Charts - Axis

Axis provides associate values to element positions.

Axes are used in the following charts: <LineChart />, <BarChart />, <ScatterChart />.

Defining axis

Like your data, axis definition plays a central role in the chart rendering. It's responsible for the mapping between your data and element positions.

You can define custom axes by using xAxis and yAxis props. Those props expect an array of objects.

Here is a demonstration with two lines with the same data. But one uses a linear, and the other a log axis. Each axis definition is identified by its property id. Then each series specifies the axis they use with the xAxisId and yAxisId properties.

<LineChart
  xAxis={[{ data: sample }]}
  yAxis={[
    { id: 'linearAxis', scaleType: 'linear' },
    { id: 'logAxis', scaleType: 'log' },
  ]}
  series={[
    { yAxisId: 'linearAxis', data: sample, label: 'linear' },
    { yAxisId: 'logAxis', data: sample, label: 'log' },
  ]}
  leftAxis="linearAxis"
  rightAxis="logAxis"
  height={400}
/>

<LineChart
  xAxis={[{ data: sample }]}
  yAxis={[
    { id: 'linearAxis', scaleType: 'linear' },
    { id: 'logAxis', scaleType: 'log' },
  ]}
  series={[
    { yAxisId: 'linearAxis', data: sample, label: 'linear' },
    { yAxisId: 'logAxis', data: sample, label: 'log' },
  ]}
  leftAxis="linearAxis"
  rightAxis="logAxis"
  height={400}
/>

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Axis type

The axis type is specified by its property scaleType which expect one of the following values:

'band': Split the axis in equal band. Mostly used for bar charts.
'point': Split the axis in equally spaced points. Mostly used for line charts on categories.
'linear', 'log', 'sqrt': Map numerical values to the space available for the chart. 'linear' is the default behavior.
'time', 'utc': Map JavaScript Date() object to the space available for the chart.

Axis data

The axis definition object also includes a data property. Which expects an array of value coherent with the scaleType:

For 'linear', 'log', or 'sqrt' it should contain numerical values
For 'time' or 'utc' it should contain Date() objects
For 'band' or 'point' it can contain string, or numerical values

Some series types also require specific axis attributes:

line plots require an xAxis to have data provided
bar plots require an xAxis with scaleType='band' and some data provided.

Axis formatter

Axis data can be displayed in the axes ticks and the tooltip. To modify how data is displayed use the valueFormatter property.

The second argument of valueFormatter provides some rendering context for advanced use cases.

In the next demo, valueFormatter is used to shorten months and introduce a breaking space for ticks only. To distinguish tick and tooltip, it uses the context.location.

<BarChart
  dataset={dataset}
  xAxis={[
    {
      scaleType: 'band',
      dataKey: 'month',
      valueFormatter: (month, context) =>
        context.location === 'tick'
          ? `${month.slice(0, 3)} \n2023`
          : `${month} 2023`,
    },
  ]}
  series={[{ dataKey: 'seoul', label: 'Seoul rainfall', valueFormatter }]}
  {...otherSetting}
/>

<BarChart
  dataset={dataset}
  xAxis={[
    {
      scaleType: 'band',
      dataKey: 'month',
      valueFormatter: (month, context) =>
        context.location === 'tick'
          ? `${month.slice(0, 3)} \n2023`
          : `${month} 2023`,
    },
  ]}
  series={[{ dataKey: 'seoul', label: 'Seoul rainfall', valueFormatter }]}
  {...otherSetting}
/>

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Axis sub domain

By default, the axis domain is computed such that all your data is visible. To show a specific range of values, you can provide properties min and/or max to the axis definition.

xAxis={[
  {
    min: 10,
    max: 50,
  },
]}

Relative axis subdomain

You can adjust the axis range relatively to its data by using the domainLimit option. It can take 3 different values:

"nice" Rounds the domain at human friendly values. It's the default behavior.
"strict" Sets the domain to the min/max value to display.
([minValue, maxValue]) => [min, max] Receives the calculated extremums as parameters, and should return the axis domain.

The demo below shows different ways to set the y-axis range. They always display the same data, going from -15 to 92, but with different domainLimit settings.

domain limit

Axis direction

By default, the axes' directions are left to right and bottom to top. You can change this behavior with the property reverse.

reverse x-axisreverse left axisreverse right axis

Grid

You can add a grid in the background of the cartesian chart with the grid prop.

It accepts an object with vertical and horizontal properties. Setting those properties to true will display the grid lines.

If you use composition you can pass those properties to the <ChartsGrid /> component.

<BarChart grid={{ vertical: true }}>

<ChartContainer>
  <ChartsGrid vertical >
</ChartContainer>

<BarChart
  dataset={dataset}
  xAxis={[{ scaleType: 'band', dataKey: 'month' }]}
  series={[{ dataKey: 'seoul', label: 'Seoul rainfall', valueFormatter }]}
  grid={{ horizontal: true }}
  sx={{
    [`& .${axisClasses.left} .${axisClasses.label}`]: {
      transform: 'translateX(-10px)',
    },
    [`& .${chartsGridClasses.line}`]: { strokeDasharray: '5 3', strokeWidth: 2 },
  }}
  {...chartSetting}
/>

<BarChart
  dataset={dataset}
  xAxis={[{ scaleType: 'band', dataKey: 'month' }]}
  series={[{ dataKey: 'seoul', label: 'Seoul rainfall', valueFormatter }]}
  grid={{ horizontal: true }}
  sx={{
    [`& .${axisClasses.left} .${axisClasses.label}`]: {
      transform: 'translateX(-10px)',
    },
    [`& .${chartsGridClasses.line}`]: { strokeDasharray: '5 3', strokeWidth: 2 },
  }}
  {...chartSetting}
/>

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Tick position

Automatic tick position

You can customize the number of ticks with the property tickNumber.

As a helper, you can also provide tickMinStep and tickMaxStep which will compute tickNumber such that the step between two ticks respect those min/max values.

Here the top axis has a tickMinStep of half a day, and the bottom axis a tickMinStep of a full day.

<LineChart
  xAxis={[
    {
      ...xAxisCommon,
      tickMinStep: 3600 * 1000 * 24, // min step: 24h
    },
    {
      ...xAxisCommon,
      id: 'half days',
      tickMinStep: 3600 * 1000 * 12, // min step: 12hu
    },
  ]}
  {...config}
/>

<LineChart
  xAxis={[
    {
      ...xAxisCommon,
      tickMinStep: 3600 * 1000 * 24, // min step: 24h
    },
    {
      ...xAxisCommon,
      id: 'half days',
      tickMinStep: 3600 * 1000 * 12, // min step: 12hu
    },
  ]}
  {...config}
/>

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Fixed tick positions

If you want more control over the tick position, you can use the tickInterval property.

This property accepts an array of values. Ticks will be placed at those values.

For axis with scale type 'point', the tickInterval property can be a filtering function of the type (value, index) => boolean.

In the next demo, both axes are with scaleType='point'. The top axis displays the default behavior. It shows a tick for each point. The bottom axis uses a filtering function to only display a tick at the beginning of a day.

<LineChart
  xAxis={[
    {
      ...xAxisCommon,
      id: 'bottomAxis',
      scaleType: 'point',
      tickInterval: (time) => time.getHours() === 0,
    },
    {
      ...xAxisCommon,
      id: 'topAxis',
      scaleType: 'point',
    },
  ]}
  {...config}
/>

<LineChart
  xAxis={[
    {
      ...xAxisCommon,
      id: 'bottomAxis',
      scaleType: 'point',
      tickInterval: (time) => time.getHours() === 0,
    },
    {
      ...xAxisCommon,
      id: 'topAxis',
      scaleType: 'point',
    },
  ]}
  {...config}
/>

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Filtering ticks label

You can display labels only on a subset of ticks with the tickLabelInterval property. It's a filtering function in the (value, index) => boolean form.

For example tickLabelInterval: (value, index) => index % 2 === 0 will show the label every two ticks.

By default, ticks are filtered such that their labels do not overlap. You can override this behavior with tickLabelInterval: () => true which forces showing the tick label for each tick.

In this example, the top axis is a reference for the default behavior. Notice that tick labels do not overflow.

At the bottom, you can see one tick for the beginning and the middle of the day but the tick label is only displayed for the beginning of the day.

Axis customization

You can further customize the axis rendering besides the axis definition.

Fixing overflow issues

If your tick labels are too long, they can either overflow the SVG or overlap with the axis label. Resolving this can be achieved in two ways:

Increase the space between the SVG border and the axis by setting the margin props.
Modify the axis label position by:
- Using the axis configuration labelStyle.transform.
- Applying CSS transform to the class name axisClasses.label.

In the following demo, the margin is modified to provide more space to the x and y axes. The x-axis label placement is based on the axis configuration, and the y-axis is placed using a CSS selector.

fix chart marginfix axis label position

Position

Charts components provide 4 props: topAxis, rightAxis, bottomAxis, and leftAxis allowing to define the 4 axes of the chart. Those props can accept three type of value:

null to not display the axis
string which should correspond to the id of a xAxis for top and bottom. Or to the id of a yAxis for left and right.
object which will be passed as props to <XAxis /> or <YAxis />. It allows to specify which axis should be represent with the axisId property, and to customize the design of the axis.

The demo below uses leftAxis={null} to remove the left axis, and rightAxis={{}} to set a right axis without overriding the default y-axis configuration.

<ScatterChart
  {...params}
  leftAxis={null}
  bottomAxis={null}
  topAxis={{}}
  rightAxis={{}}
  margin={{ top: 30, bottom: 10 }}
/>

<ScatterChart
  {...params}
  leftAxis={null}
  bottomAxis={null}
  topAxis={{}}
  rightAxis={{}}
  margin={{ top: 30, bottom: 10 }}
/>

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Hiding axis

To hide an axis, set it to null. For example leftAxis={null} hides the left axis.

<BarChart
  series={[{ data: [1, 2, 3, 2, 1] }]}
  xAxis={[{ scaleType: 'band', data: ['A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E'] }]}
  height={300}
  width={300}
  leftAxis={null}
/>

<BarChart
  series={[{ data: [1, 2, 3, 2, 1] }]}
  xAxis={[{ scaleType: 'band', data: ['A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E'] }]}
  height={300}
  width={300}
  leftAxis={null}
/>

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Rendering

Axes rendering can be further customized. Below is an interactive demonstration of the axis props.

import { ScatterChart } from '@mui/x-charts/ScatterChart';

<ScatterChart
  {/** ... */}
  bottomAxis={{
    label: "my axis",
  }}
/>

Playground

disableLine

disableTicks

label

tickSize

Text customization

To customize the text elements (ticks label and the axis label) use the tickLabelStyle and labelStyle properties of the axis configuration.

import { ScatterChart } from '@mui/x-charts/ScatterChart';

<ScatterChart
  {/** ... */}
  bottomAxis={{
    labelStyle: {
      fontSize: 14,
      transform: `translateY(${
            // Hack that should be added in the lib latter.
            5 * Math.abs(Math.sin((Math.PI * props.angle) / 180))
          }px)`
    },
    tickLabelStyle: {
      angle: 45,
      textAnchor: 'start',
      fontSize: 12,
    },
  }}
/>

Playground

angle

textAnchor

fontSize

labelFontSize

Composition

If you are using composition, you have to provide the axis settings in the <ChartContainer /> by using xAxis and yAxis props.

It will provide all the scaling properties to its children, and allows you to use <XAxis/> and <YAxis/> components as children. Those components require an axisId prop to link them to an axis you defined in the <ChartContainer />.

You can choose their position with position props which accept 'top'/'bottom' for <XAxis /> and 'left'/'right' for <YAxis />. Other props are similar to the ones defined in the previous section.

Reference line

The <ChartsReferenceLine /> component add a reference line to the charts. You can provide an x or y prop to get a vertical or horizontal line respectively at this value.

You can add a label to this reference line. It can be placed with labelAlign prop which accepts 'start', 'middle', and 'end' values. Elements can be styled with lineStyle and labelStyle props.

<ResponsiveChartContainer {...config}>
  <LinePlot />
  <ChartsReferenceLine
    x={new Date(2023, 8, 2, 9)}
    lineStyle={{ strokeDasharray: '10 5' }}
    labelStyle={{ fontSize: '10' }}
    label={`Wake up\n9AM`}
    labelAlign="start"
  />
  <ChartsReferenceLine y={50} label="Middle value" labelAlign="end" />
  <ChartsXAxis />
  <ChartsYAxis />
</ResponsiveChartContainer>

<ResponsiveChartContainer {...config}>
  <LinePlot />
  <ChartsReferenceLine
    x={new Date(2023, 8, 2, 9)}
    lineStyle={{ strokeDasharray: '10 5' }}
    labelStyle={{ fontSize: '10' }}
    label={`Wake up\n9AM`}
    labelAlign="start"
  />
  <ChartsReferenceLine y={50} label="Middle value" labelAlign="end" />
  <ChartsXAxis />
  <ChartsYAxis />
</ResponsiveChartContainer>

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API

See the documentation below for a complete reference to all of the props and classes available to the components mentioned here.