plotly · larsoner · Aug 11, 2026 · Aug 12, 2026 · Aug 12, 2026 · Aug 12, 2026
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 ### Fixed
 - Fix `hex_to_rgb` parsing of 3-digit shorthand hexadecimal colors such as `#FFF` [[#5662](https://github.com/plotly/plotly.py/pull/5662)], with thanks to @genrichez for the contribution!
 - Add `<!doctype html>` to the `to_html()` template to comply with modern web standards [[#5693](https://github.com/plotly/plotly.py/pull/5693)], with thanks to @mishrakushal for the contribution!
+- Fix the sphinx-gallery scraper so that it generates thumbnails for figures shown with `fig.show()` or displayed as the last expression of a code block, warns once (instead of failing the build) when static image export is unavailable, and no longer scrapes files belonging to other examples during parallel builds [[#4722](https://github.com/plotly/plotly.py/issues/4722), [#4959](https://github.com/plotly/plotly.py/issues/4959)], with thanks to @larsoner for the contribution!
 
 
 ## [6.9.0] - 2026-07-09

diff --git a/plotly/__init__.py b/plotly/__init__.py
@@ -182,6 +182,20 @@ def hist_series(data_frame, **kwargs):
     return histogram(data_frame, **new_kwargs)
 
 
+def _get_sg_image_scraper():
+    """Called by sphinx-gallery when ``"plotly"`` is listed in ``image_scrapers``.
+
+    See https://sphinx-gallery.github.io/stable/advanced.html#integrate-custom-scrapers-with-sphinx-gallery
+    """
+    import plotly.io as pio
+    from plotly.io._sg_scraper import plotly_sg_scraper
+
+    # Not left to the import side effect: sphinx-gallery resolves the scraper
+    # repeatedly, so this also undoes any later renderer change.
+    pio.renderers.default = "sphinx_gallery_png"
+    return plotly_sg_scraper
+
+
 def _jupyter_labextension_paths():
     """Called by Jupyter Lab Server to detect if it is a valid labextension and
     to install the extension.

diff --git a/plotly/basedatatypes.py b/plotly/basedatatypes.py
@@ -825,7 +825,14 @@ def _repr_html_(self):
         if "text/html" in bundle:
             return bundle["text/html"]
         else:
-            return self.to_html(full_html=False, include_plotlyjs="cdn")
+            # Size like the html renderers do: "100%" height collapses or
+            # overflows in plain-HTML consumers such as sphinx-gallery.
+            return self.to_html(
+                full_html=False,
+                include_plotlyjs="cdn",
+                default_width="100%",
+                default_height=525,
+            )
 
     def _repr_mimebundle_(self, include=None, exclude=None, validate=True, **kwargs):
         """

diff --git a/plotly/io/_base_renderers.py b/plotly/io/_base_renderers.py
@@ -6,10 +6,9 @@
 from os.path import isdir
 
 from plotly import optional_imports
-from plotly.io import to_json, to_image, write_image, write_html
+from plotly.io import to_json, to_image
 from plotly.io._utils import plotly_cdn_url
 from plotly.offline.offline import _get_jconfig, get_plotlyjs
-from plotly.tools import return_figure_from_figure_or_data
 
 ipython_display = optional_imports.get_module("IPython.display")
 IPython = optional_imports.get_module("IPython")
@@ -821,26 +820,21 @@ def to_mimebundle(self, fig_dict):
         return {"text/html": html}
 
 
+# Figures shown with the "sphinx_gallery_png" renderer are queued here until
+# plotly.io._sg_scraper.plotly_sg_scraper collects them, so the renderer itself
+# does not need to know where sphinx-gallery wants the files to be written.
+sphinx_gallery_figures = []
+
+
 class SphinxGalleryOrcaRenderer(ExternalRenderer):
+    """Renderer used together with the sphinx-gallery image scraper.
+
+    Instead of displaying the figure, this renderer queues it in
+    ``plotly.io._base_renderers.sphinx_gallery_figures``;
+    :func:`plotly.io._sg_scraper.plotly_sg_scraper` then writes each queued
+    figure to the gallery's image directory, both as an interactive HTML file
+    and as a static image used for the gallery thumbnail.
+    """
+
     def render(self, fig_dict):
-        stack = inspect.stack()
-        # Name of script from which plot function was called is retrieved
-        try:
-            filename = stack[3].filename  # let's hope this is robust...
-        except Exception:  # python 2
-            filename = stack[3][1]
-        filename_root, _ = os.path.splitext(filename)
-        filename_html = filename_root + ".html"
-        filename_png = filename_root + ".png"
-        figure = return_figure_from_figure_or_data(fig_dict, True)
-        _ = write_html(fig_dict, file=filename_html, include_plotlyjs="cdn")
-        try:
-            write_image(figure, filename_png)
-        except (ValueError, ImportError):
-            raise ImportError(
-                "orca and psutil are required to use the `sphinx-gallery-orca` renderer. "
-                "See https://plotly.com/python/static-image-export/ for instructions on "
-                "how to install orca. Alternatively, you can use the `sphinx-gallery` "
-                "renderer (note that png thumbnails can only be generated with "
-                "the `sphinx-gallery-orca` renderer)."
-            )
+        sphinx_gallery_figures.append(fig_dict)