Is There any problem on chart api

10,994 views
Skip to first unread message

Umut Akkaya

unread,
Jan 5, 2024, 12:49:02 PMJan 5
to Google Visualization API
I get 502 error on chart api, is ther any problem on it ? 

Also I couldn't find any status page about chart API , if exist could you share. 
CleanShot 2024-01-05 at 20.38.50@2x.png

Jon Orwant

unread,
Jan 5, 2024, 12:51:23 PMJan 5
to Google Visualization API
You're asking about the Google Image Charts API, which was deprecated in 2012 and is finally, 12 years later, being turned off. We're taking it down for increasingly long periods of time every day, to flush out users who might not realize they're using an antiquated service, in anticipation of a complete turndown next week.

The Google Image Charts API is completely different from Google Charts, a JavaScript library that is actively developed and maintained.

Jon

Cat

unread,
Jan 5, 2024, 1:08:48 PMJan 5
to Google Visualization API
Would it not be smart to announce that on the documentation page and also as message part of the 502 BAD Gateway?? response which indicates some other error. Noone will be able to understand that correctly. Everybody will wait til it shows up again.
410 Gone: Charts API was deprecated in 2012 and is finally being turned off.
https://developers.google.com/chart?hl=en

It is really an uphill battle to fight against deprecations.
As Google Appengine customer I have a VERY long list of APIs to replace.

Reminds me on Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

Jon Orwant

unread,
Jan 5, 2024, 1:14:42 PMJan 5
to google-visua...@googlegroups.com
It's been on the documentation page for many years:

It's not in the HTTP response. I'm not even sure whether it's possible to put free text into an HTTP response, although I concede that would have been a good thing to do if so.

Ultimately the only effective mechanism we had was to turn the service off for increasingly long periods of time. My apologies that we didn't have a better solution.

I'll turn it back on now, but will turn it off again for several hours tomorrow.

Jon

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Google Visualization API" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to google-visualizati...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/google-visualization-api/abb2856e-bcd2-442d-9925-c83f03b8407bn%40googlegroups.com.

Alperen Keskekoglu

unread,
Jan 5, 2024, 1:48:23 PMJan 5
to Google Visualization API
Hey Jon,
Can you tell me exactly when you closed it?

Jon Orwant

unread,
Jan 5, 2024, 1:53:45 PMJan 5
to Google Visualization API
Approximately:

Wednesday from 1818 to 1935 GMT
Thursday from 1710 to 1930 GMT
Today from 1530 to 1815 GMT

Jon

Stefan

unread,
Jan 10, 2024, 9:41:26 AMJan 10
to Google Visualization API
Hi Jon,

Yesterday i got 502 also for generating qr code images, but today is working well. Should i change to another solution to create this QR code images? i i checked, google api images was  deprecated

Thanks
Stefan

Brian Hemesath

unread,
Jan 10, 2024, 1:54:34 PMJan 10
to Google Visualization API
Is this service now 100% off / deactivated?

If not, is there a blackout schedule that you can share?

Jon Orwant

unread,
Jan 10, 2024, 1:54:57 PMJan 10
to Google Visualization API
Yes, you should change to another solution; some have been mentioned on this group and others. I'm turning the service off, and then back on, to alert users that they're relying on a moribund service without pulling the plug abruptly.

Jon

Jon Orwant

unread,
Jan 10, 2024, 1:56:28 PMJan 10
to Google Visualization API
Just turned it back on. We don't have a fixed schedule other than "several hours every day". If there's a particular day/time period you need the service up, I can accommodate, but please do migrate off of it ASAP!

Jon

Message has been deleted
Message has been deleted
Message has been deleted
Message has been deleted

Thien Vu

unread,
Jan 15, 2024, 2:43:31 AMJan 15
to Google Visualization API
Hi Jon,

We are using https://chart.googleapis.com/chart to generate QR code, we experienced error 502, can you please temporarily turn it on for a few days for a temporary solution urgently? We will replace the service in the meantime.

Jon Orwant

unread,
Jan 15, 2024, 2:49:09 AMJan 15
to google-visua...@googlegroups.com
I've turned it back on for the moment. Please migrate ASAP, though!



Thien Vu

unread,
Jan 15, 2024, 11:11:02 AMJan 15
to Google Visualization API
Hi Jon,

We need time to develop our own solution. Can you keep the service running as much as possible? if not keep the service running for long time, please give us the deadline, thanks for your support.

Regards, Thien

Scott Schaen

unread,
Jan 15, 2024, 4:45:23 PMJan 15
to Google Visualization API
We're also SO dependent on Google Image Charts. We have them embedded in all of our Looker emails. We'll begin a migration process to something else, but will also appreciate as much time as we can get. 

Jon -- we appreciate y'all not completely shutting it off, but it was really unclear if the downtime was intentional until I found this thread. 

Jon Orwant

unread,
Jan 15, 2024, 4:48:29 PMJan 15
to Google Visualization API
Sorry. If users aren't monitoring the groups, there's no way to reach them other than shutting off the service and hoping people notice.

Vishwanath Nagur

unread,
Jan 16, 2024, 10:00:17 AMJan 16
to Google Visualization API
Hi Jon

https://chart.googleapis.com/chart ~~~ is throwing 502 because of the reasons you mentioned.
Is https://chart.apis.google.com/chart? ~~~ also part of [ Google Image Charts API] for shutting down? Or this is the one with which we need to replace with?

I don't find any information for QR code generation on actively maintained Charts help - https://developers.google.com/chart
Can you please guide me for an alternate service? 

Appreciate your help on this.

Jon Orwant

unread,
Jan 16, 2024, 10:02:27 AMJan 16
to google-visua...@googlegroups.com
chart.googleapis.com and chart.apis.google.com are the same; neither should be used and were deprecated in 2012. 

For QR codes, there are non-Google solutions that people have reported success with. You'll find those solutions in the archive of this list. 

Josh Weiss

unread,
Jan 16, 2024, 2:17:32 PMJan 16
to Google Visualization API
Hi Jon, any chance you can turn it back on? This is the first we're hearing of it. We'll migrate off as soon as we can, but it might take a few days.

Thanks!

Jon Orwant

unread,
Jan 16, 2024, 2:18:20 PMJan 16
to Google Visualization API
I've turned it back on for the rest of the day but will have another blackout tomorrow.

Josh Weiss

unread,
Jan 16, 2024, 2:30:21 PMJan 16
to Google Visualization API
Thanks!

Win Paing Soe

unread,
Jan 17, 2024, 7:06:55 AMJan 17
to Google Visualization API
We are using GoogleAuthenticator NuGet package to generate QR code to use with Authenticator Apps for OTP and just realized "chart.googleapis.com" is shutting down. (First time we're hearing of it, too)
Appreciate if we could have few more days or a couple of weeks while we are migrating to the other solutions, Jon. 

Jon Orwant

unread,
Jan 17, 2024, 7:13:11 AMJan 17
to google-visua...@googlegroups.com

Josh Weiss

unread,
Jan 17, 2024, 9:49:03 AMJan 17
to Google Visualization API
Appreciate the extra time. We're in the same boat, older versions of that library used the deprecated API. We've upgraded to the latest version which generates the image itself, we just need a few days to test and deploy.

Jon Orwant

unread,
Jan 17, 2024, 9:50:34 AMJan 17
to Google Visualization API
OK. I'll leave it up through Friday and then resume blackouts.

Aditi Soni

unread,
Jan 18, 2024, 10:52:15 AMJan 18
to Google Visualization API
Hi Jon,

Could please confirm the final date of complete turndown for this API.

Thanks,

Jon Orwant

unread,
Jan 18, 2024, 1:26:39 PMJan 18
to google-visua...@googlegroups.com

Marlon Regenhardt

unread,
Jan 18, 2024, 6:41:53 PMJan 18
to Google Visualization API
Thanks for this rolling blackout, that's actually a nice concept for this kind of API.

When I saw the deprecation on the docs, I just switched to integrating a WASM lib, as I couldn't find a replacement in the docs. Totally fine for my use case generating an image from graphviz code. 
Do I understand it correctly that the "replacement" Google Charts API linked in the deprecation notice is a library and there will not be a hosted service after Feb 25th?

Also yes theoretically it's possible to return the actual deprecation message as reason phrase in the HTTP response.

Jon Orwant

unread,
Jan 22, 2024, 4:25:33 PMJan 22
to google-visua...@googlegroups.com
On Thu, Jan 18, 2024 at 6:41 PM 'Marlon Regenhardt' via Google Visualization API <google-visua...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Thanks for this rolling blackout, that's actually a nice concept for this kind of API.

When I saw the deprecation on the docs, I just switched to integrating a WASM lib, as I couldn't find a replacement in the docs. Totally fine for my use case generating an image from graphviz code. 
Do I understand it correctly that the "replacement" Google Charts API linked in the deprecation notice is a library and there will not be a hosted service after Feb 25th?

Correct. The Google Charts team is working on open sourcing the library, but there's no specific timeline for when that'll be completed.

Marcel Woodard

unread,
Feb 26, 2024, 1:12:44 PMFeb 26
to Google Visualization API
Jon - Any chance you can turn back on for another week?  We are currently working on a solution, but need the charts operating in our weekly emails for over 1 million customers.

Jon Orwant

unread,
Feb 26, 2024, 1:43:27 PMFeb 26
to google-visua...@googlegroups.com
This service was deprecated 12 years ago. When I started the rolling blackouts, I did my level best to accommodate the last holdouts, delaying for months. I don't mean to be rude, but why didn't you implement your solution the past four times this came up?

Jon

Message has been deleted

Stéphane Busso

unread,
Feb 26, 2024, 2:59:18 PMFeb 26
to Google Visualization API
I see this 502 for the first time. It may have happened before when I was not online and not using the service, I had some users complaining about not seeing the graphs but was never able to trace back to this thread. This was set up for more than 12 years, and I honestly haven't looked back. That has been a long ride for this API.

Julio Cesar Ruiz Ledezma

unread,
Feb 27, 2024, 11:32:11 AMFeb 27
to google-visua...@googlegroups.com

chavan

unread,
Mar 7, 2024, 12:10:20 PMMar 7
to Google Visualization API
Is this forum active? I posted a question and it never showed up.

Daniel LaLiberte

unread,
Mar 7, 2024, 12:36:56 PMMar 7
to google-visua...@googlegroups.com
This forum has been moderated for a couple years, since it has become a target for spammers.  So new posters need to be approved, but I occasionally miss the notification.



--

Daniel LaLiberte

 • SWE

 Cambridge MA

 • dlaliberte@Google.com

Jason L King

unread,
Jul 18, 2024, 11:39:31 AMJul 18
to Google Visualization API
@Jon Orwant---- so....I don't know if you can help but I just found out about this today.... In July.    So the code:  =image("https://chart.googleapis.com/chart?chs=150x150&cht=qr&chl="&ENCODEURL(A2))
   in my Google sheet would generate a QR code to scan for all of my company keys.  There are 200 out there with codes.     
Do I need to remake 200 Key codes?  Or if I just had a Copy of each barcode will it still work? since it is literally being used in the following fashion

A2                                        B2
etc.....


Is there anyway I can get things for my work account turned on to download the previous QR codes 
 brooklyn99-b99.gif

Jon Orwant

unread,
Jul 18, 2024, 3:04:44 PMJul 18
to google-visua...@googlegroups.com
If it's just 200, then I would use one of the alternative solutions mentioned on the forum for the Chart API (https://groups.google.com/g/google-chart-api) to generate them. Then you won't need to rely on any service at all.

Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages