Taxonomy

TAXONOMY . the coding grammar and the full catalogue map

This is the index an information designer uses to talk to an agent: pick a code, name a language, get a determined visual. Example instructions: "CH-TIM-02 in DL-03", "CH-RNK-01 in DL-02, highlight Electrical".

Code grammar

FN-nn            foundation (token contract, grid, type, numbers, perception)
DL-nn            design language (complete visual identity + philosophy + constitution)
BQ-nn            business question (what is being asked -> patterns, charts, narrative)
PT-nn            analytical pattern (what the data shows -> which charts)
NR-nn            narrative skeleton (how the finding is told, per decision_style)
CH-FAM-nn        chart entry: family code + number within family
CP-FAM-nn        component entry: family code + number within family
RC-nnn           recipe: a fully determined page (DL + CH + CP set)

Built PT patterns: PT-01 TREND, PT-02 OUTLIER, PT-03 GAP-TO-PLAN, PT-04 CONCENTRATION, PT-05 MIX-SHIFT, PT-06 THRESHOLD-BREACH, PT-07 DRIVER-DECOMPOSITION, PT-08 CYCLE (see PATTERNS.md, generated). Language selection rules live in decision/engine.json (see DECIDER.md).

Codes are permanent. An entry is never renumbered and never reused; retired entries keep their code with status retired. New entries take the next free number in their family. This is what lets external skills and design systems reference codes forever.

Statuses: spec = built, validated, golden renders shipped. planned = named and scoped, not yet built. warn = will be built with heavy anti-pattern warnings (exists because people ask for it).

CH chart families

Adapted from the information-design canon (FT Visual Vocabulary lineage): choose the family by WHAT THE MESSAGE IS, then the entry by the data shape.

Family	Code	The message is...
Ranking	RNK	who is biggest/smallest, ordered
Magnitude	MAG	how big things are, natural order kept
Change over time	TIM	how it moved, trend, progress
Part-to-whole	PTW	how a total splits
Deviation	DEV	distance from a reference (plan, budget, zero)
Distribution	DST	how values spread
Correlation	COR	how two measures relate
Spatial	SPA	where
Flow	FLO	movement between states or stages
Tables	TAB	exact values the reader will look up

CH-RNK Ranking

Code	Entry	Status
CH-RNK-01	BAR-H, horizontal bar, sorted descending	spec
CH-RNK-02	ORDERED COLUMN, vertical, sorted	spec
CH-RNK-03	LOLLIPOP	spec
CH-RNK-04	BUMP, rank over time	spec
CH-RNK-05	DOT STRIP, ordered	spec
CH-RNK-06	TABLE WITH BARS	spec

CH-MAG Magnitude

Code	Entry	Status
CH-MAG-01	COLUMN, vertical bar, input order kept	spec
CH-MAG-02	PAIRED COLUMN, two measures side by side	spec
CH-MAG-03	PAIRED BAR	spec
CH-MAG-04	BULLET, actual vs target vs bands	spec
CH-MAG-05	PROPORTIONAL SYMBOL	spec
CH-MAG-06	PICTOGRAM / ISOTYPE	spec
CH-MAG-07	RADAR	spec (warn)
CH-MAG-08	PARLIAMENT / SEAT CHART	spec
CH-MAG-09	GAUGE	spec (warn)

CH-TIM Change over time

Code	Entry	Status
CH-TIM-01	LINE, trend, 2-4 series	spec
CH-TIM-02	S-CURVE, cumulative progress vs plan	spec
CH-TIM-03	AREA	spec
CH-TIM-04	STACKED AREA	spec
CH-TIM-05	SLOPE, two-point change	spec
CH-TIM-06	SPARKLINE, inline micro-trend	spec
CH-TIM-07	CALENDAR HEATMAP	spec
CH-TIM-08	FAN, forecast with uncertainty bands	spec
CH-TIM-09	GANTT, schedule bars with milestones	spec
CH-TIM-10	CONNECTED SCATTER	spec
CH-TIM-11	STREAMGRAPH	spec (warn)
CH-TIM-12	HORIZON, dense multi-series in tight rows	spec (warn)
CH-TIM-13	STEP, values that hold between changes (rates, policies, stock)	spec
CH-TIM-14	INDEXED LINE, series rebased to 100 at a common start	spec
CH-TIM-15	EVENT TIMELINE, dated milestones and annotations	spec

CH-PTW Part-to-whole

Code	Entry	Status
CH-PTW-01	STACKED BAR	spec
CH-PTW-02	100% STACKED BAR	spec
CH-PTW-03	PIE, 3 slices max	spec (warn)
CH-PTW-04	DONUT	spec (warn)
CH-PTW-05	TREEMAP	spec
CH-PTW-06	WAFFLE	spec
CH-PTW-07	MARIMEKKO	spec
CH-PTW-08	FUNNEL	spec
CH-PTW-09	SUNBURST	spec (warn)
CH-PTW-10	CIRCLE PACK	spec (warn)

CH-DEV Deviation

Code	Entry	Status
CH-DEV-01	DIVERGING BAR, +/- from reference	spec
CH-DEV-02	DUMBBELL, before/after per category	spec
CH-DEV-03	SPINE	spec
CH-DEV-04	SURPLUS/DEFICIT AREA	spec
CH-DEV-05	DIVERGING STACKED, sentiment scales	spec

CH-DST Distribution

Code	Entry	Status
CH-DST-01	HISTOGRAM	spec
CH-DST-02	DOT PLOT	spec
CH-DST-03	DOT STRIP	spec
CH-DST-04	BOXPLOT	spec
CH-DST-05	POPULATION PYRAMID	spec
CH-DST-06	CUMULATIVE CURVE	spec
CH-DST-07	BEESWARM	spec
CH-DST-08	VIOLIN	spec (warn)
CH-DST-09	DENSITY CURVE (KDE)	spec
CH-DST-10	ERROR BARS & BANDS, uncertainty overlays for any mark	spec

CH-COR Correlation

Code	Entry	Status
CH-COR-01	SCATTER	spec
CH-COR-02	BUBBLE, third measure as size	spec
CH-COR-03	XY HEATMAP	spec
CH-COR-04	COLUMN + LINE, two measures, labeled scales	spec
CH-COR-05	HEXBIN, binned scatter for hundreds of points	spec
CH-COR-06	PARALLEL COORDINATES	spec (warn)
CH-COR-07	SCATTERPLOT MATRIX (SPLOM)	spec (warn)

CH-SPA Spatial

Code	Entry	Status
CH-SPA-01	CHOROPLETH	spec
CH-SPA-02	PROPORTIONAL SYMBOL MAP	spec
CH-SPA-03	ROUTE PROGRESS, done/pending along a corridor	spec
CH-SPA-04	DOT DENSITY	spec
CH-SPA-05	FLOW MAP	spec

CH-FLO Flow

Code	Entry	Status
CH-FLO-01	WATERFALL, start to end via +/- steps	spec
CH-FLO-02	SANKEY	spec
CH-FLO-03	NETWORK	spec
CH-FLO-04	CHORD	spec (warn)

CH-TAB Tables

Code	Entry	Status
CH-TAB-01	STATUS MATRIX, entities x stages with status words	spec
CH-TAB-02	HEATMAP TABLE	spec
CH-TAB-03	KPI TABLE, values + deltas + micro-trends	spec

CP component families

Code	Entry	Status
CP-TXT-01	ACTION TITLE (with DL chrome)	spec
CP-TXT-02	SOURCE LINE	spec
CP-KPI-01	KPI CARD	spec
CP-STA-01	STATUS CHIP (outlined, dot + word)	spec
CP-CAL-01	INSIGHT CALLOUT	spec
CP-KPI-02	BIG NUMBER	spec
CP-STA-02	OUTLINED STAMP (blueprint register)	spec
CP-STR-01	HEADER BAND	spec
CP-STR-02	DRAWING TITLE BLOCK	spec
CP-LAB-01	LEADER-LINE ANNOTATION (standalone)	spec
CP-CAL-02	EXCEPTION ROW	spec

RC recipes

A recipe pins everything: DL + charts + components + exact positions on the 1280x720 canvas. Recurring deliverables reference a recipe code, so a weekly deck renders identically forever.

Code	Recipe	DL	Status
RC-001	WEEKLY PROGRESS PAGE: title + KPI strip + S-curve + chips + callout	DL-02	spec
RC-002	ANALYSIS PAGE: kicker title + waterfall at 70% of page	DL-03	spec
RC-003	READINESS BOARD: title + status matrix + critical chip + callout	DL-04	spec
RC-004	EXECUTIVE BRIEF: claim + big number + bridge + decision + owner (NR-01)	DL-01	spec
RC-005	EXCEPTION FLASH: header band + bullet board + exception rows + stamp (NR-04)	DL-12	spec
RC-006	EVIDENCE READOUT: question + exhibit + finding + evidence-only stamp (NR-02)	DL-14	spec

Cross-cutting mechanisms (MX, built as specs)

Code	Mechanism	Status
MX-01	SMALL MULTIPLES, faceting any chart entry into a shared-scale grid	spec
MX-02	FIT OVERLAYS, declared fits on COR charts (no silent trend lines)	spec

Specs: catalogue/mechanisms/.

Excluded, with reasons (benchmarked against Datawrapper, Flourish, Vega-Lite, Observable)

Type	Why OVP excludes it
Bar/line chart races, animation	v0.1 is a static, deterministic, print-safe protocol; motion is a future layer, not a chart
Word clouds	area encodes string length, not value; perceptually dishonest
3D anything	violates the AI-tells blacklist and Cleveland-McGill; no exceptions
Radial bar, pyramid pie	angle+radius double-distortion (FN-06)
Ternary, Q-Q, contour, raster	scientific niches outside the reporting domain; adopt on demand via PR
Candlestick	finance-domain-specific; add when a finance adopter exists
Trail / comet marks	decoration over information
Quiz, survey cards, interactive stories	applications, not visualizations; out of protocol scope

Output targets

The catalogue is renderer-agnostic by design: specs are exact px/hex, so any backend can consume them. Current reference implementation: SVG (tools/render.py). Planned backends, in order: PPTX (python-pptx), HTML, XLSX, Power BI themes. Not now; specs first.