Interactive tooltips in matplotlib plot

Question

Is there any way of getting interactive tooltips in a matplotlib plot? For instance, I wanted to get this scatter plot with hovering tooltips (http://mpld3.github.io/examples/scatter_tooltip.html) functionality in my python application, because they are really useful for visualizations. Unfortunately, I do not want to show this in a browser, but integrated in my own python application, is there any way to do this?

Answer 1

Matplotlib can only create static images and animations. If you want something interactive, then the only way you're going to achieve this is by using a module that outputs javascript. I would suggest reading about bokeh.

It is well developed and gaining a lot of traction in the python world as being a good option for creating interactive plots. Here's an example of bokeh's hovertool capability.

Unfortunately, I do not want to show this in a browser, but integrated in my own python application

I'm not sure what your "own python application" is but you're not going to have a fun time making an interactive plot outside of a browser. I would highly suggest going a webapp route using bokeh if interactivity is truly important to you.