gantt-chart-creator

Gantt Chart Creator

Create professional project timeline Gantt charts with task dependencies, milestones, progress tracking, and customizable styling. Perfect for project management, sprint planning, and timeline visualization.

Quick Start

from scripts.gantt_creator import GanttChartCreator

# Simple task list
gantt = GanttChartCreator()
gantt.add_task("Research", "2024-01-01", "2024-01-07")
gantt.add_task("Design", "2024-01-08", "2024-01-14")
gantt.add_task("Development", "2024-01-15", "2024-01-28")
gantt.add_task("Testing", "2024-01-29", "2024-02-04")
gantt.generate().save("project.png")

# From CSV with progress
gantt = GanttChartCreator()
gantt.from_csv("tasks.csv", task="name", start="start_date", end="end_date", progress="pct")
gantt.title("Q1 Roadmap").show_today().generate().save("roadmap.png")

Features

• Multiple Input Sources: CSV, JSON, dict, or programmatic
• Task Properties: Name, dates, progress, assignee, category
• Dependencies: Finish-to-start and other dependency types
• Milestones: Diamond markers for key dates
• Progress Tracking: Visual progress bars within tasks
• Today Marker: Vertical line showing current date
• Color Coding: By category, assignee, or status
• Output Formats: PNG, SVG, PDF (matplotlib) or HTML (interactive)

API Reference

Initialization

gantt = GanttChartCreator()

Data Input Methods

# From CSV file
gantt.from_csv(
    filepath="tasks.csv",
    task="task_name",           # Task name column
    start="start_date",         # Start date column
    end="end_date",             # End date column
    progress="completion",      # Optional: progress % column
    category="category",        # Optional: for color coding
    assignee="owner"            # Optional: for color coding
)

# From list of task dictionaries
gantt.from_tasks([
    {'name': 'Task 1', 'start': '2024-01-01', 'end': '2024-01-07'},
    {'name': 'Task 2', 'start': '2024-01-08', 'end': '2024-01-14', 'progress': 50},
    {'name': 'Task 3', 'start': '2024-01-15', 'end': '2024-01-21', 'category': 'Dev'}
])

# Add individual tasks
gantt.add_task(
    name="Research Phase",
    start="2024-01-01",
    end="2024-01-14",
    progress=100,               # Optional: 0-100%
    category="Planning",        # Optional: for coloring
    assignee="Alice"            # Optional: for coloring
)

# Add milestones
gantt.add_milestone("Project Kickoff", "2024-01-01")
gantt.add_milestone("Beta Release", "2024-02-15", color="#e74c3c")

Dependencies

# Add task dependencies (finish-to-start by default)
gantt.add_dependency("Design", "Development")  # Development starts after Design
gantt.add_dependency("Development", "Testing")

# Dependency types
gantt.add_dependency("Task A", "Task B", type="FS")  # Finish-to-Start (default)
gantt.add_dependency("Task A", "Task B", type="SS")  # Start-to-Start
gantt.add_dependency("Task A", "Task B", type="FF")  # Finish-to-Finish
gantt.add_dependency("Task A", "Task B", type="SF")  # Start-to-Finish

Styling

# Title
gantt.title("Project Timeline")
gantt.title("Q1 2024 Roadmap", font_size=16)

# Color by category
gantt.color_by("category")
gantt.color_by("category", colors={
    'Planning': '#3498db',
    'Development': '#2ecc71',
    'Testing': '#e74c3c'
})

# Color by assignee
gantt.color_by("assignee")

# Show progress bars
gantt.show_progress(True)

# Show today marker
gantt.show_today(True)
gantt.show_today(True, color='red', label='Today')

# Date range (auto-calculated by default)
gantt.date_range("2024-01-01", "2024-03-31")

# Grid lines
gantt.grid(show=True, style='weekly')  # daily, weekly, monthly

Generation and Export

# Generate static chart (matplotlib)
gantt.generate()

# Generate interactive chart (plotly)
gantt.generate(interactive=True)

# Save static image
gantt.save("chart.png")
gantt.save("chart.svg")
gantt.save("chart.pdf")

# Save interactive HTML
gantt.save("chart.html")

# Get figure object for customization
fig = gantt.get_figure()

# Show in window/notebook
gantt.show()

Data Formats

CSV Format

task,start_date,end_date,progress,category,assignee
Research,2024-01-01,2024-01-07,100,Planning,Alice
Design,2024-01-08,2024-01-14,100,Planning,Bob
Backend Dev,2024-01-15,2024-01-28,75,Development,Alice
Frontend Dev,2024-01-15,2024-01-21,50,Development,Carol
Testing,2024-01-29,2024-02-04,0,QA,Dave

Task Dictionary Format

tasks = [
    {
        'name': 'Research',
        'start': '2024-01-01',
        'end': '2024-01-07',
        'progress': 100,
        'category': 'Planning',
        'assignee': 'Alice'
    },
    {
        'name': 'Design',
        'start': '2024-01-08',
        'end': '2024-01-14',
        'progress': 75,
        'category': 'Planning'
    }
]

Date Formats

Supported date formats (auto-detected):

• YYYY-MM-DD (ISO format, recommended)
• MM/DD/YYYY
• DD/MM/YYYY
• YYYY/MM/DD

CLI Usage

# Basic usage
python gantt_creator.py --input tasks.csv \
    --task name --start start_date --end end_date \
    --output gantt.png

# With progress and categories
python gantt_creator.py --input project.csv \
    --task task --start begin --end finish \
    --progress pct --category type \
    --title "Project Timeline" \
    --output timeline.png

# Interactive HTML
python gantt_creator.py --input tasks.csv \
    --task name --start start --end end \
    --interactive \
    --output gantt.html

# With today marker
python gantt_creator.py --input tasks.csv \
    --task name --start start --end end \
    --show-today \
    --output current_status.png

CLI Arguments

Argument	Description	Default
--input	Input CSV file	Required
--task	Task name column	Required
--start	Start date column	Required
--end	End date column	Required
--progress	Progress % column	-
--category	Category column (for coloring)	-
--assignee	Assignee column (for coloring)	-
--output	Output file path	gantt.png
--title	Chart title	-
--interactive	Generate interactive HTML	False
--show-today	Show today marker	False
--show-progress	Show progress bars	False
--width	Chart width	12
--height	Chart height	6

Examples

Simple Project Timeline

gantt = GanttChartCreator()
gantt.add_task("Planning", "2024-01-01", "2024-01-14")
gantt.add_task("Development", "2024-01-15", "2024-02-15")
gantt.add_task("Testing", "2024-02-16", "2024-02-28")
gantt.add_task("Deployment", "2024-03-01", "2024-03-07")
gantt.title("Project Alpha")
gantt.generate().save("project_alpha.png")

With Dependencies and Milestones

gantt = GanttChartCreator()

# Add tasks
gantt.add_task("Requirements", "2024-01-01", "2024-01-07")
gantt.add_task("Design", "2024-01-08", "2024-01-14")
gantt.add_task("Backend", "2024-01-15", "2024-01-28")
gantt.add_task("Frontend", "2024-01-15", "2024-01-21")
gantt.add_task("Integration", "2024-01-29", "2024-02-04")
gantt.add_task("Testing", "2024-02-05", "2024-02-11")

# Add milestones
gantt.add_milestone("Kickoff", "2024-01-01")
gantt.add_milestone("Code Freeze", "2024-02-04")
gantt.add_milestone("Launch", "2024-02-12")

# Add dependencies
gantt.add_dependency("Requirements", "Design")
gantt.add_dependency("Design", "Backend")
gantt.add_dependency("Design", "Frontend")
gantt.add_dependency("Backend", "Integration")
gantt.add_dependency("Frontend", "Integration")
gantt.add_dependency("Integration", "Testing")

gantt.title("Development Timeline")
gantt.generate().save("dev_timeline.png")

Color-Coded by Category

gantt = GanttChartCreator()
gantt.from_csv("tasks.csv", task="name", start="start", end="end", category="type")

gantt.color_by("category", colors={
    'Backend': '#3498db',
    'Frontend': '#2ecc71',
    'DevOps': '#9b59b6',
    'QA': '#e74c3c'
})

gantt.title("Sprint 5 Tasks")
gantt.show_today()
gantt.generate().save("sprint5.png")

Progress Tracking

gantt = GanttChartCreator()

gantt.add_task("Research", "2024-01-01", "2024-01-07", progress=100)
gantt.add_task("Design", "2024-01-08", "2024-01-14", progress=100)
gantt.add_task("Development", "2024-01-15", "2024-01-28", progress=60)
gantt.add_task("Testing", "2024-01-29", "2024-02-04", progress=0)

gantt.show_progress(True)
gantt.show_today(True)
gantt.title("Project Status")
gantt.generate().save("status.png")

Interactive HTML Chart

gantt = GanttChartCreator()
gantt.from_csv("project.csv", task="task", start="start", end="end",
               progress="pct", category="team")

gantt.color_by("team")
gantt.show_progress(True)
gantt.title("Interactive Project View")
gantt.generate(interactive=True)
gantt.save("project.html")

Team Workload

gantt = GanttChartCreator()

# Alice's tasks
gantt.add_task("Alice: Research", "2024-01-01", "2024-01-07", assignee="Alice")
gantt.add_task("Alice: Backend", "2024-01-08", "2024-01-21", assignee="Alice")

# Bob's tasks
gantt.add_task("Bob: Design", "2024-01-01", "2024-01-14", assignee="Bob")
gantt.add_task("Bob: Frontend", "2024-01-15", "2024-01-28", assignee="Bob")

# Carol's tasks
gantt.add_task("Carol: Testing", "2024-01-22", "2024-02-04", assignee="Carol")

gantt.color_by("assignee", colors={
    'Alice': '#3498db',
    'Bob': '#2ecc71',
    'Carol': '#e74c3c'
})
gantt.title("Team Workload - January")
gantt.generate().save("team_workload.png")

Dependencies

matplotlib>=3.7.0
plotly>=5.15.0
pandas>=2.0.0
kaleido>=0.2.0

Limitations

• Static charts (matplotlib) have limited interactivity
• Complex dependency networks may be hard to visualize
• Date granularity is daily (no hour-level precision)
• Maximum ~50 tasks for readable charts