Guides

Chartwise / 4 min read

Start with the question. Then choose the chart.

A practical way to move from a table of numbers to a chart that tells the truth.

Decide what someone needs to see

Before choosing a chart library, write the question in one sentence. Are you comparing categories, looking at change over time, or understanding the distribution of individual observations? Those are different jobs. A chart that works for one can obscure another.

Give Chartwise the shape of your data

Provide column names, representative rows, units, and the intended audience. Explain whether a field is a category, an ordered time value, or a continuous measurement. If values are missing or aggregated, say so. Use a sanitized sample when your underlying data is private.

Ask for a choice and its reasoning

Use the Chartwise pick skill to compare suitable chart types. For completed tasks by team, bars make lengths easy to compare. For completed tasks over successive weeks, a line can reveal a trend. For task durations, a histogram can show the distribution that an average hides. Ask what the selected chart cannot tell you.

Build for the project you already have

Once you agree on the chart, use the build skill and identify your existing framework and chart library. Include formatting needs, empty and loading states, responsive behavior, and an accessible data table. Review generated code in the context of your application before shipping it.

Critique the result

Ask the critique skill to inspect the baseline, ordering, labels, color encoding, and uncertainty. Bar charts generally need a zero baseline to represent magnitude honestly. Time observations should keep their order. Histogram bins should reveal useful structure without making sampling noise look like a pattern.

Try the example, then use your own question

The website example tours a Sankey flow, a ranking race, and a beeswarm distribution. Select a chart to explore it, or open its data table to hold the tour. Its values are curated and it does not run the plugin. Use it to understand the decisions, then bring your actual question and data structure to the installed skill.

Installation

Run these commands inside Claude Code. Copying a command does not install anything. 1. Add the marketplace

Claude Code
/plugin install chartwise@alsheddi-claude-marketplace

Search titles, capabilities, and guides. Use Tab to choose a result, Enter to open it, and Escape to close.

Installation

Make it part of your toolkit.

Run these commands inside Claude Code. Copying a command does not install anything.

1. Add the marketplace

Claude Code
/plugin marketplace add nawafSheddi/alsheddi-claude-marketplace
Claude Code
/plugin install chartwise@alsheddi-claude-marketplace

Claude Code · Codex

Read the full installation guide