maplibre-gl

What is maplibre-gl?

MapLibre GL is a JavaScript library for interactive, customizable vector maps on the web. It is a community-driven fork of Mapbox GL JS, providing similar functionalities for rendering maps and handling user interactions.

What are maplibre-gl's main functionalities?

Display a Map

This code initializes a basic map using MapLibre GL. It sets the container, style, center, and zoom level for the map.

const map = new maplibregl.Map({
  container: 'map', // container ID
  style: 'https://demotiles.maplibre.org/style.json', // style URL
  center: [0, 0], // starting position [lng, lat]
  zoom: 2 // starting zoom
});

Add a Marker

This code adds a marker to the map at the specified longitude and latitude.

const marker = new maplibregl.Marker()
  .setLngLat([0, 0])
  .addTo(map);

Add a Popup

This code adds a popup to the map at the specified longitude and latitude with custom HTML content.

const popup = new maplibregl.Popup({ closeOnClick: false })
  .setLngLat([0, 0])
  .setHTML('<h1>Hello World!</h1>')
  .addTo(map);

Draw a Line

This code draws a line on the map using GeoJSON data. It adds a source and a layer to the map to render the line.

map.on('load', function () {
  map.addSource('line', {
    'type': 'geojson',
    'data': {
      'type': 'Feature',
      'geometry': {
        'type': 'LineString',
        'coordinates': [
          [0, 0],
          [10, 10]
        ]
      }
    }
  });
  map.addLayer({
    'id': 'line',
    'type': 'line',
    'source': 'line',
    'layout': {},
    'paint': {
      'line-color': '#888',
      'line-width': 8
    }
  });
});

Other packages similar to maplibre-gl

leaflet

Leaflet is a widely used open-source JavaScript library for mobile-friendly interactive maps. It is lightweight and easy to use, but it primarily supports raster tiles and lacks some of the advanced vector tile functionalities provided by MapLibre GL.

openlayers

OpenLayers is a high-performance, feature-packed library for rendering maps in web applications. It supports both raster and vector tiles and offers extensive customization options. However, it has a steeper learning curve compared to MapLibre GL.

cesium

Cesium is a JavaScript library for creating 3D globes and maps. It is highly suitable for applications requiring 3D visualization and geospatial data. While it offers advanced 3D capabilities, it is more complex and resource-intensive than MapLibre GL.

README

MapLibre GL JS

MapLibre GL JS is an open-source library for publishing maps on your websites. Fast displaying of maps is possible thanks to GPU-accelerated vector tile rendering.

It originated as an open-source fork of mapbox-gl-js, before their switch to a non-OSS license in December 2020. The library is intended to be a drop-in replacement for the Mapbox’s version with additional functionality.

Getting Started

Include the JavaScript and CSS files in the of your HTML file.

<script src='https://unpkg.com/maplibre-gl@latest/dist/maplibre-gl.js'></script>
<link href='https://unpkg.com/maplibre-gl@latest/dist/maplibre-gl.css' rel='stylesheet' />

Include the following code in the of your HTML file.

<div id='map' style='width: 400px; height: 300px;'></div>
<script>
var map = new maplibregl.Map({
  container: 'map',
  style: 'https://demotiles.maplibre.org/style.json', // stylesheet location
  center: [-74.5, 40], // starting position [lng, lat]
  zoom: 9 // starting zoom
});
</script>

Enjoy the map!

Documentation

Full documentation for this library is available here.

Check out the features through examples.

Showcases

Migrating from mapbox-gl

If you depend on mapbox-gl directly, simply replace mapbox-gl with maplibre-gl in package.json:

Use

  "dependencies": {
-    "mapbox-gl": "^1.13.0"
+    "maplibre-gl": ">=1.15.2"
  }

if it is important to you that the behaviour is similar to mapbox-gl version 1.x.

If you are OK with changes that integrate non-backward compatible features, install maplibre-gl version 2:

  "dependencies": {
-    "mapbox-gl": "^1.13.0"
+    "maplibre-gl": ">=2.0.0"
  }

And replace mapboxgl with maplibregl in your JavaScript and optionally in your HTML/CSS code:

MapLibre GL JS is distributed via unpkg.com. For more informations please see MapLibre GL is on unpkg.com.

-    <script src="https://api.mapbox.com/mapbox-gl-js/v1.13.0/mapbox-gl.js"></script>
-    <link
-      href="https://api.mapbox.com/mapbox-gl-js/v1.13.0/mapbox-gl.css"
-      rel="stylesheet"
-    />

     <!--  Use maplibre-gl version 1.15.2 for backwards compatibility with mapbox-gl version 1.x. -->
+    <script src="https://unpkg.com/maplibre-gl@1.15.2/dist/maplibre-gl.js"></script>
+    <link
+      href="https://unpkg.com/maplibre-gl@1.15.2/dist/maplibre-gl.css"
+      rel="stylesheet"
+    />

-    var map = new mapboxgl.Map({
+    var map = new maplibregl.Map({

-    <button class="mapboxgl-ctrl">
+    <button class="maplibregl-ctrl">

Want an example? Have a look at the official MapLibre GL JS Documentation.

Use MapLibre GL JS bindings for React (https://visgl.github.io/react-map-gl/docs/get-started/get-started#using-with-a-mapbox-gl-fork) and Angular (https://github.com/maplibre/ngx-maplibre-gl). Find more at awesome-maplibre.

Contribution

Getting Involved

Join the #maplibre slack channel at OSMUS: get an invite at https://osmus-slack.herokuapp.com/

Community Leadership

You can find the official status of the backing community and steering committee in the COMMUNITY.md document.

Avoid Fragmentation

If you depend on a free software alternative to mapbox-gl-js, please consider joining our effort! Anyone with a stake in a healthy community-led fork is welcome to help us figure out our next steps. We welcome contributors and leaders! MapLibre GL already represents the combined efforts of a few early fork efforts, and we all benefit from "one project" rather than "our way". If you know of other forks, please reach out to them and direct them here.

Roadmap

This project's initial plans are outlined in the Roadmap project. The primary goal is consistency and continued bug fixes and maintenance as we advance.

MapLibre GL is developed following Semantic Versioning (2.0.0).

Sponsors

We thank everyone who supported us financially in the past and special thanks to the people and organizations who support us with recurring dontations:

MIERUNE Inc. @MIERUNE, @jawg, @nekoyasan, @atierian, @photoprism, @kaplanlior, @francois2metz, @Schneider-Geo, @serghov, @ambientlight, @joschi77, @geoffhill, @jasongode

Thank you Mapbox 🙏🏽

We'd like to acknowledge the amazing work Mapbox has contributed to open source. The open source community is sad to part ways with them, but we simultaneously feel grateful for everything they already contributed. mapbox-gl-js 1.x is an open source achievement which now lives on as maplibre-gl. We're proud to develop on the shoulders of giants, thank you Mapbox 🙇🏽‍♀️.

Please keep in mind: Unauthorized backports are the biggest threat to the MapLibre project. It is unacceptable to backport code from mapbox-gl-js, which is not covered by the former BSD-3 license. If you are unsure about this issue, please ask!

License

MapLibre GL is licensed under the 3-Clause BSD license.

Changelog

2.2.0-pre.4

✨ Features and improvements

• Update icon-padding symbol layout property to support asymmetric padding (#1289)
• Added cooperativeGestures option when instantiating map to prevent inadvertent scrolling/panning when navigating a page where map is embedded inline (#234)
• Improve filter specification typings (#1390)

🐞 Bug fixes

• Fix compact attribution style when using global CSS that sets box-sizing: border-box; (#1250)