List of all available matplotlib backends

Question

The current backend name is accessible via

>>> import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
>>> plt.get_backend()
\'GTKAgg\'

Is there a way to get a list of all ba

Answer 1

You can access the lists

matplotlib.rcsetup.interactive_bk
matplotlib.rcsetup.non_interactive_bk
matplotlib.rcsetup.all_backends

the third being the concatenation of the former two. If I read the source code correctly, those lists are hard-coded though, and don't tell you what backends are actually usable. There is also

matplotlib.rcsetup.validate_backend(name)

but this also only checks against the hard-coded list.