Chart.js Axes Configuration (v4.5.1)

Comprehensive guide to configuring axes, scales, ticks, and grid lines in Chart.js.

Axis Types

Cartesian Axes (x/y)

Type	Use Case	Import
category	String labels	CategoryScale
linear	Numeric data	LinearScale
logarithmic	Exponential data	LogarithmicScale
time	Date/time data	TimeScale
timeseries	Time series data	TimeSeriesScale

Radial Axes (r)

Type	Use Case	Import
radialLinear	Radar/polar charts	RadialLinearScale

Basic Axis Configuration

Namespace: options.scales

options: {
  scales: {
    x: {
      type: 'category',          // Scale type
      position: 'bottom',        // bottom, top, left, right
      display: true,             // Show axis
      title: {
        display: true,
        text: 'X Axis Label'
      }
    },
    y: {
      type: 'linear',
      position: 'left',
      beginAtZero: true,
      title: {
        display: true,
        text: 'Y Axis Label'
      }
    }
  }
}

Linear Scale

For numeric data:

scales: {
  y: {
    type: 'linear',
    min: 0,                      // Minimum value
    max: 100,                    // Maximum value
    suggestedMin: 0,             // Suggested min (can be exceeded by data)
    suggestedMax: 100,           // Suggested max
    beginAtZero: true,           // Force zero origin
    grace: '5%',                 // Extra space beyond min/max
    ticks: {
      stepSize: 10,              // Fixed step size
      count: 11,                 // Approximate number of ticks
      precision: 0               // Decimal places
    }
  }
}

Category Scale

For string labels:

scales: {
  x: {
    type: 'category',
    labels: ['Jan', 'Feb', 'Mar', 'Apr', 'May'],
    offset: true,                // Add padding to edges
    ticks: {
      autoSkip: true,            // Skip labels if crowded
      maxRotation: 45,           // Max label rotation
      minRotation: 0             // Min label rotation
    }
  }
}

Time Scale

Requires a date adapter. Install one:

npm install chartjs-adapter-date-fns date-fns
# or
npm install chartjs-adapter-moment moment
# or
npm install chartjs-adapter-luxon luxon

import 'chartjs-adapter-date-fns';

scales: {
  x: {
    type: 'time',
    time: {
      unit: 'day',               // millisecond, second, minute, hour, day, week, month, quarter, year
      displayFormats: {
        day: 'MMM d'             // Format string
      },
      tooltipFormat: 'PP',       // Tooltip format
      parser: 'yyyy-MM-dd'       // Parse format
    },
    min: '2024-01-01',
    max: '2024-12-31',
    ticks: {
      source: 'auto'             // auto, data, labels
    }
  }
}

Time Data Formats

// ISO 8601 strings
data: ['2024-01-15', '2024-02-15', '2024-03-15']

// Date objects
data: [new Date(2024, 0, 15), new Date(2024, 1, 15)]

// Timestamps
data: [1705276800000, 1707955200000, 1710460800000]

// Object format
data: [
  { x: '2024-01-15', y: 10 },
  { x: '2024-02-15', y: 20 }
]

Logarithmic Scale

For exponential data:

scales: {
  y: {
    type: 'logarithmic',
    min: 1,                      // Must be > 0
    max: 1000000,
    ticks: {
      callback: (value) => {
        if (value === 10 || value === 100 || value === 1000) {
          return value.toLocaleString();
        }
        return '';
      }
    }
  }
}

Multiple Axes

Dual Y-Axis

data: {
  datasets: [
    {
      label: 'Revenue',
      data: [1000, 2000, 3000],
      yAxisID: 'y'               // Left axis
    },
    {
      label: 'Units',
      data: [10, 20, 30],
      yAxisID: 'y1'              // Right axis
    }
  ]
},
options: {
  scales: {
    y: {
      type: 'linear',
      position: 'left',
      title: { display: true, text: 'Revenue ($)' }
    },
    y1: {
      type: 'linear',
      position: 'right',
      title: { display: true, text: 'Units' },
      grid: {
        drawOnChartArea: false   // Hide grid for this axis
      }
    }
  }
}

Multiple X-Axes

scales: {
  x: {
    position: 'bottom',
    title: { display: true, text: 'Months' }
  },
  x2: {
    position: 'top',
    title: { display: true, text: 'Quarters' },
    grid: { drawOnChartArea: false }
  }
}

Axis Title

scales: {
  y: {
    title: {
      display: true,
      text: 'Value',
      color: '#666',
      font: {
        size: 14,
        weight: 'bold'
      },
      padding: { top: 10, bottom: 10 }
    }
  }
}

Tick Configuration

scales: {
  y: {
    ticks: {
      display: true,
      color: '#666',
      font: { size: 11 },
      padding: 5,
      align: 'center',           // start, center, end
      crossAlign: 'near',        // near, center, far
      autoSkip: true,
      autoSkipPadding: 3,
      maxTicksLimit: 11,
      includeBounds: true,

      // Custom formatting
      callback: function(value, index, ticks) {
        return '$' + value.toLocaleString();
      }
    }
  }
}

Common Tick Formats

// Currency
callback: (value) => '$' + value.toLocaleString()

// Percentage
callback: (value) => value + '%'

// Abbreviated numbers
callback: (value) => {
  if (value >= 1000000) return (value / 1000000) + 'M';
  if (value >= 1000) return (value / 1000) + 'K';
  return value;
}

// Date formatting
callback: (value) => new Date(value).toLocaleDateString()

Grid Lines

scales: {
  x: {
    grid: {
      display: true,
      color: 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1)',
      lineWidth: 1,
      drawOnChartArea: true,     // Draw grid in chart area
      drawTicks: true,           // Draw tick marks
      tickLength: 8,
      tickColor: '#666',         // Tick mark color
      offset: false,
      z: -1                      // Z-index (<= 0 under datasets)
    }
  },
  y: {
    grid: {
      // Scriptable: different color for zero line
      color: (context) => {
        if (context.tick.value === 0) {
          return 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5)';  // Bold zero line
        }
        return 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1)';
      }
    }
  }
}

Hide Grid Lines

grid: { display: false }

Axis Border

Namespace: options.scales[scaleId].border - configures the axis border line (separate from grid lines).

scales: {
  x: {
    border: {
      display: true,             // Show axis border
      color: '#666',             // Border color
      width: 2,                  // Border width in pixels
      dash: [],                  // Solid line
      dashOffset: 0,
      z: 0                       // Z-index (> 0 on top of datasets)
    }
  },
  y: {
    border: {
      display: true,
      color: 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5)',
      width: 1,
      dash: [5, 5],              // Dashed border
      dashOffset: 0
    }
  }
}

Stacked Axes

scales: {
  x: {
    stacked: true
  },
  y: {
    stacked: true
  }
}

Grouped Stacks

datasets: [
  { label: 'A1', stack: 'Stack 0', data: [1, 2, 3] },
  { label: 'A2', stack: 'Stack 0', data: [2, 3, 4] },
  { label: 'B1', stack: 'Stack 1', data: [3, 4, 5] },
  { label: 'B2', stack: 'Stack 1', data: [4, 5, 6] }
]

Radial Linear Scale

For radar and polar area charts:

scales: {
  r: {
    angleLines: {
      display: true,
      color: 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1)'
    },
    grid: {
      circular: true             // Circular or straight grid
    },
    pointLabels: {
      display: true,
      font: { size: 12 }
    },
    suggestedMin: 0,
    suggestedMax: 100,
    ticks: {
      stepSize: 20,
      backdropColor: 'transparent'
    }
  }
}

Axis Range Settings

Fixed Range

scales: {
  y: {
    min: 0,
    max: 100
  }
}

Suggested Range

Data can exceed these bounds:

scales: {
  y: {
    suggestedMin: 0,
    suggestedMax: 100
  }
}

Dynamic Range with Grace

scales: {
  y: {
    grace: '5%',                 // Add 5% padding
    // or
    grace: 5                     // Add 5 units
  }
}

Axis Callbacks

scales: {
  y: {
    beforeUpdate: (axis) => { /* ... */ },
    afterUpdate: (axis) => { /* ... */ },
    beforeBuildTicks: (axis) => { /* ... */ },
    afterBuildTicks: (axis) => { /* ... */ },
    beforeDataLimits: (axis) => { /* ... */ },
    afterDataLimits: (axis) => { /* ... */ },
    beforeTickToLabelConversion: (axis) => { /* ... */ },
    afterTickToLabelConversion: (axis) => { /* ... */ },
    beforeFit: (axis) => { /* ... */ },
    afterFit: (axis) => { /* ... */ }
  }
}

Axis Defaults

Set defaults for all scales:

// Linear scale defaults
Chart.defaults.scales.linear.min = 0;

// Category scale defaults
Chart.defaults.scales.category.ticks.autoSkip = true;

// All scales
Chart.defaults.scale.grid.color = 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1)';

Additional Resources

• See references/date-adapters.md for time scale adapter setup
• See references/advanced-axis-customization.md for scriptable options, tick alignment, and dynamic positioning
• See examples/dual-y-axis.html for dual axis with mixed chart types
• See examples/time-scale.html for time-based charts with date-fns adapter
• See examples/styled-axes.html for custom axis styling (borders, grids, ticks)