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Claude Code skill that turns 'make me a chart' into a Tufte-compliant chart. Distilled from Edward Tufte's three foundational books.
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# tufte-claude-skill
A Claude Code skill that turns "make me a chart" into a Tufte-compliant chart. Distilled from the three foundational books by Edward R. Tufte.
<table>
<tr>
<td align="center" width="33%"><img src="assets/vdqi-cover.svg" alt="The Visual Display of Quantitative Information" width="240"/></td>
<td align="center" width="33%"><img src="assets/ei-cover.svg" alt="Envisioning Information" width="240"/></td>
<td align="center" width="33%"><img src="assets/ve-cover.svg" alt="Visual Explanations" width="240"/></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="center"><b>The Visual Display of Quantitative Information</b><br/><i>1983 · 2nd ed. 2001</i><br/><sub>pictures of <b>numbers</b></sub></td>
<td align="center"><b>Envisioning Information</b><br/><i>1990</i><br/><sub>pictures of <b>nouns</b></sub></td>
<td align="center"><b>Visual Explanations</b><br/><i>1997</i><br/><sub>pictures of <b>verbs</b></sub></td>
</tr>
</table>
---
## Install
Clone into your Claude Code skills directory:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/aref-vc/tufte-claude-skill.git ~/.claude/skills/tufte
```
That's it. Claude Code auto-loads the skill on next launch. To verify, run `/tufte` or ask Claude to "make a chart of anything."
To update later:
```bash
cd ~/.claude/skills/tufte && git pull
```
To uninstall:
```bash
rm -rf ~/.claude/skills/tufte
```
---
## The three books, distilled
Tufte gives the three-book taxonomy himself on page 9 of *Visual Explanations*:
- **VDQI** — how to depict data and enforce statistical honesty. The book that gave us *data-ink ratio*, *chartjunk*, *lie factor*, *small multiples*.
- **EI** — how to lay out information in space. Layering, micro/macro readings, color rules, escaping flatland.
- **VE** — how to show motion, causality, narrative. The smallest effective difference, parallelism, visual confections.
Together they yield the ten principles this skill applies.
### The ten principles
1. **Show the data.** Above all else. Every other decision asks "does this help the reader see the data?"
2. **Maximize the data-ink ratio.** Ink that would change if the data changed is data-ink. Everything else is overhead.
3. **Erase non-data-ink.** Drop the frame box, drop the gridlines, drop the ticks at minor units.
4. **Erase redundant data-ink.** Pick one encoding per quantity. A bar plus a number plus a gridline plus an axis tick all saying "37" is one thing said four times.
5. **Graphical integrity.** Lie factor between 0.95 and 1.05. Bar charts start at zero. Never use area for a 1D quantity.
6. **Small multiples.** When you have a cross-cut (region, segment, cohort), make N small charts on a shared scale instead of one chart with N lines.
7. **Layering and separation.** Data on top, labels next, scaffolding faintest. Watch for the *1+1=3 effect* — when two heavy elements interact to create unintended visual noise.
8. **Micro/macro readings.** Good charts work at two scales: one shape from across the room, every data point legible up close.
9. **The smallest effective difference.** "Make all visual distinctions as subtle as possible, but still clear and effective." Gray for context, one accent for focus.
10. **Word-data integration.** Sparklines belong in sentences. Numbers belong next to their visual. Tables are charts too.
Tufte's own five-line summary from VDQI p.105:
> Above all else show the data.
> Maximize the data-ink ratio.
> Erase non-data-ink.
> Erase redundant data-ink.
> Revise and edit.
---
## How the skill works
When you ask Claude to make, design, critique, or improve any chart, the skill activates automatically. It then:
1. **Reads `principles.md`** to recall the ten rules.
2. **Picks the chart type** from `chart-selection.md` based on your data shape and goal — not from what's familiar or what the library makes easy.
3. **Applies `kill-list.md`** — removes the things that don't belong (3D, pie, dual-axis, rainbow scales, frame boxes, redundant legends).
4. **ProducesExcerpt of 10,612 characters
Read on GitHubWould you bet a product on this? Bounded 0–100 and slow moving.
matched fp:836d6bd477d594e0, llm:Description: 'Claude Code skill that turns "make me a chart" into a Tufte-compliant chart. Distilled from Edward Tufte's three foundational books.'
matched fp:836d6bd477d594e0, llm:Description: 'Claude Code skill that turns "make me a chart" into a Tufte-compliant chart. Distilled from Edward Tufte's three foundational books.'
matched fp:836d6bd477d594e0, llm:Description: 'Claude Code skill that turns "make me a chart" into a Tufte-compliant chart. Distilled from Edward Tufte's three foundational books.'