Quick start guide

This guide will help you create your first Datawrapper chart using the object-oriented Python API. You’ll learn the basics of chart creation, configuration, and publishing.

Prerequisites

Python 3.10 or higher
An account at datawrapper.de
A Datawrapper API token with appropriate permissions

Installation

Install the datawrapper package using uv or pip or another Python package manager:

# Using uv (recommended)
uv add datawrapper

# Or using pip
pip install datawrapper

Getting Your API Token

Log in to your Datawrapper account
Go to Settings → API Tokens
Click “Create new token”
Give it a descriptive name (e.g., “Python Scripts”)
Copy the token and store it securely
Set it as an environment variable named DATAWRAPPER_ACCESS_TOKEN

Creating your first chart

Let’s create a simple bar chart showing programming language popularity:

import pandas as pd
import datawrapper as dw

# Set up your data
data = pd.DataFrame(
    {
        "Language": ["Python", "JavaScript", "TypeScript", "Java", "C#"],
        "Percentage": [49.3, 62.3, 38.5, 30.5, 27.1],
    }
)

# Create a bar chart
chart = dw.BarChart(
    title="Most Popular Programming Languages 2024",
    intro="Based on Stack Overflow Developer Survey",
    data=data,
    value_label_format=dw.NumberFormat.ONE_DECIMAL,
    source_name="Stack Overflow",
    source_url="https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2024",
    byline="Datawrapper Quickstart Guide",
)

# Create the chart on Datawrapper (uses DATAWRAPPER_ACCESS_TOKEN environment variable)
chart.create()

# You could also provide the token at runtime
# chart_id = chart.create(access_token="your_token_here")

# Publish the chart
chart.publish()

Updating an existing chart

# Get the chart from the API
chart = dw.get_chart(chart_id)

# Make a change
chart.title = "Most Popular Programming Languages in 2024!!!"
chart.update()

Creating multiple charts

for category in ["Sales", "Revenue", "Profit"]:
    chart = dw.BarChart(
        title=f"{category} by Region", data=get_data_for_category(category)
    )
    chart.create()

Happy charting! 📊