type: initiative slug: m3-chart-and-viz-extensibility title: M3 chart and visualization extensibility workstream: graph-library owner: data-viz-designer-engineer status: planned milestone: m3-public-launch
Research how Vega, Vega-Lite, major charting libraries, headless BI tools, and declarative UI frameworks enable custom visualizations and extensions. Recommend a lightweight path for Dataface (Python, SVG-first). Preferred default: type: inline as a normal built-in chart, shipped early, so many teams never need a separate plugin / registry system. No rich HTML widget framework. If Dataface ships with dbt (locked installer / Cloud image), inline + dbt-package templates carry most extensibility; Python plugins behave like blessed extras, not ad hoc pip install — see spec §4.5. Capture implications for chart module layout and YAML schema versioning.
type: inline can ship as soon as it is ready (often M2 or earlier if scope is tight); it should not wait on the full extensible schema / registry task unless we choose to couple them.extensible-schema-with-custom-elements-and-chart-types), potentially smaller if inline satisfies most “custom chart” demand.task-m2-yaml-version-migrations); inline payload keys and any later extension IDs should version cleanly.inline (vega_lite → vega if needed).