Build Dashboards with Vizro: McKinsey's Open-Source Python Toolkit
McKinsey has introduced Vizro, an open-source Python toolkit designed to streamline the creation of sophisticated, production-ready data visualization applications. This innovative tool promises to simplify a process that typically demands extensive coding, enabling users to build multi-page dashboards with just a few lines of configuration using JSON, YAML, or Python dictionaries. This represents a significant leap from the thousands of lines of code traditionally required for such projects.
Built upon well-established frameworks like Plotly, Dash, and Pydantic, Vizro seamlessly merges the inherent flexibility of open-source development with integrated best practices for design and scalability. The toolkit is engineered for rapid adoption, allowing new users to quickly grasp its fundamentals. Simultaneously, it offers deep customization options for advanced developers, ensuring a smooth transition from initial prototype to full-scale production deployment.
A notable application of Vizro involves its integration with AI environments, such as Claude Desktop, via the Vizro MCP server. This setup allows for an intuitive, AI-driven approach to dashboard generation. To facilitate this, users first need to prepare their environment by installing a package manager like uv, which is essential for running the Vizro server. Following this, a simple configuration within Claude Desktop’s installation directory—specifically, by modifying a JSON file to point to the uvx executable—enables the AI to interact with the Vizro server.
Once configured, the Vizro MCP server becomes accessible within Claude Desktop. This integration unlocks a powerful workflow: users can issue natural language prompts, such as “create a Vizro dashboard using tips dataset,” and Claude, leveraging the Vizro MCP server, will automatically generate and display a comprehensive dashboard in their browser through PyCafe. These AI-generated dashboards are not static images but interactive visualizations, showcasing dynamic charts that can illustrate relationships like tips versus total bill, average tips by day, tip distribution by gender, and tips by party size. Crucially, these dashboards also incorporate interactive filters for elements like day, gender, and smoker status, empowering users to perform seamless cross-filtering analysis with minimal effort.
Vizro thus stands as a testament to the evolving landscape of data visualization, offering a robust, accessible, and highly efficient solution for creating compelling data insights. Its open-source nature, combined with its capacity for AI integration, positions it as a valuable asset for data professionals seeking to accelerate their analytical workflows and democratize access to advanced dashboarding capabilities.