Style properties

Every node and edge has a set of built-in style properties that control its visual appearance. These properties are set through the styles system using any style value type.

Custom properties can be added via primitives variables.

Node style properties

These are the built-in style properties available for nodes:

Position and geometry

Property	Type	Description
x	number	X coordinate in graph space
y	number	Y coordinate in graph space
size	number	Node size (actual pixel size depends on autoRescale, itemSizesReference, and zoomToSizeRatioFunction settings)
shape	string	Shape name (e.g. "circle", "square"). Must match a shape declared in primitives.nodes.shapes
rotationAlignment	"viewport" | "graph"	Shape orientation as the camera rotates: "viewport" (default) stays screen-upright, "graph" turns with the camera

Appearance

Property	Type	Description
color	string	Node fill color
opacity	number	Opacity from 0 (transparent) to 1 (opaque)
visibility	"visible" | "hidden"	Whether the node is visible

Interaction

Property	Type	Description
cursor	string	CSS cursor to show when hovering (e.g. "pointer")

Ordering

Property	Type	Description
depth	string	Depth bucket for render ordering (must match a layer in primitives.depthLayers)
zIndex	number	Continuous sub-order within the bucket (lower paints first)

depth and zIndex work together as a two-axis sort. See Depth and z-order for the full model and recipes.

Label properties

Property	Type	Description
label	string	Label text content
labelColor	string	Label text color
labelSize	number	Label font size in pixels
labelFont	string	Label font family (e.g. "Georgia, serif")
labelVisibility	"auto" | "visible" | "hidden"	"auto" uses density-based culling, "visible" forces display
labelPosition	"right" | "left" | "above" | "below" | "over"	Label position relative to node
labelAngle	number	Label rotation angle in radians
labelRotationAlignment	"viewport" | "graph"	Label orientation as the camera rotates: "viewport" (default) stays screen-upright, "graph" orbits/turns with the camera
labelDepth	string	Depth layer for label rendering (defaults to related node’s depth)
labelAttachment	string | null	Label attachment name (references primitives.nodes.labelAttachments)
labelAttachmentPlacement	"below" | "above" | "left" | "right"	Attachment position relative to label
labelBackgroundColor	string	Label background fill color (transparent = no background)
labelBackgroundPadding	number	Padding around the label background in pixels
labelCursor	string	CSS cursor to show when hovering the label (requires nodeLabelEvents)

Backdrop properties

Backdrops render a styled GPU shape (fill, border, shadow, corner radius) behind nodes and/or their labels. They are expensive compared to other node properties and meant for a handful of elements at a time, typically hovered or highlighted. For a cheap, always-on flat rectangle behind a label only (which also serves as the hit area for label events), use labelBackgroundColor / labelBackgroundPadding above instead.

Property	Type	Description
backdropVisibility	"visible" | "hidden"	Whether the backdrop is shown
backdropColor	string	Backdrop fill color
backdropShadowColor	string	Shadow color
backdropShadowBlur	number	Shadow blur radius in pixels
backdropPadding	number	Padding around the node and label in pixels
backdropBorderColor	string	Border color
backdropBorderWidth	number	Border width in pixels
backdropCornerRadius	number	Corner radius in pixels
backdropLabelPadding	number	Label-specific padding (-1 falls back to backdropPadding)
backdropArea	"both" | "node" | "label"	Which area the backdrop covers

Edge style properties

Appearance

Property	Type	Description
size	number	Edge thickness in pixels
color	string	Edge color
opacity	number	Opacity from 0 to 1
visibility	"visible" | "hidden"	Whether the edge is visible
path	string	Path type (e.g. "straight", "curved"). Must match a path in primitives.edges.paths
head	string	Head (target) extremity type (e.g. "arrow", "none")
tail	string	Tail (source) extremity type
selfLoopPath	string	Path type override for self-loop edges
parallelPath	string	Path type override for parallel edges
parallelSpread	number	Spread factor for parallel edge separation (default: 0.25)

Interaction

Property	Type	Description
cursor	string	CSS cursor to show when hovering (e.g. "pointer")

Ordering

Property	Type	Description
depth	string	Depth bucket for render ordering
zIndex	number	Continuous sub-order within the bucket (lower paints first)

See Depth and z-order for the full model.

Label properties

Property	Type	Description
label	string	Label text content
labelColor	string	Label text color
labelSize	number	Label font size in pixels
labelFont	string	Label font family
labelVisibility	"auto" | "visible" | "hidden"	Label visibility mode
labelPosition	number | "over" | "above" | "below" | "auto"	Position mode, or a ratio along the edge (0 = source, 0.5 = middle, 1 = target)
labelDepth	string	Depth layer for label rendering (defaults to related edge’s depth value)
labelBackgroundColor	string	Label background fill color (transparent = no background)
labelBackgroundPadding	number	Padding around the label background in pixels
labelCursor	string	CSS cursor to show when hovering the label (requires edgeLabelEvents)

Stage style properties

Stage styles apply to the sigma container itself. Unlike node and edge styles, stage styles only support graph state conditionals (not attribute bindings).

Property	Type	Description
cursor	string	CSS cursor on the stage (fallback when nothing hovered)
background	string	Stage background color

Stage styles support the same rule-level conditionals as nodes/edges, but predicates match against graph state flags (e.g. isDragging, hasHovered):

const renderer = new Sigma(graph, container, {
  styles: {
    nodes: { cursor: "grab" },
    stage: {
      whenState: "isDragging",
      then: { cursor: "grabbing" },
    },
  },
});

Custom variables

Additional style properties can be declared via primitives.nodes.variables and primitives.edges.variables. These are used by custom rendering layers.

import { layerBorder } from "@sigma/node-border";
import { layerFill } from "sigma/rendering";

const renderer = new Sigma(graph, container, {
  primitives: {
    nodes: {
      variables: {
        borderSize: { type: "number", default: 2 },
        borderColor: { type: "color", default: "#ffffff" },
      },
      layers: [
        layerFill(),
        layerBorder({ borders: [{ size: { attribute: "borderSize" }, color: { attribute: "borderColor" } }] }),
      ],
    },
  },
  styles: {
    nodes: {
      borderSize: 3,
      borderColor: { attribute: "borderColor", defaultValue: "#000" },
    },
  },
});

Once declared, custom variables can be styled exactly like built-in properties, with any style value type.