nds-mapviewer 2026.3.0

CLI to run the NDS MapViewer Docker container for visualizing map data (NDS.Live, GeoJSON, and more)

NDS MapViewer CLI

Visualize NDS.Live, NDS.Classic, and GeoJSON map data on a deck.gl-based map with live style editing, feature inspection, and layer management — all from a single mapviewer command. No container-runtime knowledge required.

Beta — This Python package is in early development. The CLI interface may change between releases. Feedback and bug reports are welcome via the NDS developer portal.

Full documentation: https://developer.nds.live/tools/mapviewer

Features

• Map visualization powered by deck.gl via erdblick
• Multiple data formats — NDS.Live, GeoJSON, NDS.Classic (member edition)
• Live style editing — modify map styles in real time with YAML-based rules
• Feature inspection — click any map feature to explore its attributes and relations
• Local and remote data — view SmartLayer folders, FileStore files, or remote services
• Guided setup — interactive wizard for creating data source configs
• Config management — save, switch, and delete configs from the RunScreen (c)

Getting Started

The recommended way to set up your NDS.Live environment (credentials, container registry, pip index) is via ndslive-setup:

pip install ndslive-setup
ndslive-setup

This interactive wizard configures everything you need in one step, including installing nds-mapviewer.

Either Docker or Podman works as the container runtime — Podman is a free alternative if you cannot use Docker Desktop's commercial license.

Usage

mapviewer                         # HomeScreen (or auto-loads ~/.nds/config.yaml)

mapviewer /path/to/data.ndslive   # View a local FileStore
mapviewer /path/to/folder         # View a local SmartLayer folder
mapviewer /path/to/geojson/       # View a GeoJSON folder
mapviewer https://host/openapi.json  # Connect to a remote service (unauthenticated)
mapviewer --demo                  # Try it with NDS Islands sample data

mapviewer mywork                  # Load a saved config by name
mapviewer /path/a.ndslive /path/b # Multiple sources at once

mapviewer --demo --debug          # Enable debug logging in the container
mapviewer --demo --env KEY=VALUE  # Set a custom container env var (repeatable)
mapviewer --demo --network host   # Run the container on the host network

All commands accept -e community|member and -i VERSION.

Remote service URLs

A source can be an http(s) service URL (e.g. mapviewer https://my-host/openapi.json), which is turned into a SmartLayerTileService. The bare-URL form configures no authentication — for protected services, proxy them through ndslive-server or declare the service in a config.yaml with an http-settings block (api-key, basic, bearer, OAuth2, proxy).

For a service running on your own machine, use localhost/127.0.0.1 (e.g. mapviewer http://127.0.0.1:8080/openapi.json) — it is automatically rewritten to host.docker.internal so the container can reach it. You do not need --network host for this.

Container environment variables

--debug turns on verbose logging in the MapViewer container (shorthand for --env HTTP_LOG_LEVEL=debug). Use --env KEY=VALUE (repeatable, short form -E) to pass arbitrary environment variables into the container; explicit --env entries override --debug on key collision. The resulting -e flags appear in the Docker screen's "Copy Command" output.

Container network

--network NAME attaches the container to a specific network (e.g. a custom bridge or host). With --network host the container binds the host's port directly, so --port/--bind are ignored and the MapViewer is reached on its internal port (8089). Host networking behaves differently across platforms and runtimes — it is intended as a connectivity workaround.

If ~/.nds/config.yaml exists, mapviewer (with no arguments) loads it automatically and goes straight to the RunScreen.

If you edit ~/.nds/config.yaml manually, use host paths there, not container paths. The CLI translates them into the correct container mounts when it starts the container runtime.

The run screen shows, below the info banner, the source you passed (a config file or a directly-given data-source path such as a *.ndslive filestore) and the mapped config that was generated and mounted into the container.

Editions

Edition	Formats	Access
community	NDS.Live, GeoJSON, open formats	Free — nds.live
member	+ NDS.Classic	NDS membership

Open-Source Building Blocks

• mapget — tile-based map data server with caching
• erdblick — deck.gl-based web frontend with live style editing and inspection tools

License

The MapViewer is a proprietary product of the NDS Association. License terms and conditions are governed by the account type used to access the Docker image — registering for a community or member account includes accepting the applicable licensing terms for the MapViewer and its components.