Quick Start

matplotly provides three ways to open the interactive editor.

1. Pass a figure directly

%matplotlib widget
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from matplotly import matplotly

fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.plot([1, 2, 3], [1, 4, 9])
matplotly(fig)

2. Decorator mode

@matplotly
def my_plot():
    plt.plot([1, 2, 3], [1, 4, 9])

my_plot()

The decorator calls your function, captures plt.gcf(), and opens the editor.

3. Context manager

with matplotly() as pb:
    fig, ax = plt.subplots()
    ax.plot([1, 2, 3], [1, 4, 9])

On exit, the context manager captures the current figure and launches the editor.

What happens next

After calling matplotly(), the editor appears inline in your notebook. You’ll see:

• A toolbar at the top with Undo, Redo, Save, Apply, and Close buttons.

• A sidebar on the left with collapsible panels for global settings (fonts, axes, grid, legend) and per-series controls (colors, line styles, markers).

• A canvas on the right showing a live preview of your figure that updates as you change settings.

Edit any property in the sidebar and the canvas refreshes immediately. When you’re done, click Apply to export the styling as reproducible Python code that replaces the current cell. See Editor Guide for a full walkthrough.