kx-plot

One-line matplotlib plots and themes for notebooks and scripts.

kx is a small, plain-Python package with .mplstyle themes, palettes and colourmaps. It needs nothing beyond matplotlib, numpy and pandas and works offline, so it also runs in Kaggle competition notebooks.

Install

pip install kx-plot

import kx; kx.use('dark')

Kaggle

With internet off (competition notebooks), attach the dataset instead (Add Input → Datasets → vhrabar/kx-plot), then:

import sys; sys.path.append('/kaggle/input/datasets/vhrabar/kx-plot')
import kx; kx.use('dark')

Usage

kx.use('light', palette='okabe', cmap='cividis')   # notebook default: theme, palette, colormap
kx.plot(x, y, z, 'scatter-grid-leg')               # spec: kind-theme-flag-...
kx.plot(x, y, 'bar-paper')                         # a theme in the spec applies to this plot only

Unknown tokens raise an error instead of being guessed. Everything is inspectable: kx.grammar(), kx.grammar('area'), kx.show('dark'), kx.source('scatter').

rcParams can be overridden in kx.use with __ for dots: kx.use('dark', figure__figsize=(8, 4)).

Palettes

Palettes for kx.use(theme, palette=...), they swap only the colours; a theme's other cycled properties (such as paper's linestyles) stay.

kx.palette('okabe') returns the hex codes. A list of colours works too: palette=['#264653', '#e9c46a'].

Colourmaps

Colourmaps for kx.use(theme, cmap=...) colour continuous values, such as a numeric z in scatter. Without cmap, the theme's own default applies.

kx.cmaps() lists the ones that are available in the installed matplotlib as those implemented in matplotlib 3.10 or newer are not vendored.

License

Released under the MIT License. See LICENSE.

Copyright © 2026 Vedran Hrabar

Vendored palettes keep their own licences; see kx/styles/palettes/LICENCES.md.