create-multidim

name	create-multidim
description	Create multi-dimensional (multidim/MDIM) chart configurations in the OWID ETL pipeline. Use this skill when the user wants to create a new multidim, build a multi-dimensional chart, combine multiple charts into one with dimension toggles, or mentions 'multidim' or 'MDIM'.
allowed-tools	["WebFetch","Bash(.venv/bin/etl:*)","Bash(mkdir:*)"]
metadata	{"internal":true}

Creating Multidim Charts

A multidim (multi-dimensional chart) is an interactive chart with dropdown selectors for different dimensions of the data. It can be created from scratch or by combining existing charts. For example, a single multidim with a Sex dropdown showing life expectancy for males or females.

Overview

A multidim requires three things:

1. A Python step file (minimal boilerplate)
2. A config YAML file (dimensions, views, chart settings)
3. A DAG entry in the appropriate dag/*.yml file

All files live in etl/steps/export/multidim/{namespace}/latest/.

Step-by-Step Process

Step 1: Identify the indicators

If the user provides chart URLs, fetch their metadata to discover the indicator names and catalog paths. If creating from scratch, find the relevant grapher dataset and its indicators.

# Get indicator shortNames and structure
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/{chart-slug}.metadata.json

# Get the full catalogPath for each indicator (from fullMetadata URL in above response)
https://api.ourworldindata.org/v1/indicators/{id}.metadata.json