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01 — Vision & Goals

Status: draft · 2026-08-14 · map0

Problem

Public-sector SDIs (spatial data infrastructures) constantly need maps embedded in ordinary web pages: a district heating map on a city page, a protected-areas viewer on an environment portal, a project map inside a CMS article. Today the options are all unsatisfying:

  • Full geoportals (MapStore, Oskari, …) are their own applications. Embedding them into an existing website effectively means an <iframe>, a separate backend, and a foreign UI.
  • Config-driven frameworks (Masterportal, Mapbender, QWC2, …) get the philosophy right — everything is configuration, not code — but are heavyweight to set up (multiple interdependent config files, service registries, build steps), are built on older UI stacks, and look dated.
  • Raw mapping libraries (MapLibre GL JS, OpenLayers, Leaflet) render beautifully but are libraries: every TOC, legend, popup and print button is a custom development project, re-built per website.

What is missing is the middle layer: a real web map client — TOC, legends, feature info, print, GPS, layer management — that a CMS editor can drop onto any page and configure entirely with one JSON document, no build step, no backend, no iframe.

Vision statement

map0 is a modern, beautiful, embeddable web map client built on MapLibre GL JS. One script tag + one JSON config = a full-featured map on any web page.

MapLibre already made the cartography declarative (the style spec is JSON). map0 extends the same idea to the client: basemaps, overlay tree, controls, popups, legends, print, theming — all declared in a single, schema-validated JSON document that lives happily in a CMS field.

Target users

Persona Needs
SDI operator / geo data manager Publish OGC services & vector tiles as usable maps; consistent client across many portals; metadata links back to the catalog.
CMS editor (non-GIS) Paste/adjust a JSON config (or later: use a visual editor) on a page; tweak title, layers, colors; never touch code.
Web developer / integrator Clean JS API and events, theming hooks, framework-agnostic packaging, painless npm/CDN install.
Citizen / site visitor Fast, attractive, intuitive, responsive map that works on the phone; accessible.

Design principles

  1. Config-first. Every feature must be reachable from JSON config. If it can't be configured, it doesn't ship.
  2. One document. A single JSON config per map. No services.json/rest-services.json/config.js constellations (the Masterportal lesson). Reuse across maps is achieved by referencing shared config URLs, not by mandatory registries.
  3. Embeddable, not a portal. map0 renders into a <div> on someone else's page. No iframe, no backend requirement, no router, multiple instances per page allowed.
  4. Sane defaults, progressive depth. A config with nothing but a style URL must yield a working, pretty map. Every additional key adds capability; nothing is mandatory boilerplate.
  5. MapLibre-native. Use MapLibre's strengths (vector tiles, style spec, globe, GPU rendering) directly; don't wrap them away. The MapLibre style spec remains the styling language for vector data.
  6. Beautiful by default. Design-quality UI, light/dark, responsive from 320 px to 4K, smooth micro-interactions. "Looks like 2026, not 2012."
  7. Serverless core. The client itself needs only static hosting. Optional server components (print service, proxy, catalog) are add-ons, never prerequisites.
  8. Open. Open source, permissive license, standard tooling, documented JSON Schema, semver.

Non-goals (v1)

  • Not a geoportal platform: no user accounts, no saved maps backend, no catalog server, no admin backend.
  • Not a GIS editor: no feature editing/WFS-T in v1 (drawing/measuring may come as modules later).
  • Not a general-purpose projection engine: MapLibre renders Web Mercator (+ globe). Native rendering of national CRS grids is out of scope (see decision D-02).
  • Not a CMS plugin zoo: we ship one framework-agnostic embed (plus optional wrappers), not 15 CMS-specific plugins.
  • No 3D city model / mesh ambitions in v1 (terrain is on the roadmap; full 3D buildings à la VC Map is not).

Positioning

Masterportal MapStore map0
Engine OpenLayers OpenLayers/Cesium MapLibre GL JS
Character Full portal framework Full portal application Embeddable client component
Config Multiple JSON files + JS, service registry Backend/DB + JSON contexts One JSON document
Embedding on a CMS page Possible but heavy Practically iframe-only Native: script tag + custom element
Backend required No, but complex static setup Yes (Java) No
UI Bootstrap-era, functional Portal-style Modern, themable, responsive
Globe/3D Cesium integration (heavy) Cesium MapLibre globe (built-in)

Success criteria

  1. Time-to-map: a newcomer gets a styled map with a WMS overlay + popup on a plain HTML page in < 15 minutes using only the docs.
  2. Config coverage: 100 % of shipped features controllable via the JSON config; config validated against a published JSON Schema with helpful error messages.
  3. Footprint: core bundle (excl. MapLibre) small enough for CMS use — target ≤ ~100 KB gzip, feature modules lazy-loaded.
  4. Real-world proof: at least 3 production-like demo configs against live Austrian SDI services (basemap.at vector tiles, a state WMS with GetFeatureInfo + legend, a GeoJSON/PMTiles dataset).
  5. Quality: WCAG 2.1 AA for the UI, keyboard-operable TOC, automated visual regression on demo configs.