README

The official PHP SDK for the ChartQuery chart and QR code API.

Generate chart images, diagrams, barcodes, QR codes and thermal labels on demand. PNG, SVG or PDF output.

The SDK exposes 20 methods, one per documented endpoint (with array-shape PHPDoc for static analysis), plus a generic request(). It sends requests through any PSR-18 client and uses Guzzle by default.

Requirements

PHP 8.1 or newer

Installation

composer require chartquery/sdk

Get your API key

Sign up for ChartQuery or sign in, then copy your API key from the dashboard. The client reads the CHARTQUERY_API_KEY environment variable when no key is passed.

Quick start

<?php

require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use ChartQuery\Client;

$client = new Client(getenv('CHARTQUERY_API_KEY') ?: null);
$response = $client->chartAi(['prompt' => 'Monthly revenue 2026 as a bar chart: Jan 10, Feb 14, Mar 18']);
print_r($response->data);

Parameter arrays use the names of the API reference. Unknown names throw a SerializationException; use request() for undocumented parameters.

Binary responses

Endpoints that can return a file (image, PDF…) return a JsonResponse or a BinaryResponse:

use ChartQuery\BinaryResponse;

$response = $client->qrcode(['data' => 'https://chartquery.com', 'format' => 'png']);
if ($response instanceof BinaryResponse) {
    $response->save('qrcode.png');
}

Async jobs

Any call accepts is_async: true (useful past the 60-second server limit): the response is then a job_id. waitForJob() polls GET /v1/jobs/{id} until a terminal status (CompletedJob, Error, NotFound, BadRequest):

$submitted = $client->chartAi(['prompt' => 'Monthly revenue 2026 as a bar chart: Jan 10, Feb 14, Mar 18', 'is_async' => true]);
$job = $client->waitForJob($submitted->data['job_id'], onProgress: static function (array $job): void {
    echo $job['status'], ' ', $job['progress'] ?? 0, "%\n";
});
print_r($job->data);

GET or POST

Methods use GET when the endpoint supports it (query string). POST sends the same parameters as JSON:

use ChartQuery\RequestOptions;

$client->barcode(['data' => 'test'], new RequestOptions(method: 'POST'));

null values are omitted, false and 0 are sent, and lists repeat the parameter name.

Any endpoint

$response = $client->request('GET', '/v1/usage');

Errors

use ChartQuery\Exception\ApiException;

try {
    $client->chartAi(['prompt' => 'Monthly revenue 2026 as a bar chart: Jan 10, Feb 14, Mar 18']);
} catch (ApiException $exception) {
    echo $exception->status, ': ', $exception->getMessage();
}

Exception	When
`ConfigurationException`	Missing API key, invalid options or unsupported method.
`SerializationException`	A required parameter is missing, unknown or can't be sent.
`TransportException`	Network failure or timeout.
`ApiException`	Non-2xx status (`status`, `errorMessage`, `responseBody`, `rawResponse`).
`ResponseDecodingException`	A success response could not be decoded.

All of them extend ChartQuery\Exception\ChartQueryException.

Retries

Requests are retried up to 3 times after a network error, a 408, 500, 502, 503 or 504, or a rate limit — which the API returns as 401 (or 429) with a Rate limit exceeded message. Per-key quota errors (…: quota daily) are not retried, nor are 400, 402, 404 or client-side timeouts. The delay starts at 1 second and grows 1.5× per retry (capped at 30 seconds); a Retry-After header wins.

$client = new Client(null, ['max_retries' => 5, 'retry_delay' => 0.5]);
$client->chartAi(['prompt' => 'Monthly revenue 2026 as a bar chart: Jan 10, Feb 14, Mar 18'], new RequestOptions(maxRetries: 0)); // one request without retries

Batch requests

batch() sends several calls with at most 10 requests in flight ($concurrency), through Guzzle's connection pool, and returns one BatchResult per call in input order. A failing call never stops the others. With a custom PSR-18 client the calls run one after another.

$inputs = ['Monthly revenue 2026 as a bar chart: Jan 10, Feb 14, Mar 18', 'Market share as a pie chart: A 40, B 35, C 25'];
$calls = array_map(static fn(string $value): array => ['chartAi', ['prompt' => $value]], $inputs);

foreach ($client->batch($calls, concurrency: 5) as $result) {
    if ($result->ok()) {
        print_r($result->value->data);
    } else {
        echo $inputs[$result->index], ': ', $result->error->getMessage(), "\n";
    }
}

Constant	Default	Description
`Client::DEFAULT_CONCURRENCY`	`10`	Tasks run at the same time by batch
`Client::DEFAULT_TIMEOUT`	`120.0`	Request timeout (seconds)
`Client::MAX_RETRIES`	`3`	Retry attempts after a network error, a 408/5xx or a rate limit
`Client::RETRY_BACKOFF_FACTOR`	`1.5`	Exponential backoff multiplier
`Client::DEFAULT_RETRY_DELAY`	`1.0`	Delay before the first retry (seconds)

Options and custom HTTP clients

$client = new Client(null, [
    'timeout' => 60.0,               // seconds, default 120 (default Guzzle client only)
    'headers' => ['X-Trace' => 'abc'],
    'http_client' => $psr18Client,   // optional: any PSR-18 client
]);

Endpoints

20 methods, generated from the OpenAPI document.

Method	HTTP	Description
`barcode()`	GET / POST `/v1/barcode`	Generate a barcode image via GET. Output: SVG (default) or PNG. Supports 25+ formats: EAN-13, Code 128, ITF-14, GS1-128, postal codes and m…
`chart()`	GET / POST `/v1/chart`	Render a Chart.js image via GET. Pass the full chart object as URL-encoded JSON in query. Prefer format png for ChatGPT. POST sends the sam…
`chartAi()`	GET / POST `/v1/chart/ai`	Describe a chart in plain English via GET and get a rendered image back. Powered by AI.
`chartRender()`	GET `/v1/chart/render/{id}`	Render a previously saved chart by ID. Public, no API key required. Supports URL overrides for templates (?data1=, ?labels=, ?title=…).
`chartView()`	GET `/v1/chart/view/{id}`	View a previously saved chart as an interactive HTML page. Public, no API key required. Iframe-embeddable.
`diagram()`	GET / POST `/v1/diagram`	Render a diagram via GET. Use type (mermaid, d2, …), query (source code), and format=png for ChatGPT. POST uses diagram_type and diagram_so…
`diagramAi()`	GET / POST `/v1/diagram/ai`	Describe a diagram in plain English via GET and get a rendered image back. Powered by AI.
`diagramRender()`	GET `/v1/diagram/render/{id}`	Render a previously saved diagram by ID. Public, no API key required. Supports ?format= and ?query= overrides.
`diagramView()`	GET `/v1/diagram/view/{id}`	View a previously saved diagram as an HTML page. Public, no API key required. Iframe-embeddable with inline SVG rendering.
`jobs()`	GET `/v1/jobs/{id}`	Poll the status, progress (0–100) and result of a job started with is_async=true. Polling is free. Poll until status is terminal: Completed…
`label()`	GET / POST `/v1/label`	Preview a thermal label via GET. Pass the same label object as a URL-encoded JSON string in query. Inside that JSON, text items use content…
`labelCompile()`	POST `/v1/label/compile`	Compile a label to printer commands (tsc, zpl, epl, …). POST width, language, and elements. Text uses content and size (1-10), not text or…
`labelConvert()`	POST `/v1/label/convert`	Convert printer commands from one language to another. POST source, from, and to. from is the source language (tsc, zpl, epl, …). to is the…
`labelParse()`	POST `/v1/label/parse`	Parse printer commands into structured elements. POST source and language (tsc, zpl, epl, …).
`labelRender()`	GET `/v1/label/render/{id}`	Render a previously saved label by ID. Public, no API key required. Supports ?format= override.
`labelValidate()`	POST `/v1/label/validate`	Validate printer commands. POST source (the raw commands) and language (tsc, zpl, epl, …).
`labelView()`	GET `/v1/label/view/{id}`	View a previously saved label as an HTML page. Public, no API key required. Iframe-embeddable with inline SVG rendering.
`qrcode()`	GET / POST `/v1/qrcode`	Generate a styled QR code via GET. Output: SVG (default) or PNG. Supports dot styles, gradients, custom corners and all QR versions.
`stats()`	GET `/v1/stats`	Infrastructure health for an engine or endpoint over the last hour. Not scoped to your account or tenant. Enabled per account: HTTP 403 mea…
`usage()`	GET `/v1/usage`	Return this account's Chartquery usage and credit balance. No body. Requires an API key.

All ChartQuery SDKs

SDK	Package	Install
Node.js	`@chartquery/sdk`	`npm install @chartquery/sdk`
Python	`chartquery`	`pip install chartquery`
Go	`chartquery-go`	`go get github.com/chartquery/chartquery-go`
.NET	`ChartQuery`	`dotnet add package ChartQuery`
Ruby	`chartquery`	`gem install chartquery`
PHP	`chartquery/sdk`	`composer require chartquery/sdk`
Java	`chartquery-java`	build from source, see its README
CLI	`@chartquery/cli`	`npm install -g @chartquery/cli`
MCP server	`@chartquery/mcp`	`npx -y @chartquery/mcp`

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

chartquery / sdk

Package info

Security

Statistics