hexalate is a Python library for generating hexagonal tessellations. It gives you flat-top or pointy-top hex grids with axial coordinates, neighbor lookups, colormap heatmaps, GeoJSON and DataFrame export, and a ready-to-use CLI. The hero image above was generated with hexalate itself.

Quick start

import hexalate as hx

# Create a grid and plot it
grid = hx.HexGrid(width=10, height=8, hex_size=0.5)
grid.plot()

# Flat-top orientation
grid = hx.HexGrid(10, 8, 0.5, orientation="flat")

# Color by data
values = [h.q + h.r for h in grid]
grid.plot(values=values, colormap="plasma", output="heatmap.png")

Axial coordinates & navigation

# Access a hex by axial coords
h = grid.get(q=2, r=3)

# Cube-coordinate distance
center = grid.get(0, 0)
h.distance_to(center)   # → int

# All 6 existing neighbors
grid.neighbors(2, 3)      # → list[Hexagon]

Export

# Pandas DataFrame  (pip install pandas)
df = grid.to_dataframe()       # columns: x, y, q, r

# GeoJSON — open in QGIS, kepler.gl, geojson.io
grid.save_geojson("grid.geojson")

# Save plot
grid.save_to_file("grid.svg", dpi=300)

CLI

# Display a grid
hexalate --width 10 --height 8 --size 0.5

# Flat-top + colormap + save to file
hexalate --width 12 --height 10 --size 0.6 \
         --orientation flat --colormap plasma --output grid.png

MCP Server — use hexalate from AI assistants

hexalate ships an MCP server so you can call it directly from Cursor, Claude Desktop, or any MCP-compatible AI tool.

Remote (no install) — hexalate.fly.dev

# Cursor / Claude Desktop — add to your mcp.json
{
  "hexalate": {
    "url": "https://hexalate.fly.dev/mcp"
  }
}

Local (via uvx — no install needed)

{
  "hexalate": {
    "command": "uvx",
    "args": ["hexalate-mcp"]
  }
}

Browser playground

Try hexalate in your browser — no install, powered by Pyodide.

Examples