Make a large graph readable.
The problem
More nodes bring more crossing lines. Showing every label at once can make a graph harder to read and slower to explore.
An explanatory exhibit
From the overview to a neighborhood
A small diagram explains the focus pattern. It is not a benchmark or a screenshot of the graph renderer.
- 01
Overview
Many projects and their connections
- 02
Focus: Lantern
Keep its direct neighbors in view
- 03
Inspect
SQLite · prototype decision · source
Inspect the consequence
Read the overview
Find a starting point
The broad view shows where groups of ideas connect. Reading every label would compete with that job.
Focus on Lantern
Two useful neighbors
The focused view makes room for the selected relationship and its evidence.
What this makes possible
I worked on graph layout, labels and focused neighborhoods so a connection could be inspected without keeping the whole graph on screen.
Watch the actual graph workflowRecorded in the product
Focus on a project and its connections
What happens in this recording
Actual PanelForge interface · public-safe project and software relationships · edited recording
The real graph is filtered to PanelForge and its build relationships. Selecting a project brings connected technologies into focus; zoom and fit change the view. These are extracted relationships, including historical names and aliases, rather than a verified inventory of the current architecture.
Source information sheet
Evidence, implementation & history Implementation inspected
What I checked
Graph components and controller inspected. Search, filtering, entity focus, zoom and fit were exercised in the actual recorded interface. The small illustrative diagram is separate from that capture.
Research cut: 14 October 2026. Source areas below are from panel-forge. Private conversation references are retained in the research ledger and are not published here.
Implementation decisions
The graph work iterated through G6 layouts, selective labels and neighborhood highlighting. Entity focus gives a crowded map a smaller area to explain.
The current source includes several graph surfaces, entity profiles and timelines. Their roles differ: the overview helps locate a connection; details and dated sources explain it.
A path through the feature
- Locate a useful starting point
Find a project or entity in the overview rather than trying to read every node.
- Focus, then inspect
Select its neighborhood and follow the relevant entity details and source timeline.
Source areas
resources/js/pages/KnowledgeGraph/components/GraphCanvas.vueresources/js/pages/KnowledgeGraph/components/KnowledgeFullGraph.vueapp/Http/Controllers/KnowledgeGraphController.php
The small explanatory exhibit uses invented records to describe the mechanism. Separate recordings and working examples carry their own evidence notes.
Recorded history
Dates describe the researched record, rather than today’s deployment.
Optimizing the knowledge graph visualization