Making Graphviz easier to use from Python

Created on May 17, 2026

2026   ·   python   wasm   graphviz

I’ve been experimenting with making Graphviz easier to use from Python in more portable environments. The result is two small projects:

  • wasi-graphviz: run Graphviz from Python through WebAssembly/WASI, without needing a system Graphviz binary, Node.js, or a browser.
  • easydot: a small Python API for rendering DOT graphs using the best available backend: native Graphviz, server-side WASM (via JavaScript), or browser-based WASM.

The goal is to make DOT rendering work more smoothly in notebooks, CI, and serverless environments, without requiring Graphviz binaries to be installed on the system.

I initially used Kimi K2.6 for this, because I had heard good things about the model. I have to say that I was greatly surprised by the performance and cost for developing the wasi-graphviz package. It managed to download the Graphviz C/C++ source, patch it to make it compatible with wasm32-wasi, set up the toolchain, and help package the result as a working Python library. The cost was ridiculous: around $1 for the first functional version.

This is the kind of project that I find super useful, but in the past I would really have hesitated to start because the effort vs. reward ratio was too high. LLMs make this type of small, well-defined project much easier to justify because getting through the boring parts takes much less time.

Here is an example of using easydot to draw a small DOT graph: