Developer API

Create and manage DropMaps layers and maps programmatically over a simple REST API.

DropMaps has a small REST API for creating and managing layers and maps from your own code — handy for syncing a database to a map, bulk-importing features, or wiring DropMaps into a pipeline.

The API is a Pro/Team feature. Reads work on any plan, but creating cloud layers and maps requires a paid plan (it uses your cloud storage quota).

• Base URL: https://api.dropmaps.net/v1
• Format: JSON in, JSON out (application/json)
• All data is stored and returned in WGS84 (EPSG:4326) — see Coordinate systems.

Authentication

Authenticate with a Personal Access Token in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer dmp_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Create a token in the DropMaps app under Account → Access tokens. The token is shown once — store it securely. A token has the same access as your account; revoke it any time from the same screen.

Create a layer

POST /v1/layers — send GeoJSON; DropMaps encodes and stores it for you.

curl -X POST https://api.dropmaps.net/v1/layers \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer dmp_…" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Sites",
    "geojson": {
      "type": "FeatureCollection",
      "features": [
        { "type": "Feature",
          "geometry": { "type": "Point", "coordinates": [151.2, -33.86] },
          "properties": { "label": "HQ" } }
      ]
    },
    "metadata": { "category": "Facilities" }
  }'

Returns the created layer:

{ "id": "lyr_…", "name": "Sites", "geometryType": "Point", "sourceKind": "geojson",
  "featureCount": 1, "sizeBytes": 312, "version": 0, "snapshotSeq": 1, "hasData": true,
  "style": null, "schema": null, "metadata": { "category": "Facilities" },
  "createdAt": "…", "updatedAt": "…" }

GeoJSON must be WGS84 lon/lat (the GeoJSON standard). The request body is capped at 12 MB — for larger datasets, create the layer then upload pre-encoded FlatGeobuf to PUT /v1/layers/{id}/data (see below).

Layer endpoints

Styling and labels

A layer’s appearance is the style object you pass to POST /v1/layers or PATCH /v1/layers/{id}. It’s the same style DropMaps uses internally, so the easiest way to get a valid object is to style a layer in the app, Export → GeoJSON, and copy the dropmaps member out of the file. The common fields:

• Fill & stroke: color, fillOpacity, strokeColor, strokeOpacity, strokeWidth, noFill, noOutline, lineDashArray; for points pointSize and pointShape.
• Labels: labelField (the property to show), labelSize, labelColor, labelHaloColor, labelHaloWidth, labelAnchor, labelPlacement (point | line), labelOffsetX / labelOffsetY, and labelMinZoom / labelMaxZoom.
• Thematic styling: styleMode (single | categorized | graduated) with categoryField + categoryBreaks, or rangeBreaks for graduated.
• Popups & table: popupsEnabled, popupTitle, popupFields, tableFields.

curl -X PATCH https://api.dropmaps.net/v1/layers/lyr_… \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer dmp_…" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "style": {
        "color": "#1f78b4", "strokeColor": "#08519c", "strokeWidth": 1.5,
        "labelField": "name", "labelSize": 12, "labelColor": "#222"
      } }'

PATCH updates only the fields you send (name, style, metadata); omit the rest.

Create and manage maps

A map composes layers you’ve already created (by id), with per-layer order, visibility, opacity and style overrides.

curl -X POST https://api.dropmaps.net/v1/maps \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer dmp_…" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Field map",
    "basemapId": "dropmaps-voyager",
    "layers": [ { "layerId": "lyr_…", "ord": 0, "visible": true } ]
  }'

Layers referenced by a map must belong to your account, or the request is rejected.

Layer order, visibility and per-map style are set on each entry of the map’s layers array: ord (stacking order — lowest draws first / sits at the bottom), visible, opacity, and styleOverride (a partial style object that overrides the layer’s own style just on this map). PUT /v1/maps/{id} replaces the whole composition, so to reorder, re-send layers with new ord values:

curl -X PUT https://api.dropmaps.net/v1/maps/map_… \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer dmp_…" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "name": "Field map", "layers": [
        { "layerId": "lyr_roads",  "ord": 0 },
        { "layerId": "lyr_sites",  "ord": 1, "opacity": 0.8,
          "styleOverride": { "color": "#e31a1c" } }
      ] }'

Fields (attributes)

Feature attributes are GeoJSON properties. Add, rename or drop them across every feature in one call with POST /v1/layers/{id}/fields, passing an ops array applied in order:

curl -X POST https://api.dropmaps.net/v1/layers/lyr_…/fields \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer dmp_…" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "ops": [
        { "op": "add",    "name": "status", "default": "new", "type": "string" },
        { "op": "rename", "from": "lbl", "to": "label" },
        { "op": "drop",   "name": "temp" }
      ] }'

• add — name, optional default (set only where the field is missing, so it never overwrites real data) and optional type (recorded in fieldTypes).
• rename — from → to.
• drop — name.

The layer’s field config (fieldTypes, fieldFormats, tableFields, popupFields) is updated to match, so the app shows the right columns afterwards. Reserved internal fields (names starting with __) can’t be modified. This decodes and re-encodes the layer in memory, so it’s limited to layers up to ~8 MB stored — for larger datasets, re-upload the whole set via PUT /v1/layers/{id}/data (add a property key to add a field, drop it to remove, rename it to rename).

You can also describe fields without changing the data, via the layer’s style object:

• fieldTypes — advisory typing, e.g. { "height": "number", "surveyed": "date" } (drives editors, sorting and new-feature defaults).
• fieldFormats — display formatting for numbers/dates/booleans (the stored value is untouched).
• tableFields / popupFields — which columns appear (and their order) in the attribute table and popups.

Errors

Errors use a single shape and standard HTTP status codes:

{ "error": { "code": "subscription_required",
             "message": "A paid DropMaps plan is required to create cloud layers and maps via the API." } }

Common codes: unauthorized (401), subscription_required (402), not_found (404), payload_too_large (413), quota_exceeded (413), limit_reached (409), invalid_request / invalid_geojson (400).

Limits

• Body size for GeoJSON ingestion: 12 MB (upload FlatGeobuf for larger).
• Storage is metered against your plan’s quota, the same as layers created in the app.
• Tokens, layers and maps have per-account ceilings (you’ll get a limit_reached error well beyond normal use).

Notes

• Server-side ingestion is GeoJSON today. Shapefile / GeoPackage / File Geodatabase conversion isn’t available over the API — convert to GeoJSON or FlatGeobuf first (the app and QGIS plugin can do this), then upload.
• Anything you create via the API appears in the DropMaps app and the QGIS plugin like any other cloud layer or map.