Plot History Management
Search, retrieve, and export plots from the persistent history.
When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when the user:
- •Asks about a plot they made before ("show me the scatter plot from yesterday")
- •Wants to find a specific visualization ("find my sales chart")
- •Needs to export a previous plot ("export that histogram to PNG")
- •Asks what plots exist ("what plots have I made?")
- •Wants to compare or reference earlier work
IMPORTANT: Check History First
Before recreating a plot from scratch, ALWAYS check if it already exists in history:
bash
npx ggterm-plot history
This saves time and ensures consistency with what the user previously created.
CLI Commands
List All Plots
bash
npx ggterm-plot history
Output:
code
Plot History: ID Date Description ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 2024-01-26-001 2024-01-26 Scatter plot of price vs sqft by region - "Housing" 2024-01-26-002 2024-01-26 Histogram of income - "Income Distribution" 2024-01-27-001 2024-01-27 Line chart of revenue vs date by product - "Sales" Total: 3 plot(s)
Search History
bash
npx ggterm-plot history <search-term>
Searches across:
- •Plot descriptions
- •Data file names
- •Geom types (scatter, histogram, line, etc.)
Examples:
bash
npx ggterm-plot history scatter # Find scatter plots npx ggterm-plot history sales # Find plots with "sales" npx ggterm-plot history histogram # Find histograms npx ggterm-plot history iris.csv # Find plots using iris.csv
Re-render a Plot
bash
npx ggterm-plot show <plot-id>
Displays the plot in the terminal exactly as it was originally created.
Export a Plot
bash
npx ggterm-plot export <plot-id> [output.html]
Creates an interactive HTML file with PNG/SVG download buttons.
Natural Language → Commands
| User Request | Command |
|---|---|
| "What plots have I made?" | history |
| "Show me my scatter plots" | history scatter |
| "Find the plot with sales data" | history sales |
| "Display plot 2024-01-26-001" | show 2024-01-26-001 |
| "Show me yesterday's histogram" | history histogram → find by date → show <id> |
| "Export the iris plot" | history iris → export <id> iris-plot.html |
| "Re-export that last chart" | history → get latest → export <id> |
Workflow Examples
Example 1: "Show me the plot I made with the housing data"
bash
# Step 1: Search for it npx ggterm-plot history housing # Output shows: 2024-01-26-001 Scatter plot of price vs sqft - "Housing Prices" # Step 2: Display it npx ggterm-plot show 2024-01-26-001
Example 2: "Export my histogram to PNG"
bash
# Step 1: Find histograms npx ggterm-plot history histogram # Output shows: 2024-01-26-002 Histogram of income - "Income Distribution" # Step 2: Export to HTML (user can download PNG from browser) npx ggterm-plot export 2024-01-26-002 income-histogram.html # Step 3: Tell user to open in browser and click "Download PNG"
Example 3: "What did I plot last week?"
bash
# List all and filter by date visually npx ggterm-plot history # Look for entries with dates from last week in the output
Plot ID Format
IDs follow the pattern: YYYY-MM-DD-NNN
- •
YYYY-MM-DD- Date the plot was created - •
NNN- Sequence number for that day (001, 002, etc.)
Example: 2024-01-26-003 = Third plot created on January 26, 2024
Provenance Information
Each stored plot includes:
- •timestamp: When it was created
- •dataFile: Path to the data file used
- •command: The exact CLI command that created it
- •description: Auto-generated summary of the plot
- •geomTypes: List of geometries used (point, line, histogram, etc.)
- •aesthetics: Mapped variables (x, y, color, etc.)
To see full provenance, read the plot file directly:
bash
cat .ggterm/plots/2024-01-26-001.json
Tips
- •Be generous with search terms - The search is case-insensitive and matches partial strings
- •Check dates - If user says "yesterday" or "last week", look at the Date column
- •Multiple matches - If search returns multiple plots, ask user to clarify or show the list
- •Missing plots - If nothing matches, the plot may not exist; offer to create it
$ARGUMENTS