

# Gene expression scatter with hover info
df = pd.DataFrame({
    "log2FC": [-3.1, 0.2, 1.8, 2.5, -0.5, 4.1],
    "neg_log10_padj": [8.2, 0.4, 2.1, 6.8, 0.1, 9.3],
    "gene": ["BRCA1", "MYC", "TP53", "EGFR", "CDKN1A", "KRAS"],
    "significance": ["sig", "ns", "ns", "sig", "ns", "sig"],
})

fig = px.scatter(
    df, x="log2FC", y="neg_log10_padj",
    color="significance", hover_name="gene",
    title="Volcano Plot — Treatment vs Control",
)
fig.show()

Core API

Module 1: px Scatter and Line — Relational Plots

px.scatter() and px.line() map DataFrame columns to visual encodings (color, symbol, size) and automatically populate hover tooltips from hover_data.

python
import plotly.express as px
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np

# Dose-response scatter: color by drug, symbol by cell line
np.random.seed(42)
df = pd.DataFrame({
    "dose_uM": np.tile([0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, 100], 4),
    "viability": np.clip(np.random.normal(
        [100, 90, 70, 40, 10] * 4, 5), 0, 110),
    "drug": ["DrugA"] * 5 + ["DrugA"] * 5 + ["DrugB"] * 5 + ["DrugB"] * 5,
    "cell_line": ["HCT116"] * 10 + ["MCF7"] * 10,
    "replicate": np.tile([1, 2, 3, 4, 5], 4),
})

fig = px.scatter(
    df, x="dose_uM", y="viability",
    color="drug", symbol="cell_line",
    log_x=True,
    hover_data={"replicate": True, "dose_uM": ":.2f"},
    labels={"viability": "Cell Viability (%)", "dose_uM": "Dose (µM)"},
    title="Dose-Response by Drug and Cell Line",
)
fig.show()
print(f"Figure has {len(fig.data)} traces")
python
# Time-course gene expression line plot
time_df = pd.DataFrame({
    "hour": list(range(0, 25, 4)) * 3,
    "expression": [1.0, 1.8, 3.2, 4.5, 3.8, 2.1, 1.2,
                   1.0, 2.5, 5.1, 6.8, 5.5, 3.2, 1.8,
                   1.0, 1.1, 1.0, 1.2, 1.1, 1.0, 0.9],
    "gene": ["MYC"] * 7 + ["EGFR"] * 7 + ["GAPDH"] * 7,
})

fig = px.line(
    time_df, x="hour", y="expression",
    color="gene", markers=True,
    labels={"expression": "Relative Expression (log2)", "hour": "Time (h)"},
    title="Time-Course Gene Expression",
)
fig.update_traces(line=dict(width=2.5), marker=dict(size=8))
fig.show()
Module 2: px Statistical Plots — Distributions and Categories

px.box(), px.violin(), px.histogram(), and px.strip() produce publication-ready distribution summaries with built-in grouping.

python
import plotly.express as px
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np

# Violin + strip overlay: expression by cell type
np.random.seed(7)
n = 60
cell_data = pd.DataFrame({
    "expression": np.concatenate([
        np.random.normal(4.2, 0.8, n),
        np.random.normal(6.5, 1.2, n),
        np.random.normal(2.8, 0.6, n),
    ]),
    "cell_type": ["T cell"] * n + ["B cell"] * n + ["NK cell"] * n,
    "patient_id": np.tile([f"P{i:02d}" for i in range(1, 11)], 18),
})

fig = px.violin(
    cell_data, x="cell_type", y="expression",
    color="cell_type", box=True, points="all",
    hover_data=["patient_id"],
    labels={"expression": "CD3E Expression (log2 CPM)"},
    title="CD3E Expression Across Cell Types",
)
fig.update_traces(jitter=0.3, pointpos=-1.5)
fig.show()
print(f"Cells per type: {cell_data.groupby('cell_type').size().to_dict()}")
python
# Histogram with rug: distribution of fold changes
fc_df = pd.DataFrame({
    "log2FC": np.concatenate([
        np.random.normal(0.1, 0.8, 500),   # not DE genes
        np.random.normal(2.5, 0.4, 50),    # upregulated
        np.random.normal(-2.3, 0.4, 40),   # downregulated
    ]),
    "category": ["background"] * 500 + ["up"] * 50 + ["down"] * 40,
})

fig = px.histogram(
    fc_df, x="log2FC", color="category",
    nbins=60, barmode="overlay", opacity=0.7,
    marginal="rug",
    labels={"log2FC": "log2 Fold Change", "count": "Gene Count"},
    title="Distribution of Fold Changes (DESeq2 Results)",
    color_discrete_map={"background": "gray", "up": "crimson", "down": "steelblue"},
)
fig.show()
Module 3: px Heatmap and Matrix — Gene Expression and Correlations

px.imshow() renders 2D arrays or DataFrames as color-encoded matrices, ideal for expression heatmaps and correlation matrices.

python
import plotly.express as px
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np

# Gene expression heatmap (genes × samples)
np.random.seed(12)
genes = [f"Gene_{g}" for g in ["BRCA1", "TP53", "EGFR", "MYC", "KRAS",
                                 "CDKN1A", "RB1", "PTEN", "VHL", "APC"]]
samples = [f"S{i:02d}" for i in range(1, 9)]

expr_matrix = pd.DataFrame(
    np.random.normal(0, 1.5, (10, 8)) +
    np.array([2, -1, 3, -2, 1, -3, 0, 2, -1, 3]).reshape(-1, 1),
    index=genes, columns=samples,
)

fig = px.imshow(
    expr_matrix,
    color_continuous_scale="RdBu_r",
    color_continuous_midpoint=0,
    aspect="auto",
    labels={"color": "log2 Expression (z-score)"},
    title="Gene Expression Heatmap",
)
fig.update_xaxes(side="top")
fig.update_layout(width=600, height=500)
fig.show()
print(f"Heatmap shape: {expr_matrix.shape} (genes × samples)")
python
# Correlation matrix heatmap
from itertools import combinations

markers = ["IL6", "TNF", "CXCL10", "IFNg", "IL10", "IL1B", "CCL2", "IL17A"]
np.random.seed(3)
raw = np.random.multivariate_normal(
    mean=np.zeros(8),
    cov=np.eye(8) * 0.3 + 0.7,
    size=80,
)
corr_df = pd.DataFrame(raw, columns=markers).corr()

fig = px.imshow(
    corr_df,
    color_continuous_scale="RdBu_r",
    color_continuous_midpoint=0,
    zmin=-1, zmax=1,
    text_auto=".2f",
    title="Cytokine Correlation Matrix (n=80 patients)",
)
fig.update_traces(textfont_size=10)
fig.show()
Module 4: go Graph Objects — Full Trace Control

plotly.graph_objects provides fine-grained access to every trace property: marker symbols, error bars, fill areas, and multi-trace layouts. Essential when px lacks the flexibility you need.

python
import plotly.graph_objects as go
import numpy as np

# Volcano plot built from scratch with go.Scatter
np.random.seed(99)
n_genes = 5000
log2fc = np.random.normal(0, 1.2, n_genes)
pval = np.random.uniform(0, 1, n_genes) ** 2  # skew toward low p-values
neg_log10_p = -np.log10(pval + 1e-300)
gene_names = [f"Gene_{i:04d}" for i in range(n_genes)]

# Classify genes
sig_mask = (np.abs(log2fc) > 1.5) & (neg_log10_p > 3)
up_mask = sig_mask & (log2fc > 0)
down_mask = sig_mask & (log2fc < 0)
ns_mask = ~sig_mask

fig = go.Figure()

# Non-significant background
fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=log2fc[ns_mask], y=neg_log10_p[ns_mask],
    mode="markers",
    name="Not significant",
    marker=dict(color="lightgray", size=4, opacity=0.5),
    text=[gene_names[i] for i in np.where(ns_mask)[0]],
    hovertemplate="<b>%{text}</b><br>log2FC: %{x:.2f}<br>-log10(p): %{y:.2f}<extra></extra>",
))

# Upregulated
fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=log2fc[up_mask], y=neg_log10_p[up_mask],
    mode="markers",
    name=f"Up ({up_mask.sum()} genes)",
    marker=dict(color="crimson", size=7, opacity=0.8),
    text=[gene_names[i] for i in np.where(up_mask)[0]],
    hovertemplate="<b>%{text}</b><br>log2FC: %{x:.2f}<br>-log10(p): %{y:.2f}<extra></extra>",
))

# Downregulated
fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=log2fc[down_mask], y=neg_log10_p[down_mask],
    mode="markers",
    name=f"Down ({down_mask.sum()} genes)",
    marker=dict(color="steelblue", size=7, opacity=0.8),
    text=[gene_names[i] for i in np.where(down_mask)[0]],
    hovertemplate="<b>%{text}</b><br>log2FC: %{x:.2f}<br>-log10(p): %{y:.2f}<extra></extra>",
))

# Threshold lines
fig.add_hline(y=3, line_dash="dash", line_color="black", line_width=1)
fig.add_vline(x=1.5, line_dash="dash", line_color="black", line_width=1)
fig.add_vline(x=-1.5, line_dash="dash", line_color="black", line_width=1)

fig.update_layout(
    title="Volcano Plot (Treatment vs Control, n=5000 genes)",
    xaxis_title="log2 Fold Change",
    yaxis_title="-log10(adjusted p-value)",
    legend=dict(x=0.01, y=0.99),
    width=750, height=550,
)
fig.show()
print(f"Up: {up_mask.sum()}, Down: {down_mask.sum()}, NS: {ns_mask.sum()}")
python
# Bar chart with error bars: mean ± SEM per treatment group
groups = ["Vehicle", "DrugA 1µM", "DrugA 10µM", "DrugB 1µM", "DrugB 10µM"]
means = [100.0, 82.3, 54.7, 91.2, 68.5]
sems = [3.2, 4.1, 3.8, 3.5, 4.7]

fig = go.Figure(go.Bar(
    x=groups, y=means,
    error_y=dict(type="data", array=sems, visible=True),
    marker_color=["gray", "lightsalmon", "crimson", "lightblue", "steelblue"],
    hovertemplate="%{x}<br>Mean: %{y:.1f}%<br>SEM: ±%{error_y.array:.1f}%<extra></extra>",
))

fig.update_layout(
    title="Cell Viability by Treatment (Mean ± SEM, n=6)",
    yaxis_title="Viability (%)", yaxis_range=[0, 120],
    xaxis_title="Treatment Group",
    showlegend=False,
)
fig.show()
Module 5: 3D and Specialized Charts

Plotly supports 3D scatter, surface plots, parallel coordinates, and treemaps — chart types unavailable in seaborn or standard matplotlib.

python
import plotly.express as px
import numpy as np
import pandas as pd

# 3D PCA scatter: cell clusters in embedding space
np.random.seed(42)
n_per_cluster = 80
cluster_centers = {"T cell": [3, 2, 1], "B cell": [-3, 1, 2], "Monocyte": [0, -3, -1]}

records = []
for ctype, center in cluster_centers.items():
    coords = np.random.normal(center, 0.8, (n_per_cluster, 3))
    for row in coords:
        records.append({
            "PC1": row[0], "PC2": row[1], "PC3": row[2],
            "cell_type": ctype,
            "score": np.random.uniform(0.5, 1.0),
        })

pca_df = pd.DataFrame(records)

fig = px.scatter_3d(
    pca_df, x="PC1", y="PC2", z="PC3",
    color="cell_type", size="score", opacity=0.7,
    hover_data={"score": ":.3f"},
    title="3D PCA — Single-Cell Transcriptomics",
)
fig.update_traces(marker=dict(sizeref=0.04))
fig.show()
print(f"Total cells: {len(pca_df)}, clusters: {pca_df['cell_type'].nunique()}")
python
import plotly.graph_objects as go
import numpy as np
import pandas as pd

# Parallel coordinates: multi-parameter drug screen
np.random.seed(5)
n_compounds = 200
drug_df = pd.DataFrame({
    "MW": np.random.normal(380, 60, n_compounds),
    "logP": np.random.uniform(-1, 6, n_compounds),
    "HBA": np.random.randint(2, 10, n_compounds),
    "HBD": np.random.randint(0, 6, n_compounds),
    "IC50_nM": np.random.lognormal(4, 1.5, n_compounds),
    "selectivity": np.random.uniform(1, 100, n_compounds),
})

fig = px.parallel_coordinates(
    drug_df,
    color="IC50_nM",
    color_continuous_scale="RdYlGn_r",
    dimensions=["MW", "logP", "HBA", "HBD", "IC50_nM", "selectivity"],
    labels={
        "MW": "MW (Da)", "logP": "logP",
        "HBA": "H-Bond Acceptors", "HBD": "H-Bond Donors",
        "IC50_nM": "IC50 (nM)", "selectivity": "Selectivity Index",
    },
    title="Drug Candidate Properties — Parallel Coordinates",
)
fig.show()
Module 6: Subplots and Export

make_subplots() creates multi-panel layouts with shared axes, mixed chart types, and independent traces per panel. fig.write_html() exports interactive figures; fig.write_image() exports static files via kaleido.

python
from plotly.subplots import make_subplots
import plotly.graph_objects as go
import numpy as np

# Two-panel: raw data + summary statistics
np.random.seed(77)
doses = [0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, 100]
drugs = {"DrugA": {"EC50": 1.0, "hill": 1.5}, "DrugB": {"EC50": 8.0, "hill": 0.9}}

def hill_curve(dose, ec50, hill, top=100, bottom=0):
    return bottom + (top - bottom) / (1 + (ec50 / dose) ** hill)

fig = make_subplots(
    rows=1, cols=2,
    subplot_titles=["Dose-Response Curves", "IC50 Comparison"],
    shared_yaxes=False,
)

colors = {"DrugA": "crimson", "DrugB": "steelblue"}
ic50_values = []

for drug, params in drugs.items():
    # Smooth fit curve
    x_fit = np.logspace(-2, 2, 200)
    y_fit = hill_curve(x_fit, params["EC50"], params["hill"])
    fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
        x=x_fit, y=y_fit, mode="lines",
        name=f"{drug} fit", line=dict(color=colors[drug], width=2.5),
    ), row=1, col=1)

    # Noisy data points
    y_data = [hill_curve(d, params["EC50"], params["hill"]) +
              np.random.normal(0, 4) for d in doses]
    fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
        x=doses, y=y_data, mode="markers",
        name=f"{drug} data", marker=dict(color=colors[drug], size=9),
        showlegend=False,
    ), row=1, col=1)
    ic50_values.append(params["EC50"])

# Bar chart of IC50 values
fig.add_trace(go.Bar(
    x=list(drugs.keys()), y=ic50_values,
    marker_color=list(colors.values()),
    showlegend=False,
    hovertemplate="%{x}<br>IC50: %{y:.2f} µM<extra></extra>",
), row=1, col=2)

fig.update_xaxes(type="log", title_text="Dose (µM)", row=1, col=1)
fig.update_yaxes(title_text="Viability (%)", row=1, col=1)
fig.update_xaxes(title_text="Drug", row=1, col=2)
fig.update_yaxes(title_text="IC50 (µM)", row=1, col=2)
fig.update_layout(title="Dose-Response Dashboard", height=450, width=850)
fig.show()
print(f"Subplots: {len(fig.data)} traces across 2 panels")
python
# Export to HTML (interactive) and PNG (static)
# Requires: pip install kaleido

fig.write_html("dose_response_dashboard.html")
print("Saved: dose_response_dashboard.html (interactive, shareable)")

fig.write_image("dose_response_dashboard.png", width=1200, height=600, scale=2)
print("Saved: dose_response_dashboard.png (300 DPI equivalent with scale=2)")

fig.write_image("dose_response_dashboard.svg")
print("Saved: dose_response_dashboard.svg (vector, editable in Inkscape/Illustrator)")

Common Workflows

Workflow 1: Interactive Volcano Plot with Gene Annotations

Goal: Build a fully annotated volcano plot from DESeq2 results, with gene-name hover tooltips, threshold lines, and highlighted hit labels for sharing as HTML.

python
import plotly.graph_objects as go
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np

# Simulate DESeq2 output (replace with pd.read_csv("deseq2_results.csv"))
np.random.seed(42)
n = 3000
df = pd.DataFrame({
    "gene": [f"GENE_{i:04d}" for i in range(n)],
    "log2FC": np.random.normal(0, 1.0, n),
    "padj": np.clip(np.random.exponential(0.1, n), 1e-20, 1.0),
    "baseMean": np.random.lognormal(5, 1.5, n),
})
# Inject some hits
df.loc[:20, "log2FC"] = np.random.uniform(2.5, 5, 21)
df.loc[:20, "padj"] = np.random.uniform(1e-15, 1e-5, 21)
df.loc[21:35, "log2FC"] = np.random.uniform(-4, -2, 15)
df.loc[21:35, "padj"] = np.random.uniform(1e-12, 1e-4, 15)

df["neg_log10_padj"] = -np.log10(df["padj"].clip(1e-300))

# Classify
FC_THRESH, P_THRESH = 1.5, 2.0   # |log2FC| > 1.5, -log10(padj) > 2
df["category"] = "NS"
df.loc[(df["log2FC"] > FC_THRESH) & (df["neg_log10_padj"] > P_THRESH), "category"] = "Up"
df.loc[(df["log2FC"] < -FC_THRESH) & (df["neg_log10_padj"] > P_THRESH), "category"] = "Down"

color_map = {"NS": "lightgray", "Up": "crimson", "Down": "steelblue"}
size_map = {"NS": 4, "Up": 7, "Down": 7}
opacity_map = {"NS": 0.4, "Up": 0.85, "Down": 0.85}

fig = go.Figure()

for cat in ["NS", "Up", "Down"]:
    sub = df[df["category"] == cat]
    fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
        x=sub["log2FC"], y=sub["neg_log10_padj"],
        mode="markers",
        name=f"{cat} (n={len(sub)})",
        marker=dict(
            color=color_map[cat],
            size=size_map[cat],
            opacity=opacity_map[cat],
        ),
        customdata=sub[["gene", "padj", "baseMean"]].values,
        hovertemplate=(
            "<b>%{customdata[0]}</b><br>"
            "log2FC: %{x:.3f}<br>"
            "padj: %{customdata[1]:.2e}<br>"
            "baseMean: %{customdata[2]:.1f}<extra></extra>"
        ),
    ))

# Threshold lines
fig.add_hline(y=P_THRESH, line_dash="dot", line_color="black", line_width=1.2,
              annotation_text=f"padj=0.01", annotation_position="right")
fig.add_vline(x=FC_THRESH, line_dash="dot", line_color="black", line_width=1.2)
fig.add_vline(x=-FC_THRESH, line_dash="dot", line_color="black", line_width=1.2)

# Label top 5 upregulated hits by significance
top_up = df[df["category"] == "Up"].nlargest(5, "neg_log10_padj")
for _, row in top_up.iterrows():
    fig.add_annotation(
        x=row["log2FC"], y=row["neg_log10_padj"],
        text=row["gene"], showarrow=True,
        arrowhead=2, arrowsize=1, arrowcolor="crimson",
        font=dict(size=9, color="crimson"),
        xshift=8, yshift=5,
    )

fig.update_layout(
    title="Volcano Plot — Treatment vs Control (DESeq2)",
    xaxis_title="log2 Fold Change",
    yaxis_title="-log10(adjusted p-value)",
    legend=dict(x=0.01, y=0.99, bordercolor="lightgray", borderwidth=1),
    width=800, height=560,
    plot_bgcolor="white",
)
fig.update_xaxes(showgrid=True, gridcolor="lightgray", zeroline=True, zerolinecolor="darkgray")
fig.update_yaxes(showgrid=True, gridcolor="lightgray")

fig.write_html("volcano_interactive.html")
print(f"Up: {(df.category=='Up').sum()}, Down: {(df.category=='Down').sum()}")
print("Saved: volcano_interactive.html")
Workflow 2: Multi-Panel Dose-Response Dashboard with make_subplots

Goal: Display dose-response curves for multiple drugs across cell lines in a grid layout with a shared color scale and consistent formatting.

python
from plotly.subplots import make_subplots
import plotly.graph_objects as go
import numpy as np
import pandas as pd

# Simulated IC50 data for 3 drugs × 3 cell lines
np.random.seed(10)
drugs = ["DrugA", "DrugB", "DrugC"]
cell_lines = ["HCT116", "MCF7", "A549"]
doses = np.logspace(-2, 2, 7)  # 0.01 to 100 µM

def hill(x, ec50, hill_n, top=100, bottom=0):
    return bottom + (top - bottom) / (1 + (ec50 / x) ** hill_n)

ec50_table = {
    ("DrugA", "HCT116"): 0.5, ("DrugA", "MCF7"): 2.0, ("DrugA", "A549"): 8.0,
    ("DrugB", "HCT116"): 5.0, ("DrugB", "MCF7"): 0.8, ("DrugB", "A549"): 15.0,
    ("DrugC", "HCT116"): 12.0, ("DrugC", "MCF7"): 6.0, ("DrugC", "A549"): 1.2,
}

palette = px_colors = ["#EF553B", "#636EFA", "#00CC96", "#AB63FA", "#FFA15A",
                        "#19D3F3", "#FF6692", "#B6E880", "#FF97FF"]

fig = make_subplots(
    rows=len(drugs), cols=len(cell_lines),
    subplot_titles=[f"{d} / {c}" for d in drugs for c in cell_lines],
    shared_xaxes=True, shared_yaxes=True,
    vertical_spacing=0.08, horizontal_spacing=0.04,
)

for r, drug in enumerate(drugs, start=1):
    for c, cell_line in enumerate(cell_lines, start=1):
        ec50 = ec50_table[(drug, cell_line)]
        x_fit = np.logspace(-2, 2, 200)
        y_fit = hill(x_fit, ec50, hill_n=1.5)

        # Noisy replicate data
        y_data = np.array([hill(d, ec50, 1.5) + np.random.normal(0, 5) for d in doses])

        color = palette[(r - 1) * len(cell_lines) + (c - 1)]
        show_legend = (c == 1 and r == 1)

        fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
            x=x_fit, y=y_fit, mode="lines",
            line=dict(color=color, width=2),
            name=f"{drug}/{cell_line}",
            showlegend=False,
            hovertemplate=f"{drug} in {cell_line}<br>Dose: %{{x:.2f}} µM<br>Viability: %{{y:.1f}}%<extra></extra>",
        ), row=r, col=c)

        fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
            x=doses, y=np.clip(y_data, 0, 110), mode="markers",
            marker=dict(color=color, size=7, opacity=0.8),
            showlegend=False,
            hovertemplate=f"Measured<br>Dose: %{{x:.2f}} µM<br>Viability: %{{y:.1f}}%<extra></extra>",
        ), row=r, col=c)

        # IC50 annotation
        fig.add_annotation(
            x=np.log10(ec50), y=50,
            text=f"IC50={ec50:.1f}µM",
            font=dict(size=8), showarrow=False,
            xref=f"x{(r-1)*len(cell_lines)+c if (r-1)*len(cell_lines)+c > 1 else ''}",
            yref=f"y{(r-1)*len(cell_lines)+c if (r-1)*len(cell_lines)+c > 1 else ''}",
        )

# Apply log scale to all x-axes
for i in range(1, len(drugs) * len(cell_lines) + 1):
    axis_key = f"xaxis{i if i > 1 else ''}"
    fig.layout[axis_key].update(type="log", title_text="Dose (µM)" if i > 6 else "")

for i in range(1, len(drugs) * len(cell_lines) + 1):
    axis_key = f"yaxis{i if i > 1 else ''}"
    fig.layout[axis_key].update(range=[-5, 115],
                                 title_text="Viability (%)" if i in [1, 4, 7] else "")

fig.update_layout(
    title="Dose-Response Dashboard — 3 Drugs × 3 Cell Lines",
    height=700, width=900,
)
fig.write_html("dose_response_dashboard.html")
print("Saved: dose_response_dashboard.html")
print(f"Grid: {len(drugs)} drugs × {len(cell_lines)} cell lines = {len(drugs)*len(cell_lines)} panels")

Key Parameters

ParameterModule / FunctionDefaultRange / OptionsEffect
colorpx.*NoneColumn nameMaps a DataFrame column to trace color; auto-assigns palette
hover_datapx.*{}Dict or list of column namesExtra columns shown in hover tooltip
log_x / log_ypx.*FalseTrue, FalseApply log10 scale to x or y axis
facet_col / facet_rowpx.*NoneColumn nameSplit into subplot grid by a categorical variable
color_continuous_scalepx.imshow, px.scatter"plasma""RdBu_r", "Viridis", "Hot", etc.Colormap for continuous color mapping
color_continuous_midpointpx.imshowNoneAny numericCenters the diverging colormap at this value (use 0 for z-scores)
barmodepx.histogram, px.bar"relative""relative", "overlay", "group"How multiple bar traces are displayed
opacitygo.Scatter, px.*1.00.0–1.0Point/bar transparency
size / sizerefgo.Scatter6 / autoPositive numericMarker size; sizeref normalizes sizes across traces
line_dashfig.add_hline, go.Scatter"solid""solid", "dash", "dot", "dashdot"Line style for reference lines and traces
shared_xaxes / shared_yaxesmake_subplotsFalseTrue, False, "rows", "cols"Link axes across subplot panels
scalefig.write_image11–4Resolution multiplier for PNG export (use 2 for ~150 DPI)
Show full SKILL.md (595 more words)Show less

Best Practices

  1. Prefer px for DataFrame data, fall back to go for multi-trace composition. Use px.scatter() and its siblings for 80% of plots. Switch to go when you need traces with different types in the same figure (e.g., scatter + filled area) or need fine-grained per-trace control.

    python
    # Correct: px for simple grouped plots
    fig = px.box(df, x="treatment", y="expression", color="genotype")
    
    # Correct: go when px cannot express the structure
    fig = go.Figure()
    fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(x=x, y=y_upper, fill="tonexty", ...))
    fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(x=x, y=y_lower, ...))
  2. Always include hovertemplate for scientific figures. The default tooltip shows raw coordinates without units or gene names. A custom template with customdata provides full biological context.

    python
    fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
        customdata=df[["gene", "padj"]].values,
        hovertemplate="<b>%{customdata[0]}</b><br>padj: %{customdata[1]:.2e}<extra></extra>",
    ))
  3. Export HTML for sharing, PNG/SVG for journals. fig.write_html() produces a self-contained file with no external dependencies. Use scale=2 or higher with write_image() to achieve sufficient resolution for print.

  4. Don't use fig.show() in batch scripts. In non-interactive contexts (CI, HPC, cron jobs), fig.show() may open a browser window or fail. Use write_html() or write_image() exclusively.

  5. Use color_continuous_midpoint=0 for diverging palettes on z-score data. Without it, the midpoint color defaults to the data midpoint, not zero, misrepresenting symmetric fold changes or correlations.

    python
    fig = px.imshow(corr_matrix, color_continuous_scale="RdBu_r",
                    color_continuous_midpoint=0, zmin=-1, zmax=1)
  6. Set plot_bgcolor="white" for publication figures. Plotly defaults to a light-gray grid background. White background with subtle gridlines is cleaner for most scientific contexts.

    python
    fig.update_layout(plot_bgcolor="white")
    fig.update_xaxes(showgrid=True, gridcolor="lightgray")
    fig.update_yaxes(showgrid=True, gridcolor="lightgray")

Common Recipes

Recipe: Dropdown Menu to Toggle Between Conditions

When to use: Overlay multiple conditions in one figure with a dropdown button to show/hide individual traces cleanly.

python
import plotly.graph_objects as go
import numpy as np

conditions = ["Untreated", "DrugA", "DrugB"]
colors = ["gray", "crimson", "steelblue"]
np.random.seed(1)
x = np.linspace(0, 24, 49)

fig = go.Figure()
for i, (cond, color) in enumerate(zip(conditions, colors)):
    y = np.sin(x / 4 + i * 0.5) * (1 - i * 0.2) + np.random.normal(0, 0.05, len(x))
    fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
        x=x, y=y, mode="lines+markers",
        name=cond, line=dict(color=color, width=2),
        visible=(i == 0),  # only first trace visible initially
    ))

# One button per condition (shows only that trace)
buttons = []
for i, cond in enumerate(conditions):
    visibility = [j == i for j in range(len(conditions))]
    buttons.append(dict(label=cond, method="update",
                        args=[{"visible": visibility}, {"title": f"Gene Expression — {cond}"}]))

# "Show All" button
buttons.append(dict(label="Show All", method="update",
                    args=[{"visible": [True] * len(conditions)}, {"title": "Gene Expression — All Conditions"}]))

fig.update_layout(
    updatemenus=[dict(type="dropdown", x=0.01, y=1.15, showactive=True, buttons=buttons)],
    title="Gene Expression — Untreated",
    xaxis_title="Time (h)", yaxis_title="Relative Expression",
)
fig.show()
Recipe: Annotating Specific Hits with Arrows

When to use: Label outliers, drug hits, or significant genes directly on the figure without cluttering non-annotated points.

python
import plotly.graph_objects as go
import numpy as np
import pandas as pd

np.random.seed(33)
df = pd.DataFrame({
    "x": np.random.normal(0, 1.5, 300),
    "y": np.random.normal(0, 1.5, 300),
    "gene": [f"G{i:03d}" for i in range(300)],
})
# Inject top hits
hits = pd.DataFrame({
    "x": [3.2, -2.8, 2.5, -3.5],
    "y": [4.1, 3.8, -3.2, -2.9],
    "gene": ["BRCA1", "TP53", "EGFR", "KRAS"],
})

fig = go.Figure()
fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=df["x"], y=df["y"], mode="markers",
    marker=dict(color="lightgray", size=5, opacity=0.6),
    text=df["gene"],
    hovertemplate="<b>%{text}</b><br>x: %{x:.2f}, y: %{y:.2f}<extra></extra>",
    name="Background",
))
fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(
    x=hits["x"], y=hits["y"], mode="markers",
    marker=dict(color="crimson", size=10, symbol="diamond"),
    text=hits["gene"],
    hovertemplate="<b>%{text}</b> [HIT]<br>x: %{x:.2f}, y: %{y:.2f}<extra></extra>",
    name="Hits",
))

for _, row in hits.iterrows():
    fig.add_annotation(
        x=row["x"], y=row["y"],
        text=f"<b>{row['gene']}</b>",
        showarrow=True, arrowhead=2, arrowwidth=1.5,
        arrowcolor="crimson", font=dict(size=11, color="crimson"),
        ax=25, ay=-30,  # arrow offset in pixels
        bgcolor="rgba(255,255,255,0.7)", bordercolor="crimson", borderwidth=1,
    )

fig.update_layout(
    title="Hit Identification with Arrow Annotations",
    xaxis_title="Score A", yaxis_title="Score B",
    plot_bgcolor="white",
)
fig.show()

Troubleshooting

ProblemCauseSolution
ValueError: kaleido is required for static image exportkaleido not installedpip install kaleido; verify with import kaleido
Blank figure in Jupyter NotebookRenderer not configuredRun import plotly.io as pio; pio.renderers.default = "notebook" or upgrade JupyterLab to ≥3
fig.show() opens blank browser tabNo data in figure or offline renderer issueCheck len(fig.data) > 0; use pio.renderers.default = "browser"
Hover tooltips show wrong valuescustomdata index mismatch in hovertemplateVerify customdata column order matches %{customdata[N]} indices in template
Colors not assigned consistently across tracespx re-orders palette when category counts differUse color_discrete_map={"Cat1": "#color1", ...} to pin colors explicitly
write_image produces blurry PNGDefault scale=1 is too low for printUse fig.write_image("fig.png", scale=2) for 150 DPI or scale=4 for 300 DPI
Subplots x-axes not all log-scaled after shared_xaxes=TrueShared axis only synchronizes range, not typeIterate over all xaxis keys in fig.layout and set type="log" explicitly
Large datasets slow to render in browserToo many individual points in a single scatter traceDownsample background noise points; keep labeled hits as a separate, smaller trace
fig.update_layout does not apply to subplot axesMulti-panel figures use indexed axes (xaxis2, xaxis3)Use fig.update_xaxes() (applies to all) or target fig.layout["xaxis2"] explicitly
  • seaborn-statistical-plots — use for statistical aggregation (confidence intervals, regression), publication-quality static figures with minimal code, and when matplotlib-level output is required
  • matplotlib-scientific-plotting — use for full control over every figure element, custom layouts, embedded text rendering, and journal-specification figure preparation
  • pydeseq2-differential-expression — volcano plot outputs from DESeq2 results are a primary input for the interactive volcano workflow above
  • scanpy-scrna-seq — Scanpy's UMAP embeddings can be visualized interactively in 3D with px.scatter_3d

References

© jaechang-hits, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/data-visualization/plotly-interactive-plots of jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 82c862c

Used in 1 other repository

We found 1 copy of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 1 other GitHub owner. This page covers the copy in jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

Compare with similar skills

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Questions about Plotly Interactive Plots

What does Plotly Interactive Plots do?

Interactive scientific visualization with Plotly. An agent skill from jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills. Plotly Interactive Plots is an agent skill from jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills. Interactive scientific visualization with Plotly.

When should I use Plotly Interactive Plots?

Plotly Interactive Plots fits situations like: volcano plots with gene hover; dose-response dashboards; expression heatmaps; 3D molecular views.

How do I install Plotly Interactive Plots in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills --skill plotly-interactive-plots -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/data-visualization/plotly-interactive-plots in jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills) into .claude/skills/plotly-interactive-plots in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Plotly Interactive Plots in Codex?

Run `npx skills add jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills --skill plotly-interactive-plots -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/data-visualization/plotly-interactive-plots in jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills) into .agents/skills/plotly-interactive-plots in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Plotly Interactive Plots in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills --skill plotly-interactive-plots -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/plotly-interactive-plots, .gemini/skills/plotly-interactive-plots, .github/skills/plotly-interactive-plots and .opencode/skills/plotly-interactive-plots in your project.

What does Plotly Interactive Plots need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Plotly Interactive Plots needs the command-line tools its instructions call (pip). Our summary lists: Python 3.

Does Plotly Interactive Plots access the network?

SKILL.md names 2 domains. As links in the text: plotly.com and github.com. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Plotly Interactive Plots safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Plotly Interactive Plots use?

Plotly Interactive Plots is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Plotly Interactive Plots use?

About 8.2k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 33k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Plotly Interactive Plots?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Plotly Interactive Plots: Matplotlib (zLanqing/codex-claude-academic-skills, 4.6k stars), Scientific Visualization (mims-harvard/OptimusKG, 146 stars), Seaborn (zLanqing/codex-claude-academic-skills, 4.6k stars) and Scientific Visualization (Oleafly/Oleafly, 206 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Plotly Interactive Plots?

jaechang-hits (a GitHub user) maintains it in jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills, which has 370 GitHub stars. The repository holds 163 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 29, 2026.

Source: jaechang-hits/SciAgent-Skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.