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Why Matplotlib in Termux May Need a Headless Backend to Save Plots

Use Matplotlib’s Agg backend to render plots to files when a Termux script has no usable display. It is a workflow choice, not a requirement for every setup.
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If a Termux Python script needs to save a plot as a file rather than open a window, Matplotlib’s non-interactive Agg backend is a suitable choice. It renders plots to files without a GUI. It is not mandatory on every Termux installation: Matplotlib can select a backend automatically, and the right choice depends on whether your environment has a working display and whether you need an interactive window.

What a Matplotlib backend does

A backend determines how Matplotlib renders a figure and where it sends the result. Interactive backends connect to a graphical user interface and can display a window; non-interactive backends render output such as an image or document file. Matplotlib’s backend guide describes these two workflows.

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On Linux, Matplotlib’s current guide says it falls back to Agg when it cannot connect to an X or Wayland display. That conditional behavior helps explain why a script running without a usable display can still produce a plot file. It does not establish that every Termux setup selects Agg or must be configured to use it.

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Save a plot with Agg

For a script that only needs file output, explicitly choose Agg before creating any figures:

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import matplotlib
matplotlib.use("Agg")  # Set the backend before importing pyplot or creating figures
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.plot([1, 2, 3], [1, 4, 9])
plt.savefig("plot.png", dpi=150, bbox_inches="tight")

This is generic Matplotlib guidance, not a verified Termux installation recipe. The backend guide notes that an explicit matplotlib.use("Agg") call should come before figure creation; changing the backend after figures exist can fail. The savefig API reference documents saving a figure to a file.

You can also select Agg for a single process by setting MPLBACKEND=Agg in that process’s environment. Matplotlib says this setting overrides the backend configured in matplotlibrc and discourages setting it globally, since doing so can lead to confusing behavior. For a reusable script, setting the backend early in the code makes the choice visible alongside the plotting logic.

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Choose the output format for the destination

Agg produces raster output such as PNG. Matplotlib also documents static output through formats including PDF, PS, SVG, PGF, and formats supported by Cairo when its additional library dependency is installed. Use a raster image for ordinary image sharing or embedding; consider PDF or SVG when scalable output for a document is important.

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When you need a plot window instead

Agg writes to files; it does not provide an interactive plot window. To display a window, the runtime needs a supported interactive backend and a working GUI environment. If the goal is simply to inspect a plot from Termux, save it first and then use an Android image-viewing or file-opening workflow; the exact steps depend on the apps and display setup available on the device.

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