| name | preview-d3 |
| description | Create interactive 2D data visualizations using D3.js with zoom, pan, and custom rendering |
| user-invocable | true |
| commands | ["preview-d3"] |
Preview D3 Skill
Interactive D3.js visualization viewer that renders custom data visualizations with built-in zoom, pan, and export capabilities.
Agent Usage
When the user asks to create a D3 visualization, write the D3 code and pipe it to the script. Use the Bash tool to execute this skill's run.sh script:
cat visualization.js | ./run.sh
./run.sh chart.d3
The script handles all HTML generation and automatically opens the result in the browser. Do NOT open the file manually to avoid duplicate tabs.
Usage
/preview-d3 network-graph.d3
cat visualization.js | /preview-d3
echo "const svg = d3.select('#visualization').append('svg')..." | /preview-d3
Best Practice: For temporary or generated visualizations, prefer piping over creating temporary files. This avoids cluttering your filesystem and the content is automatically cleaned up.
Options
The script works with sensible defaults but supports these flags for flexibility:
-o, --output PATH - Custom output path
--no-browser - Skip browser, output file path only
Features
- Universal D3 compatibility - Works with any D3 code from the web
- Zoom and pan - Mouse wheel to zoom (0.5x to 10x), drag to pan
- Reset zoom button
- Code viewer toggle
- Export to SVG functionality
- Preserves interactions - Tooltips, draggable nodes, animations all work
- Automatic container detection - Works with any selector
- Responsive design adapts to screen size
When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when the user wants to:
- Create custom data visualizations
- Render charts, graphs, and network diagrams
- Visualize hierarchical data
- Create interactive dashboards
- Test D3 code snippets from online examples
D3 Code Requirements
Your D3 code should be self-contained JavaScript that:
- Gets container dimensions from the DOM
- Creates its own SVG element
- Handles tooltips directly (if needed)
- Embeds data in the code
Code Template
const container = document.querySelector('#visualization');
const rect = container.getBoundingClientRect();
const width = rect.width;
const height = rect.height;
const margin = { top: 60, right: 40, bottom: 60, left: 60 };
const innerWidth = width - margin.left - margin.right;
const innerHeight = height - margin.top - margin.bottom;
const data = [
{ category: 'A', value: 30 },
{ category: 'B', value: 80 },
{ category: 'C', value: 45 },
];
const svg = d3.select('#visualization').append('svg').attr('width', width).attr('height', height);
const chart = svg.append('g').attr('transform', `translate(${margin.left},${margin.top})`);
Complete Example - Bar Chart
const container = document.querySelector('#visualization');
const rect = container.getBoundingClientRect();
const width = rect.width;
const height = rect.height;
const margin = { top: 60, right: 40, bottom: 60, left: 60 };
const innerWidth = width - margin.left - margin.right;
const innerHeight = height - margin.top - margin.bottom;
const data = [
{ category: 'A', value: 30 },
{ category: 'B', value: 80 },
{ category: 'C', value: 45 },
{ category: 'D', value: 60 },
{ category: 'E', value: 20 },
];
const svg = d3.select('#visualization').append('svg').attr('width', width).attr('height', height);
const chart = svg.append('g').attr('transform', `translate(${margin.left},${margin.top})`);
const xScale = d3
.scaleBand()
.domain(data.map((d) => d.category))
.range([0, innerWidth])
.padding(0.2);
const yScale = d3
.scaleLinear()
.domain([0, d3.max(data, (d) => d.value)])
.nice()
.range([innerHeight, 0]);
chart.append('g').attr('transform', `translate(0,${innerHeight})`).call(d3.axisBottom(xScale));
chart.append('g').call(d3.axisLeft(yScale));
const tooltip = d3
.select('body')
.append('div')
.attr('class', 'd3-tooltip')
.style('position', 'absolute')
.style('opacity', 0);
chart
.selectAll('rect')
.data(data)
.join('rect')
.attr('x', (d) => xScale(d.category))
.attr('y', (d) => yScale(d.value))
.attr('width', xScale.bandwidth())
.attr('height', (d) => innerHeight - yScale(d.value))
.attr('fill', '#3498db')
.on('mouseover', (event, d) => {
tooltip.transition().duration(200).style('opacity', 1);
tooltip
.html(`<strong>${d.category}</strong><br/>Value: ${d.value}`)
.style('left', event.pageX + 10 + 'px')
.style('top', event.pageY - 10 + 'px');
})
.on('mouseout', () => {
tooltip.transition().duration(200).style('opacity', 0);
});
chart
.append('text')
.attr('x', innerWidth / 2)
.attr('y', -20)
.attr('text-anchor', 'middle')
.style('font-size', '18px')
.style('font-weight', 'bold')
.text('Sample Bar Chart');
Common Patterns
Line Chart
const line = d3
.line()
.x((d) => xScale(d.date))
.y((d) => yScale(d.value));
svg
.append('path')
.datum(data)
.attr('fill', 'none')
.attr('stroke', '#3498db')
.attr('stroke-width', 2)
.attr('d', line);
Scatter Plot
svg
.selectAll('circle')
.data(data)
.join('circle')
.attr('cx', (d) => xScale(d.x))
.attr('cy', (d) => yScale(d.y))
.attr('r', 5)
.attr('fill', '#3498db');
Pie Chart
const pie = d3.pie().value((d) => d.value);
const arc = d3.arc().innerRadius(0).outerRadius(radius);
svg
.selectAll('path')
.data(pie(data))
.join('path')
.attr('d', arc)
.attr('fill', (d, i) => d3.schemeCategory10[i]);
Execution Context
Your code runs with:
- D3.js v7 library available as
d3
- Container element
#visualization ready in the DOM
- Zoom and pan automatically added to your SVG
Built-in Features
- Zoom - Mouse wheel (0.5x to 10x range)
- Pan - Click and drag on background
- Reset View - Button to reset zoom/pan
- Code Viewer - Toggle to show/hide source code
- Export SVG - Download visualization as SVG file
Best Practices
- Use relative sizing - Get dimensions from container element
- Include margins - Leave space for axes and labels
- Create tooltips - Append div to body with position: absolute
- Embed data - Include data in the code file
- Test in console - Verify code works before saving
Troubleshooting
Visualization doesn't appear
- Check browser console (F12) for JavaScript errors
- Verify SVG element is created in DOM inspector
- Check that selector matches (
#visualization)
- Ensure data is valid
Elements in wrong position
- Check transform attributes and translations
- Verify scales have correct domain and range
- Ensure margins are applied consistently
Tooltips don't work
- Append tooltip div to body, not SVG
- Use
position: absolute CSS
- Use
event.pageX/pageY for positioning (not clientX/Y)
Data doesn't load
- Embed data directly in code (no external files)
- Verify data format matches visualization expectations
Technical Details
File Requirements
- File extension:
.d3
- Maximum size: 10MB (configurable)
- Valid JavaScript code
- Self-contained (no external dependencies)
Browser Compatibility
- Modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
- Requires JavaScript enabled
- CDN-dependent: D3.js v7 library
Output
The skill generates a standalone HTML file at:
.preview-skills/d3/{filename}.html
Development
This skill is standalone and includes all dependencies:
- Shared libraries bundled in
lib/
- Templates bundled in
templates/
- External CDN dependencies: D3.js v7
To modify the skill:
- Edit
config.sh for configuration
- Edit
templates/scripts/d3-renderer.js for behavior
- Edit
templates/styles/d3.css for styling
- Run
run.sh to test changes
Learn More