Guides

Use squidmaps with AI

An AI assistant can make a squidmaps map from a prompt. You get a link to the finished map, and keep editing it in squidmaps.

squidmaps is in beta. Features, the map spec and these docs may change without notice, and things may occasionally break. Export a copy of any map that matters to you, and tell us when something isn't right: use Beta feedback, or email [email protected].

On this page

How it works
Write a good prompt
For assistant builders

In progress: This guide is being written. It outlines what it will cover.

Tip: Using Claude, ChatGPT, VS Code or Cursor? Add the squidmaps MCP server instead. You won’t need a prompt, and in many apps the map appears right in the conversation.

How it works

Any assistant that can make web requests can make a squidmaps map, with a prompt that says how:

Ask an assistant for a map, like “the best taco spots in East Austin”.
The assistant writes the map as a squidmaps map document.
It sends the map to squidmaps using the ephemeral maps API and gives you a link.
Open the link, then ask for changes, like “make the markers bigger”. The assistant changes the same map, and the open link shows each change within a few seconds.
When it’s how you want it, add the map to your account from the link. It’s yours to edit and publish.

The link works for an hour after the last change.

Write a good prompt

Name the place and the theme.
Say how places should be grouped, like by neighborhood.
Ask for routes or areas when they matter.
Ask for short descriptions in your own voice.

Describe your map below, then copy the prompt into your assistant. It adds links to the map spec and the ephemeral maps API, and asks the assistant to read them first, so it knows how to make a squidmaps map, send it, and change it.

What should your map show?

Your prompt, with the map spec and API docs for the assistant

Make me a map with squidmaps (https://squidmaps.io), a web app for maps of places, using its ephemeral maps API.

What the map should show:
The best taco spots in East Austin. Group them by neighborhood, add a one-line description for each, and draw a walking route between the top five.

Before you start, read how squidmaps maps are written, and how to create one without an account:
- The map spec: https://squidmaps.io/docs/spec.md, https://squidmaps.io/docs/spec/map.md and https://squidmaps.io/docs/spec/features.md. It's also published as JSON Schema: https://squidmaps.io/docs/map.schema.json
- Ephemeral maps, the API for creating a map without an account: https://squidmaps.io/docs/api/ephemeral-maps.md

Then:
1. Find the real places, with accurate coordinates.
2. Write one squidmaps map document: a name, a short description, and its features as GeoJSON, styled with the spec's "@" properties. Give each place a name and a short description, put related places in folders with "@folder", and add a legend for the symbols you use.
3. POST the document to https://squidmaps.io/api/ephemeral-maps. If the response is a 400, fix what its message names and try again.
4. Give me the "url" from the response. Keep its "id" and "editToken".
5. When I ask for changes, change the same map: PUT the whole changed document to https://squidmaps.io/api/ephemeral-maps/{id}, with the header "Authorization: Bearer {editToken}". Don't make a new map: the link stays the same, and I'll see the change if I have it open. To see the map as I do, GET https://squidmaps.io/api/ephemeral-maps/{id}/preview.jpg.

The link works for an hour after the last change. When the map is how I want it, I'll add it to my account from the link.

If you have the squidmaps connector, use its tools instead. If you can't make web requests, give me the map document as JSON instead, and I'll import it into squidmaps.

The assistant needs to be able to make web requests to send the map. If it can’t, the prompt asks for the map as JSON instead, which you can import into squidmaps.

For assistant builders

The map spec is open, and describes a whole map in one JSON document, so a model can write a complete map at once, styles, popups and legend included. Point your model at it to write valid maps, and send them to the API for a link to hand over. Or connect your app to the MCP server, whose tools do the same.

squidmaps MCP serverAdd squidmaps to Claude, ChatGPT and other assistants.Map spec overviewA whole map in one JSON document: data, styles, popups, legend and more, with a complete example.Ephemeral mapsSend a map without an account, and get a link to open it.