| name | visualize |
| description | Create visualizations and interactive tools directly in conversation. Use when asked to show how something works, make simulators or labs, maps, plots, charts or graphs, comparisons, scenarios, adjustable inputs, and exploration beyond regular text. |
Visualize
- A request for a new standalone file, website, app page, component, or other
project change is not an in-conversation visualization request, even when the
deliverable contains charts or interactive content.
- Create a visual only when the user needs to see or explore it in the
conversation and it materially improves the explanation. Do not create an
inline visual merely because the request involves data, charts, or an
interactive page.
- Use Mermaid when labeled nodes and edges fully explain a static structure;
return a normal fenced Mermaid block and no visualization file. Use HTML for
dynamics, spatial motion, adjustable inputs, and other visuals.
- Work silently unless blocked or the user explicitly asks for progress. Never
send commentary or progress updates while reading this skill or writing or
updating the file; the final response must be your first user-facing message.
- In user-facing prose, describe only what the visual helps the user see or
decide. Keep it concise and do not repeat information already clear from the
visual. Never announce this skill, a visualization surface, widgets, HTML,
SVG, scripts, local files, inline data, or implementation details.
Context compaction
Copy into every compaction summary:
Reload the full visualize skill before creating or updating a visualization.
Inline HTML output contract
File
- For each new or updated visualization, choose a concise ASCII
lowercase-hyphenated title and write a new
<title>.html in the thread-scoped
visualization directory listed in the writable roots
(.codex/visualizations/YYYY/MM/DD/<thread-id>).
- Build the visual in the conversation. Use the open project when the user asks
for a site, app page, component, or change to existing project files.
Fragment
- Write only an HTML fragment: no
<!doctype>, <html>, <head>, or <body>.
- Write literal markup: use
<div class="card">Hi</div> plus a real newline,
never <div class=\"card\">Hi</div>\n. Never embed the fragment in an inline
Python, JavaScript, or shell string. Read it back; rewrite literal \" or
\n.
- Keep CSS and JavaScript in the fragment only when base classes are
insufficient. Load static resources only from the CDN allowlist. Never use
fetch, XHR, WebSocket, or other API calls.
- Give the fragment root a unique ID and select it with
document.getElementById(...). Never derive the root from
document.currentScript; scripts may sit outside the root.
- Keep visualizations under 2 MB. Aggregate, bin, downsample, reduce precision,
or drop unused fields from large inline datasets.
- Check that JavaScript has no undefined identifiers, every queried element
exists, and the primary interaction updates the visual. The bundled
python3 scripts/render.py <absolute-fragment-path> [<destination>.html] [--serve]
can wrap a fragment as standalone HTML or temporarily serve it for browser
inspection when a preview would help with layout, theme, or runtime behavior.
Content and response
- Keep the fragment focused on the visualization. Do not include explanatory
paragraphs, formulas, instructions, or narrative callouts. Include only
necessary labels, legends, values, and accessible text alternatives.
- Use the normal response flow. Put any necessary concise explanation outside
the fragment, and add this exact directive on its own line where the visual
should appear:
::codex-inline-vis{file="<title>.html"}
- Emit only the directive for the fragment. Never announce the fragment as an
artifact, website, output, attachment, link, or download, and never add a
Markdown link to it.
External resources
- The CSP allows only
cdnjs.cloudflare.com, esm.sh, cdn.jsdelivr.net,
unpkg.com, fonts.googleapis.com, fonts.gstatic.com, and
fonts.bunny.net. Other origins are blocked and fail silently.
Exporting an existing visualization
- Keep the fragment as the editable inline source. When the user explicitly asks
to save, export, or publish a visualization that is already shown in the
conversation, render it with
python3 scripts/render.py <absolute-fragment-path> <destination>.html.
- Apply this export flow only when the user explicitly asks to turn the existing
inline source or visualization into a website. For a general website request,
build a new responsive site in the output directory or open project, using
Sites when appropriate, without applying this skill's guidance.
- If the visualization calls
window.openai, replace that host-only interaction
before using the standalone HTML outside Codex.
- When the user asks to publish or host an existing visualization and the Sites
skills are available, use
sites-building to choose the project and write the
rendered standalone document as index.html, then use sites-hosting.
- If Sites is unavailable, offer the standalone HTML without claiming it was
published.
Composition
Choose the smallest composition that fits.
- Prefer interaction detail over permanent panels, toolbars, repeated legends,
or long stacks. Add only requested controls, use one mechanism per state, and
never invent search, filter, or reset controls.
- Keep filters, selections, and other presentation-only interactions local. For
drill-down actions that ask Codex to investigate or explain selected data,
call
await window.openai.sendFollowUpMessage({ prompt, title }), where the
optional title is a concise confirmation-dialog heading of up to 250
characters. Include the selected values and requested investigation in the
prompt, and label the action clearly.
- Show only metrics that explain the requested behavior. Put live values in
control headers or on the visual before cards. Treat maxima as ceilings, not
targets. Never invent qualitative scores, status cards, or secondary fact
grids to fill space.
Interactive explainer or simulation
- Use compact controls or status, one compact dominant visual, and at most one
single-line selected-state detail. Default to no summary cards; allow up to
three only when changing metrics are central.
- Crop empty space; prefer wide and shallow unless intrinsically square. For
step-throughs, add only requested step controls and update one current visual;
never add parameter controls, formulas, metric cards, or side-by-side steps
unless asked.
Graphs and plots
- For named numeric data and one-off analyses, start with the plot. Put values
and takeaways on its marks, axes, or annotations. Never add a KPI row,
controls, cards, or panels unless those UI elements are explicitly requested.
- For sequences or parallel work, use aligned lanes on one time axis. Encode
phase and resource in the marks; annotate totals, waits, and bottlenecks on
the axis or lanes, not above the plot.
- For distributions or multi-metric comparisons, use shared-scale facets or
small multiples. Render every requested dimension simultaneously; never hide
one behind a toggle.
Maps
- Let the map dominate the composition. Use at most one compact
selection/detail area and only requested controls.
- Always project published GeoJSON/TopoJSON and sourced longitude/latitude with
d3-geo; never hard-code or hand-draw geographic outlines. Use schematic maps
only when asked.
- For world countries, import
https://esm.sh/@d3-maps/atlas@1.0.0/world/countries/countries-110m and convert
it with topojson-client@3.1.0 using
feature(world, world.objects.features).features. Join input ISO3 directly to
feature.properties.id, which is already ISO3; do not convert it to numbers.
- For US states or counties, use
https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/us-atlas@3/counties-10m.json/+esm. For ZIP/ZCTA
or city boundaries, download official Census or local open-data GeoJSON; do
not guess sibling atlas paths or import raw JSON as JavaScript.
- Keep maps geographically legible: for local points, fetch published
neighborhood, street, or comparable geometry; a blank field or lone
administrative outline is not a basemap. Show the full city or region behind
points or partial choropleths, and frame the locations with modest padding.
- Include the verified geometry in the final HTML. Open it before replying and
fix blank basemaps, failed imports, missing labels, or unprojected points.
Dense categorical grid
- Use one compact horizontal selected-item summary, then a grid with exactly one
readable identifier per cell, then one small legend. Render only that
identifier as visible cell text; put all other metadata in an accessible label
or one summary line, not badges or fact grids. Allow only selection unless
asked.
Part-to-whole or time allocation
- Use compact metrics and one stacked chart of category allocation per period.
Never substitute totals-only bars or duplicate it as a heatmap and totals
chart.
Layout and accessibility
- Use semantic HTML, keyboard-accessible controls, and concise labels.
- Keep the top-level surface transparent and unframed, and fill the available
conversation width. Design for 736px and support widths down to 320px.
- At every supported width, text, controls, cards, toolbars, and dynamic content
must fit without overlap or clipping. Reflow by stacking or wrapping; use
.table-responsive only when table columns cannot fit. The host sizes the
frame to its content, so avoid fixed outer widths, other horizontal overflow,
internal scrolling, position: fixed, and viewport-height layouts.
- Keep native tab order; never add
tabindex.
- Use native
button, input, select, and textarea elements with matching
utilities; never recreate controls.
- Keep browser or utility focus styles; never override them.
Typography
- Scale type with
--font-size-base. Use normal text by default and
.text-small only for secondary annotations (never below 11px).
h1, h2, and h3 are available; use them sparingly. Never render a title or
restate the prompt inside the fragment; put titles and explanation in Markdown
above the directive.- Use only weights
400 and 500. Never set custom font sizes or line heights.
Color
- Make every fill, stroke, text, border, shadow, chart, and canvas color
theme-aware. Never hardcode light or dark palettes such as white panels,
off-white backgrounds, black text, slate strokes, or Tailwind color literals.
- Keep text readable against its actual background. Muted or secondary colors
must retain clear contrast; never use
.text-muted inside .card or another
filled container unless its background preserves that contrast.
- Available theme variables include
--background, --foreground, --card,
--card-foreground, --popover, --popover-foreground, --primary,
--primary-foreground, --secondary, --secondary-foreground, --muted,
--muted-foreground, --accent, --accent-foreground, --destructive,
--border, --input, and --ring. Use currentColor inside SVG.
- Use
--viz-series-1 for one measure or active state. Use --viz-series-2
through --viz-series-6 only for important persistent category, series, or
status identity; never give every peer a different color by default.
- For categorical tiles or nodes, prefer a soft low-opacity series fill with a
neutral or transparent border; never color every outline.
- Keep mappings stable and pair color with labels, shapes, or line styles.
- Secondary series colors are theme-derived; never assume hues or use them
decoratively.
- When color encodes a category or series, apply it consistently to the
corresponding visual marks—not just the legend—and keep large-area fills
subtle.
- Use series colors only for chart lines, marks, and legend swatches. Never use
them for text; use
--foreground or --muted-foreground for labels and
values.
- Keep chart grids and inactive structure thin and neutral. Use 1-2px neutral
structural paths; never thicken, dash, or double-stroke the whole structure.
- In each color pair, the base token is a surface and its
-foreground token is the content on that surface. Use .btn-primary for
high-emphasis actions; its neutral fill is supplied by the utility. Use
--primary and for filled selected, active, or pressed
controls. Reserve and for subtle interactive
surfaces and soft highlights. Buttons with
, , or already use
the primary pairing.
Design system
- Let utilities own geometry, appearance, and interaction. Use the matching
utility for every button and form control. Never restyle utilities,
descendants, or pseudo-elements: no custom sizes, spacing, borders, radii,
shadows, colors, or interaction states.
Surfaces and layout
.card: The only card-like HTML surface. Use its base class unchanged for a
necessary numeric summary, selected-item summary, or bounded interactive
field. Before adding a fill, border, radius, or shadow to any layout container,
either use .card or leave it transparent and unframed; never recreate card
chrome on rows, panels, tiles, sections, or wrappers. Keep charts, maps,
diagrams, tables, controls, and the whole visualization unframed. Never nest
cards; show 2-4 summaries near the top only when useful. Structural groupings
and repeated content are not bounded interactive fields. Organize them with
layout or visual marks, not container chrome..viz-stat: Use a summary .card with one muted label, one
.viz-stat-value, and at most one short context or delta line..viz-grid: Use for peer metrics or choices instead of a custom grid. It
creates as many equal-width columns as fit and stacks when narrow. Never use it
for the whole visual or a horizontally scrolling card row. Keep groups to 2-3
columns at 736px and controls in a separate row..viz-row: Use as a wrapping horizontal group with centered related values or
inline actions that may wrap when narrow..viz-tile: Add to a selectable dense-grid .btn; it stretches to fill its
grid cell, preserves category fill, and uses an accent ring instead of solid
selection. Never add another selected, pressed, border, outline, or shadow
rule..viz-badge: Use as a compact display-only accent pill for a short status,
category, or value; never as a button..viz-controls: Use as a wrapping row for controls affecting the same
visualization. Keep button groups compact. Put labeled fields directly inside
as .form-label; fields form at most two columns and stack when narrow.
Controls
.btn: Use for a content-sized secondary action. Add .btn-primary for one
main action per control group or .btn-ghost for low emphasis..btn-block: Add to a .btn only when the action should intentionally fill
the available inline space. Never use it for ordinary row actions.<a>: Use for links. Add .btn to style a link as a button.[data-tooltip]: Use for concise supplementary plain text on static or dynamic
triggers; the sandbox creates .tooltip elements. Keep essential content
visible and triggers labeled. Never use title, custom markup, or
initialization. Example:
<button type="button" data-tooltip="Reset view">Reset</button>.[data-tooltip-placement]: Optionally prefer top (default), right,
bottom, or left; collision handling may flip it..form-check: Wrap a native checkbox or radio; pair .form-check-input and
.form-check-label with matching id and for..form-switch: Add to .form-check around a native checkbox..form-control: Pair a native text, file, or color input—or a textarea—with
.form-label..form-control-color: Add to .form-control for a compact native color
input..form-select: Pair a native select with .form-label..form-range: Pair a native range with a visible label; put its current value
and units immediately before it.
Tables
.table: Use on a semantic table for a quiet, unframed data view. It provides
wrapping cells and subtle horizontal dividers without vertical gridlines. Use
sentence case for headers..table-responsive: Wrap a table when its columns cannot fit at narrow
widths. It contains horizontal overflow without clipping the visualization..table-sm: Add to .table when more rows need to fit; it reduces cell
padding without shrinking text..text-end, .text-center, and .text-nowrap: Use inside .table for
numeric/end alignment, centered values, or values that must stay on one line.
Numeric cells use tabular figures when end-aligned.
Text
.text-small: Use for the smallest host-scaled secondary chart labels and
annotations, never below 11px or for essential content..text-muted: Use for secondary units, captions, timestamps, and context,
never essential values or labels..text-destructive: Use only for error or validation text the user needs to
notice or act on.<code>: Use for inline commands, file names, symbols, or short references;
put multiline code in <pre><code>..sr-only: Use for visually hidden accessible text.
Charts
- Prefer inline SVG for simple charts; use a version-pinned approved-CDN library
only when it materially reduces complexity.
- Use a tooltip unless it would distract from a simple, directly labeled chart.
Use
class="tooltip" without surface CSS; add only positioning and visibility.
Choose the best position: relative parent; convert the hovered mark into that
parent's CSS pixel space before setting absolute left/top. Measure and
clamp the box to the plot—never pointer coordinates. Show label, value, and
units; mirror them in a visible keyboard fallback.
- Animate transitions between chart states so lines and marks move to their new
values, resampling paths when point counts differ. Do not animate initial
appearance or use fade-only effects; never loop motion, and honor
prefers-reduced-motion.
- Scope SVG styles to the chart class. Never target every
svg in a container
that also contains Lucide icons.
- Include labeled axes, units, and directly labeled important values. Give every
chart, SVG, canvas, and widget a concise screen-reader summary using a role and
accessible name or description, SVG
<title>/<desc>, fallback text, or an
.sr-only heading or description.
- Reserve space for the longest formatted label at every supported width. Axis
ticks are secondary and may use
.text-small when space is tight. Never
overlap or clip text against marks, axes, legends, labels, or edges; move or
reduce labels rather than squeeze them.
- Add a legend only when multiple series cannot be labeled directly.
- Pair color with shape or text so meaning never depends on color alone.
Icons and mockups
-
Use the sandbox-provided global lucide. Add an icon name with data-lucide:
<i data-lucide="search" aria-hidden="true"></i>
-
Lucide replaces the placeholder in place with an inline SVG. Icons are 16px
and inherit currentColor.
-
Mark decorative icons aria-hidden="true". Put action icons inside labeled
controls; use a visible label or aria-label for icon-only actions.
-
Let the sandbox initialize static icons after the fragment without blocking
first render. After adding icons dynamically, use
lucide.createIcons({ attrs: { width: 16, height: 16 } }).
-
Never load Lucide or another icon library from the network.
-
Use visibly labeled buttons and inputs for small interactions. Keep all
presentation-only interaction local to the fragment and make the first render
useful before input changes.
-
Use semantic controls, realistic spacing, and restrained chrome for mockups.
Never fake product screenshots when inspectable UI is needed.
