Create a project

This page shows how to sign in to Spatibase and create your first project: blank, from data you already have, or from a template. It is for anyone starting a new map; the person who creates a project becomes its Owner.

How do I sign in?

Spatibase signs you in with a link sent by email, so there is no password to remember.

1. Open app.spatibase.com. The screen says Log in to Spatibase; if you are new, choose Create an account (the same link creates your account).
2. Enter your Email address and click Send me a sign-in link.
3. Open the email and click the link, or type the 6-digit code from the same email into the sign-in page and click Sign in. Each link and code works once and expires after 15 minutes.

If the email does not arrive, click Send the link again (it becomes available after a short wait of about half a minute), or Use a different email if you made a typo. Spatibase sends only a limited number of links per address and per hour, so if it says “Too many tries”, wait a while. If a link has expired or was already used, choose Send me a new link.

Do I need an account first?

No. The same sign-in link creates your account the first time you use it. On your first sign-in Spatibase shows a welcome window: enter your Full name and pick a Handle, your unique @name (it is filled in from your name as you type). Then answer four optional questions about you and your team, one at a time, or choose Skip. They help the Spatibase team understand who uses it. If you have no projects yet, you then land on the New project screen, ready to start your first map.

What is the Projects screen?

The Projects screen is where you land after signing in (on a phone it is Collect, see Collect entries on a phone). It shows one card per project you belong to: a small map of its content, the name, the description, whether everything is published (All published or Not all published), a Private API label if the API needs a key, your role if you are not the Owner, and when it was last edited. Click a card to open the project. New project is the button at the top of the side panel.

A project holds the content, entries and media for one map. If you have no projects yet, the screen says Create your first project and sums up the three steps: define your content, add places on the map, use the API.

If someone invited you to their project, open the link in the invitation email and sign in with the address it was sent to; the project then appears here. See Members and roles.

How do I create a project?

1. Click New project at the top of the side panel (on the Projects screen you can also use the button of the same name when you have no projects yet). The New project screen opens: a panel on the left and a map on the right. Nothing is created yet, so if you change your mind, the × (Cancel) at the top of the panel takes you back and leaves no empty project behind. The map opens around where you are (your time zone, or your exact area if your browser already lets Spatibase know your location) and follows your light or dark theme, like your new project will until you pick a map style. A blank project or one for your coding agent opens on the part of the map you were looking at.
2. Check the Project name. It is filled in from your choice in the next step (the template’s name, the file’s name, or “My map project”); a name you type yourself is kept. You can add a description later in the project’s Settings.
3. Under Start with, choose how the project begins. The chosen way opens below its name, with one line on what happens next:
   • Coding agent (chosen for you when you open the screen): your agent moves the places in your code into the project (see Can my coding agent move my data in?).
   • File: a CSV, Excel, GeoJSON, KML, KMZ, GPX, Shapefile or GeoParquet file (see Can I start from my own data?).
   • Online source: choose Google Sheet, Google My Maps or PostGIS table in the list. The (i) next to a field’s name explains how to share the sheet or map, or what the database must allow.
   • Template: a working example with sample places (see Start empty or from a template?). Pick one in the list and its sample places appear on the map, so you see what you get before creating anything. It only appears when templates are available.
   • Empty project: a blank map. You add the first place by clicking it, and the fields come as you need them.
4. Click the main button at the bottom of the panel, which follows your choice: Create and get the prompt, Create and import, Create from template or Create project. The map shows “Creating your project…” while it works.

The new project opens on Entries, with the map beside the list: a template project with its samples on the map, a project from your data with the import ready to check, an empty project ready for its first place. A Getting started checklist guides you through the first steps. See Find your way around.

Start empty or from a template?

A template gives you a working example to learn from or adapt; an empty project gives you a clean start. Pick a template when one is close to what you need, and Empty project when you already know your own structure.

Under the list, the panel shows how many types and sample places the chosen template adds, and the map shows where they are.

A sign-up link can choose the template for you: https://app.spatibase.com/signup?template=store-locator (or outdoor-guide, events-map). After signing up and the Welcome steps, New project opens with that template selected, also when the sign-in email is opened on another device. Someone already signed in goes straight to New project. An unknown name selects the first template instead.

What is in a new project?

A template project contains a ready-made content model (types and their elements), a few sample entries placed on the map, and one sample group. The sample entries:

• are drafts, so nothing is public until you mark them ready and publish;
• have titles that start with “Sample”, so they are easy to spot and delete;
• come without photos.

Edit the samples into real content, change the model to suit you, or delete what you do not need.

An empty project starts with no types at all, and you don’t need to set one up first. Click the map (or New above the list) and add your first place: when you save it, Spatibase creates a type called “Place” for it, which takes points, lines and areas. Each place starts with a title and a location; Add field in the entry editor adds more, such as a description, photos or opening hours, to every place. To set the type up yourself first, choose Set it up yourself under Other ways to start in the empty list. See Your first map in ten minutes and Types.

Can my coding agent move my data in?

Yes, when your app already holds its places in its code (GeoJSON, JSON or CSV files). A coding agent such as Claude Code, Cursor or Codex moves them into a Spatibase project and connects your app to its API.

1. Click New project and choose Coding agent.
2. Check the Project name. Let the agent publish is on by default: the agent shows you a report first and waits for your OK, and publishing is what lets your app load the data. Click Create and get the prompt.
3. Click the copy button on the prompt and paste it into your agent, in your app’s folder. It starts with npx spatibase@latest link <code>; the code works once and for 15 minutes (“Code valid for 14:32”), and Get a new code replaces it.
4. The project opens on Entries with the Use your coding agent window. It shows the prompt to copy and ticks off Agent connected, Types created, Places imported (with the count) and Published, and the places appear on the map as the agent writes them. When it is done, it says your agent is switching your app to the API.

Leaving the page midway is fine: the project stays and the agent keeps working. An empty project also offers the prompt later: Use your coding agent under Other ways to start opens a dialog with the prompt and the same checklist. The full guide, including what the agent does step by step, is Start from your code.

Can I start from my own data?

Yes. If your places are already in a spreadsheet, a map file or a database, start the project from them: Spatibase creates the type and its fields from your columns and imports the rows.

1. Click New project and choose File, or Online source for a Google Sheet, a Google My Maps map or a PostGIS table.
2. Add your data:
   • File: drag in a CSV, Excel (.xlsx), GeoJSON, KML, KMZ, GPX, Shapefile (.zip) or GeoParquet file, or click the box to choose one.
   • Online source, Google Sheet: paste the link of a sheet shared as “Anyone with the link” and click Load sheet.
   • Online source, Google My Maps: paste the link of a map shared with “Anyone with this link can view” and click Load map. Its layers become a folder column.
   • Online source, PostGIS table: paste your database’s connection string, click Connect, pick a table and click Load table.
3. Spatibase shows what it read (rows and columns, and anything it changed on the way) and fills in the Project name from the file, sheet, map or table name. Change it if you like; Choose other data starts over. If you leave the screen or choose another way to start now, Spatibase asks first, because the data would have to be loaded again.
4. Click Create and import.

The new project opens on Entries with the import wizard: check the type and fields Spatibase suggests (Name of the new type, Title comes from, the field types), then click Create type and import. When it is done, Publish N entries marks them ready, publishes them as the project’s first version in one click and shows the address of your data as GeoJSON. Up to 10,000 rows and 45 MB go in at a time. The details of every source, and what happens to values that don’t fit, are in Import your data.

Can I start from a public dataset?

Yes. Spatibase publishes free datasets, such as Airports of the world, at spatibase.com/datasets. The sign-up link on a dataset’s page opens New project with Public dataset and that dataset chosen: Copy dataset gives you a project of your own, with its entries already published. You can also download a dataset as CSV or GeoJSON, choose File in New project and pick the file.

Can I rename a project later?

Yes. Inside the project, click the project name at the top of the side panel and choose Rename project. On the Projects screen, click ⋯ on the project’s card and choose Rename. Only Owners can rename a project.

The same project menu lists your Recent projects for quick switching (you stay in the same section of the app) and has a link back to All projects. It also holds Duplicate…, Export entries (GeoJSON), Activity, Collect on a phone…, Preview data and, for Owners, Delete project… (you see only what your role allows).

Can I duplicate a project?

Yes, if you are an Owner or Editor of it. A copy is a quick way to start a new map from an existing one, or to try out changes without touching the live project.

1. On the Projects screen, click ⋯ on the project’s card and choose Duplicate…. Inside a project, click the project name at the top of the side panel and choose Duplicate….
2. Check the name of the copy. It is “… (copy)” by default.
3. Choose what to copy:
   • Entries: every entry with its fields, location and shapes. Links between entries point at the copied entries.
   • Groups: the groups and their order. Needs entries.
   • Media files: the images and files, copied as new files. Without them, entries in the copy have no images or files.
   • Keep published entries published: off by default, so everything in the copy starts as a draft and its API shows nothing until you mark entries ready and publish. Turn it on to have the copy serve the same published content right away, as its own first version.
4. Click Duplicate. From inside a project you land in the copy; from the Projects screen the copy appears at the top of the list and a message offers Open.

The content model (types, elements, map feature types) and the project settings (description, basemap, API access) are always copied. Members, API keys, the webhook, AI assistant connections and the Activity history are not: you become the only Owner of the copy. A project with more than 10,000 entries or more than 1 GB of files can only be duplicated without them. The copy is independent: deleting the original does not affect it.

Can I delete a project?

Yes, if you are an Owner of it. On the Projects screen, click ⋯ on the project’s card and choose Delete…; inside the project, click the project name at the top of the side panel and choose Delete project…. Confirm with Delete project. This permanently deletes the project and everything in it: types, elements, entries and uploaded media. It does not go to the Trash and cannot be undone, and websites and apps that use the project’s API stop receiving data.

Related

• Your first map in ten minutes
• Start from your code
• Find your way around
• Members and roles
• Account and plan