# VisCoder2: Building Multi-Language Visualization Coding Agents

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.23642 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.23642/

## Key facts

- Cited by 6 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Multimodal and embodied agents, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use.
- Builds on 32 of its 44 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 24 Oct 2025.

## Placed in

- LLM agents and tool use / [Multimodal and embodied agents](https://mlsanity.com/agents/multimodal-and-embodied-agents/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 32)

- [Evaluating Large Language Models Trained on Code](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.03374/) (2021)
- [SWE-bench: Can Language Models Resolve Real-World GitHub Issues?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.06770/) (2023)
- [Qwen2.5-Coder Technical Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.12186/) (2024)
- [DeepSeek-Coder: When the Large Language Model Meets Programming -- The Rise of Code Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.14196/) (2024)
- [Teaching Large Language Models to Self-Debug](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.05128/) (2023)
- [StarCoder 2 and The Stack v2: The Next Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.19173/) (2024)
- [SWIFT:A Scalable lightWeight Infrastructure for Fine-Tuning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.05517/) (2024)
- [SmolLM2: When Smol Goes Big -- Data-Centric Training of a Small Language Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.02737/) (2025)
- [DeepSeek-Coder-V2: Breaking the Barrier of Closed-Source Models in Code Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.11931/) (2024)
- [Molmo and PixMo: Open Weights and Open Data for State-of-the-Art Vision-Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.17146/) (2024)
- [OpenCodeInterpreter: Integrating Code Generation with Execution and Refinement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.14658/) (2024)
- [OctoPack: Instruction Tuning Code Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.07124/) (2023)
- [ChartMimic: Evaluating LMM's Cross-Modal Reasoning Capability via Chart-to-Code Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.09961/) (2024)
- [StarVector: Generating Scalable Vector Graphics Code from Images and Text](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.11556/) (2023)
- [MatPlotAgent: Method and Evaluation for LLM-Based Agentic Scientific Data Visualization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.11453/) (2024)
- [ACECODER: Acing Coder RL via Automated Test-Case Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.01718/) (2025)
- [Agent Learning via Early Experience](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.08558/) (2025)
- [LIDA: A Tool for Automatic Generation of Grammar-Agnostic Visualizations and Infographics using Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.02927/) (2023)
- [A Self-Improving Coding Agent](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.15228/) (2025)
- [Scaling Text-Rich Image Understanding via Code-Guided Synthetic Multimodal Data Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.14846/) (2025)
- [CodeTree: Agent-guided Tree Search for Code Generation with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.04329/) (2024)
- [nvBench: A Large-Scale Synthesized Dataset for Cross-Domain Natural Language to Visualization Task](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.12926/) (2021)
- [Drawing Pandas: A Benchmark for LLMs in Generating Plotting Code](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.02764/) (2024)
- [Plot2Code: A Comprehensive Benchmark for Evaluating Multi-modal Large Language Models in Code Generation from Scientific Plots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.07990/) (2024)
- [PlotGen: Multi-Agent LLM-based Scientific Data Visualization via Multimodal Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.00988/) (2025)
- [nvBench 2.0: Resolving Ambiguity in Text-to-Visualization through Stepwise Reasoning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.12880/) (2025)
- [VisCoder: Fine-Tuning LLMs for Executable Python Visualization Code Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.03930/) (2025)
- [Text2Vis: A Challenging and Diverse Benchmark for Generating Multimodal Visualizations from Text](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.19969/) (2025)
- [The Rise of AI Teammates in Software Engineering (SE) 3.0: How Autonomous Coding Agents Are Reshaping Software Engineering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.15003/) (2025)
- [GPT-4.1 Sets the Standard in Automated Experiment Design Using Novel Python Libraries](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.00033/) (2025)

## Built on by (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [VisPhyWorld: Probing Physical Reasoning via Code-Driven Video Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.13294/) (2026)
- [Beyond NL2Code: A Structured Survey of Multimodal Code Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.15932/) (2026)
- [LLM-Based Multi-Agent Systems for Code Generation: A Multi-Vocal Literature Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.16321/) (2026)
- [EdiTikZ: Scientific Figure Editing from Revision Trajectories](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.01409/) (2026)
- [VisExMEM: Visual Evidence-Based Explainable Multimodal Evaluation Metric](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.16441/) (2026)
- [PrismaCoder: Pushing the Boundaries of Open Multimodal Code Intelligence through Decomposed Rubric Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.20538/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Large language models (LLMs) have recently enabled coding agents capable of generating, executing, and revising visualization code. However, existing models often fail in practical workflows due to limited language coverage, unreliable execution, and lack of iterative correction mechanisms. Progress has been constrained by narrow datasets and benchmarks that emphasize single-round generation and single-language tasks. To address these challenges, we introduce three complementary resources for advancing visualization coding agents. VisCode-Multi-679K is a large-scale, supervised dataset containing 679K validated and executable visualization samples with multi-turn correction dialogues across 12 programming languages. VisPlotBench is a benchmark for systematic evaluation, featuring executable tasks, rendered outputs, and protocols for both initial generation and multi-round self-debug. Finally, we present VisCoder2, a family of multi-language visualization models trained on VisCode-Multi-679K. Experiments show that VisCoder2 significantly outperforms strong open-source baselines and approaches the performance of proprietary models like GPT-4.1, with further gains from iterative self-debug, reaching 82.4% overall execution pass rate at the 32B scale, particularly in symbolic or compiler-dependent languages.
