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ConsoleMonster

Charts from the pipeline

Turn numeric properties into bars, distributions and grouped trends with Out-ConsoleChart.

Out-ConsoleChart turns numbers or a numeric property into a chart. Start with horizontal bars, with the values beside them and colours from the current theme:

Install and import the module in PowerShell 5.1 or 7 before running the examples:

Install-Module ConsoleMonster -Scope CurrentUser
Import-Module ConsoleMonster

Get-Process | Out-ConsoleChart -Property CPU -Label ProcessName -Sort Descending -Top 10 -Unit ' s'

-Sort Ascending or -Sort Descending orders bars by value before -Top takes the first N. Ties retain input order. Without -Sort, bars keep input order. The label defaults to Name, then the row number; -Label selects another property. Repeated labels remain separate observations. Negative bars extend to the left of a shared zero baseline.

Out-ConsoleChart 120 columns24-bitFull
PowerShellpipeline-charts.ps1
$processes = @(
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'web'; CPU = 34 }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'jobs'; CPU = 72 }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'api'; CPU = 18 }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'helper'; CPU = 5 }
)
$latency = 12, 18, 25, 33, 34, 38, 55, 68, 76, 84, 95, 96
$west = 12, 18, 16, 22, 19, 25, 24, 28
$east = 8, 9, 12, 10, 15, 14, 13, 18
$samples = for ($i = 0; $i -lt $west.Count; $i++) {
    [pscustomobject]@{ Host = 'api-west'; Latency = $west[$i] }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Host = 'api-east'; Latency = $east[$i] }
}

New-ConsoleRows {
    New-ConsoleText -Markup '[bold]CPU time - highest first[/]'
    $processes | Out-ConsoleChart -Property CPU -Sort Descending -Top 3 -Unit ' s' -AsWidget
    New-ConsoleText ''
    New-ConsoleText -Markup '[bold]Response-time distribution[/]'
    $latency | Out-ConsoleChart -Type Histogram -Bins 6 -Unit ' ms' -AsWidget
    New-ConsoleText ''
    New-ConsoleText -Markup '[bold]Latency over time (ms) - one line per host[/]'
    $samples | Out-ConsoleChart -Property Latency -Label Host -Type Sparkline -AsWidget
} | Write-ConsoleWidget
Full program
Import-Module ConsoleMonster

$processes = @(
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'web'; CPU = 34 }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'jobs'; CPU = 72 }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'api'; CPU = 18 }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'helper'; CPU = 5 }
)
$latency = 12, 18, 25, 33, 34, 38, 55, 68, 76, 84, 95, 96
$west = 12, 18, 16, 22, 19, 25, 24, 28
$east = 8, 9, 12, 10, 15, 14, 13, 18
$samples = for ($i = 0; $i -lt $west.Count; $i++) {
    [pscustomobject]@{ Host = 'api-west'; Latency = $west[$i] }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Host = 'api-east'; Latency = $east[$i] }
}

New-ConsoleRows {
    New-ConsoleText -Markup '[bold]CPU time - highest first[/]'
    $processes | Out-ConsoleChart -Property CPU -Sort Descending -Top 3 -Unit ' s' -AsWidget
    New-ConsoleText ''
    New-ConsoleText -Markup '[bold]Response-time distribution[/]'
    $latency | Out-ConsoleChart -Type Histogram -Bins 6 -Unit ' ms' -AsWidget
    New-ConsoleText ''
    New-ConsoleText -Markup '[bold]Latency over time (ms) - one line per host[/]'
    $samples | Out-ConsoleChart -Property Latency -Label Host -Type Sparkline -AsWidget
} | Write-ConsoleWidget
C#Program.cs
var cpu = new PipelineChart()
    .WithSort(PipelineChartSort.Descending).WithTop(3).WithUnit(" s")
    .Add("web", 34).Add("jobs", 72).Add("api", 18).Add("helper", 5);
var latency = new PipelineChart()
    .WithType(PipelineChartType.Histogram).WithBins(6).WithUnit(" ms");
foreach (double value in new double[] { 12, 18, 25, 33, 34, 38, 55, 68, 76, 84, 95, 96 }) {
    latency.Add(null, value);
}
var trends = new PipelineChart()
    .WithType(PipelineChartType.Sparkline);
double[] west = { 12, 18, 16, 22, 19, 25, 24, 28 };
double[] east = { 8, 9, 12, 10, 15, 14, 13, 18 };
for (int i = 0; i < west.Length; i++) {
    trends.Add("api-west", west[i]).Add("api-east", east[i]);
}
Terminal.Write(new Rows(
    new TextBlock("[bold]CPU time - highest first[/]"), cpu,
    TextBlock.Plain(string.Empty),
    new TextBlock("[bold]Response-time distribution[/]"), latency,
    TextBlock.Plain(string.Empty),
    new TextBlock("[bold]Latency over time (ms) - one line per host[/]"), trends));
Full program
using ConsoleMonster;
using ConsoleMonster.Layout;
using ConsoleMonster.Widgets;

var cpu = new PipelineChart()
    .WithSort(PipelineChartSort.Descending).WithTop(3).WithUnit(" s")
    .Add("web", 34).Add("jobs", 72).Add("api", 18).Add("helper", 5);
var latency = new PipelineChart()
    .WithType(PipelineChartType.Histogram).WithBins(6).WithUnit(" ms");
foreach (double value in new double[] { 12, 18, 25, 33, 34, 38, 55, 68, 76, 84, 95, 96 }) {
    latency.Add(null, value);
}
var trends = new PipelineChart()
    .WithType(PipelineChartType.Sparkline);
double[] west = { 12, 18, 16, 22, 19, 25, 24, 28 };
double[] east = { 8, 9, 12, 10, 15, 14, 13, 18 };
for (int i = 0; i < west.Length; i++) {
    trends.Add("api-west", west[i]).Add("api-east", east[i]);
}
Terminal.Write(new Rows(
    new TextBlock("[bold]CPU time - highest first[/]"), cpu,
    TextBlock.Plain(string.Empty),
    new TextBlock("[bold]Response-time distribution[/]"), latency,
    TextBlock.Plain(string.Empty),
    new TextBlock("[bold]Latency over time (ms) - one line per host[/]"), trends));

The figure uses fixed illustrative samples. Compose a chart with other widgets using -AsWidget inside a script block:

New-ConsolePanel -Title 'CPU time' {
    Get-Process | Out-ConsoleChart -Property CPU -Sort Descending -Top 5 -Unit ' s' -AsWidget
} | Write-ConsoleWidget

Property selection uses the same binding as the formatting commands: one name, a wildcard matching one property, or a calculated-property hashtable. For example, show file sizes in kilobytes:

Get-ChildItem -File | Out-ConsoleChart -Property @{
    Name = 'KB'
    Expression = { $_.Length / 1KB }
} -Label Name -Sort Descending -Top 8 -Unit ' KB'

Distributions

Pipe numbers directly or select a property. -Bins requests 1 through 128 buckets; the default is 10.

$latencies | Out-ConsoleChart -Type Histogram -Bins 8 -Unit ' ms'
$requests | Out-ConsoleChart -Property Duration -Type Histogram -Bins 6

Buckets include their lower edge and exclude their upper edge, except the final bucket, which includes the maximum. Integral input uses whole-number edges; a small integral range or constant input uses fewer buckets. Every valid observation contributes to the distribution: -Top and -Sort do not filter histogram input. The count axis uses integers.

For sparklines, -Label identifies the groups. Each group gets one line, in the order its label first appears. Samples within a group retain arrival order. Sort timestamped data before piping it:

$samples | Sort-Object Time |
    Out-ConsoleChart -Property Latency -Label Server -Type Sparkline -Unit ' ms'

Without a label property, scalar values form one unnamed trend. -Sort orders groups by their latest value; -Top then limits the number of groups. Neither option changes the order of samples inside a group. The existing sparkline renderer scales from zero, so a group containing negative values is shown as numerical text to preserve its signs.

Out-ConsoleChart 60 columns24-bitFull
PowerShellpipeline-charts.ps1
$processes = @(
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'web'; CPU = 34 }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'jobs'; CPU = 72 }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'api'; CPU = 18 }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'helper'; CPU = 5 }
)
$latency = 12, 18, 25, 33, 34, 38, 55, 68, 76, 84, 95, 96
$west = 12, 18, 16, 22, 19, 25, 24, 28
$east = 8, 9, 12, 10, 15, 14, 13, 18
$samples = for ($i = 0; $i -lt $west.Count; $i++) {
    [pscustomobject]@{ Host = 'api-west'; Latency = $west[$i] }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Host = 'api-east'; Latency = $east[$i] }
}

New-ConsoleRows {
    New-ConsoleText -Markup '[bold]CPU time - highest first[/]'
    $processes | Out-ConsoleChart -Property CPU -Sort Descending -Top 3 -Unit ' s' -AsWidget
    New-ConsoleText ''
    New-ConsoleText -Markup '[bold]Response-time distribution[/]'
    $latency | Out-ConsoleChart -Type Histogram -Bins 6 -Unit ' ms' -AsWidget
    New-ConsoleText ''
    New-ConsoleText -Markup '[bold]Latency over time (ms) - one line per host[/]'
    $samples | Out-ConsoleChart -Property Latency -Label Host -Type Sparkline -AsWidget
} | Write-ConsoleWidget
Full program
Import-Module ConsoleMonster

$processes = @(
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'web'; CPU = 34 }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'jobs'; CPU = 72 }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'api'; CPU = 18 }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Name = 'helper'; CPU = 5 }
)
$latency = 12, 18, 25, 33, 34, 38, 55, 68, 76, 84, 95, 96
$west = 12, 18, 16, 22, 19, 25, 24, 28
$east = 8, 9, 12, 10, 15, 14, 13, 18
$samples = for ($i = 0; $i -lt $west.Count; $i++) {
    [pscustomobject]@{ Host = 'api-west'; Latency = $west[$i] }
    [pscustomobject]@{ Host = 'api-east'; Latency = $east[$i] }
}

New-ConsoleRows {
    New-ConsoleText -Markup '[bold]CPU time - highest first[/]'
    $processes | Out-ConsoleChart -Property CPU -Sort Descending -Top 3 -Unit ' s' -AsWidget
    New-ConsoleText ''
    New-ConsoleText -Markup '[bold]Response-time distribution[/]'
    $latency | Out-ConsoleChart -Type Histogram -Bins 6 -Unit ' ms' -AsWidget
    New-ConsoleText ''
    New-ConsoleText -Markup '[bold]Latency over time (ms) - one line per host[/]'
    $samples | Out-ConsoleChart -Property Latency -Label Host -Type Sparkline -AsWidget
} | Write-ConsoleWidget
C#Program.cs
var cpu = new PipelineChart()
    .WithSort(PipelineChartSort.Descending).WithTop(3).WithUnit(" s")
    .Add("web", 34).Add("jobs", 72).Add("api", 18).Add("helper", 5);
var latency = new PipelineChart()
    .WithType(PipelineChartType.Histogram).WithBins(6).WithUnit(" ms");
foreach (double value in new double[] { 12, 18, 25, 33, 34, 38, 55, 68, 76, 84, 95, 96 }) {
    latency.Add(null, value);
}
var trends = new PipelineChart()
    .WithType(PipelineChartType.Sparkline);
double[] west = { 12, 18, 16, 22, 19, 25, 24, 28 };
double[] east = { 8, 9, 12, 10, 15, 14, 13, 18 };
for (int i = 0; i < west.Length; i++) {
    trends.Add("api-west", west[i]).Add("api-east", east[i]);
}
Terminal.Write(new Rows(
    new TextBlock("[bold]CPU time - highest first[/]"), cpu,
    TextBlock.Plain(string.Empty),
    new TextBlock("[bold]Response-time distribution[/]"), latency,
    TextBlock.Plain(string.Empty),
    new TextBlock("[bold]Latency over time (ms) - one line per host[/]"), trends));
Full program
using ConsoleMonster;
using ConsoleMonster.Layout;
using ConsoleMonster.Widgets;

var cpu = new PipelineChart()
    .WithSort(PipelineChartSort.Descending).WithTop(3).WithUnit(" s")
    .Add("web", 34).Add("jobs", 72).Add("api", 18).Add("helper", 5);
var latency = new PipelineChart()
    .WithType(PipelineChartType.Histogram).WithBins(6).WithUnit(" ms");
foreach (double value in new double[] { 12, 18, 25, 33, 34, 38, 55, 68, 76, 84, 95, 96 }) {
    latency.Add(null, value);
}
var trends = new PipelineChart()
    .WithType(PipelineChartType.Sparkline);
double[] west = { 12, 18, 16, 22, 19, 25, 24, 28 };
double[] east = { 8, 9, 12, 10, 15, 14, 13, 18 };
for (int i = 0; i < west.Length; i++) {
    trends.Add("api-west", west[i]).Add("api-east", east[i]);
}
Terminal.Write(new Rows(
    new TextBlock("[bold]CPU time - highest first[/]"), cpu,
    TextBlock.Plain(string.Empty),
    new TextBlock("[bold]Response-time distribution[/]"), latency,
    TextBlock.Plain(string.Empty),
    new TextBlock("[bold]Latency over time (ms) - one line per host[/]"), trends));

Plain text and invalid values

Without colour, the output lists bar values, histogram bucket counts or every sample in each trend. It stays useful in redirected output and SSH sessions. Use -AsString to capture one text block reliably on Windows PowerShell 5.1 and PowerShell 7:

$text = $samples | Out-ConsoleChart -Property Latency -Label Server -AsString
$samples | Out-ConsoleChart -Property Latency -Label Server | Out-File ./latency.txt

Null or missing properties, malformed values, booleans, NaN and infinity produce a non-terminating error and are skipped. Numeric strings use invariant notation such as 12.5 or 1e3. Add -ErrorAction Stop when an invalid sample should stop the command. Empty input produces no output. The command collects its input before drawing; it does not follow a live stream or infer timestamps.

C# fluent API

The cmdlet binds PowerShell properties and calls the same core PipelineChart used by C#:

using ConsoleMonster;
using ConsoleMonster.Widgets;

var chart = new PipelineChart()
    .WithSort(PipelineChartSort.Descending)
    .WithTop(3)
    .WithUnit(" s")
    .Add("web", 34)
    .Add("jobs", 72)
    .Add("api", 18);
Terminal.Write(chart);

var histogram = new PipelineChart()
    .WithType(PipelineChartType.Histogram)
    .WithBins(4)
    .Add(null, 12)
    .Add(null, 18)
    .Add(null, 25);
Terminal.Write(histogram);

Add accepts finite doubles and rejects NaN or infinity. TryNumber checks numeric primitives, decimals and invariant numeric strings before adding them. Build() returns the existing bar, histogram or sparkline widgets for composition; Build(textOnly: true) returns their numerical fallback. Rendering the PipelineChart itself chooses that fallback from terminal capabilities.

Next, compose widgets in the gallery, choose a theme, or read the Out-ConsoleChart reference.

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