cilvk

cilvk is an open-source framework for building interactive, data-driven visualizations and dashboards. Designed to run across web and desktop environments, it emphasizes modularity, real-time collaboration, and ease of integration with existing data systems. The project aims to provide a lightweight core engine with a rich set of pluggable widgets and data adapters, allowing developers to assemble customized visualization tools without starting from scratch.

Its architecture centers on a core runtime, a widget library, and a data layer. The core coordinates state management and rendering, while widgets supply charts, maps, and controls. Data adapters connect cilvk to various sources, including SQL, REST APIs, and streaming feeds. A plugin system enables extensions, and a WebSocket-based protocol supports live collaboration and multi-user editing.

cilvk originated in an open collaboration among developers, researchers, and educators in the early 2020s. The first public release provided basic widgets and data connectors, with subsequent updates adding collaboration features, theming, and performance improvements. It is distributed under the MIT License.

It is used in data journalism, scholarly dashboards, and educational demonstrations to create interactive narratives from datasets. The project has a modest but active community that contributes plugins and example deployments.

See also data visualization library; real-time collaboration tools.