How do I share a Bokeh plot without running a Bokeh server?

Use standalone output — `save(plot, filename='plot.html', resources=INLINE)` — and POST the file to https://commareports.com/api/v1/reports. Standalone Bokeh documents carry their own state, so pan, zoom, hover and linked brushing keep working at the URL. Only Python callbacks need a live Bokeh server; CustomJS callbacks do not.

Why does my Bokeh plot render blank after publishing?

Almost always because BokehJS was loaded from cdn.bokeh.org, which is not on Comma's script CSP allowlist. Pass `resources=INLINE` so the library is embedded in the file, or point the script at jsdelivr, unpkg, cdnjs or esm.sh.

Do Bokeh widgets and layouts survive?

Widgets, tabs, gridplots and CustomJS-driven interactions all survive, because they are pure client-side JavaScript. Anything wired to a Python callback needs the Bokeh server and will not respond in a static document — that is a Bokeh property, not a Comma one.

How big is an inlined Bokeh file?

BokehJS inlines at roughly 1–2 MB depending on which sub-bundles your plot pulls in, leaving plenty of the 5 MB HTML budget for data. Large datasets are the thing to watch — decimate or aggregate before saving.

Can reviewers comment on the plot?

Yes. Anchored comments attach to the surrounding document — headings, captions, tables — so the note about why Q3 dips sits beside the dip instead of in a thread nobody can find later.

Share a Bokeh plot

Bokeh has two modes and only one of them travels. A Bokeh server app has a Python process behind every widget callback. A Bokeh standalone document is one HTML file that carries its own data and its own JavaScript — it works from any static host, or from an email attachment, or from nowhere, which is where most of them end up.

Publishing the standalone file is the whole trick. The catch is which copy of BokehJS the file asks for.

Publish it

from bokeh.plotting import figure, save
from bokeh.resources import INLINE
import requests, os

p = figure(title="Latency p95", x_axis_type="datetime")
p.line(df["ts"], df["p95"])

save(p, filename="plot.html", resources=INLINE, title="Latency p95")

requests.post(
    "https://commareports.com/api/v1/reports",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['COMMA_API_TOKEN']}"},
    json={"title": "Latency p95", "html": open("plot.html").read()},
).raise_for_status()

resources=INLINE is the load-bearing argument. Bokeh's default writes a <script src> pointing at cdn.bokeh.org, and report HTML in Comma runs inside a sandboxed iframe whose script sources are limited to jsdelivr, unpkg, cdnjs and esm.sh. Inlining sidesteps the question entirely and makes the file reproducible three years from now, when that CDN has moved on.

What the URL changes

The tools still work. Box zoom, hover, reset, linked brushing across a gridplot — all client-side, all intact. See interactive HTML reports.
Someone can argue with the chart in place. Highlight the caption, pin the objection. See commenting on HTML.
Reruns become revisions. PATCH the same report id and the URL never changes while the history accumulates.
Scheduled refreshes. A routine can re-render the plot nightly against fresh data.

Limits

HTML body: 5 MB — inlined BokehJS is 1–2 MB of that. Aggregate wide series before saving.
Python callbacks need a Bokeh server and will not fire in a standalone document. Use CustomJS for interactions that must survive publishing.
60 requests/minute per token.

Try it

Comma is free — unlimited reports, unlimited commenters, unlimited revision history.

Publish a plot →

Share a Bokeh plot

Publish it

What the URL changes

Limits

Try it

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