Frequently asked questions

Q: Can I start from a ready-made project?

Yes. On the New project screen, choose Template: Store locator, Trails & outdoor spots, or Events map. Each comes with a content model, a few sample entries and a group, which you can change or delete; the template's sample places show on the map before you create it. Or copy a free dataset, such as the world's airports, from its page at spatibase.com/datasets, which opens New project with Public dataset chosen. See Create a project.

Q: How do I delete my account?

Open Account settings, choose Profile, then Delete account…. The window shows what happens to your projects, then emails you a 6-digit code to confirm with Delete my account. Your account is deleted after 30 days; sign in before then and choose Keep my account to cancel. If you are the only owner of a project other people work in, hand it over or delete it first. See Delete your account.

Short answers to the questions people ask most about Spatibase, for developers, project owners and editors. Each answer links to the page that explains more.

Getting started

What is Spatibase?

Spatibase is a headless CMS for map projects. You define types of places made of reusable elements (fields), fill in entries on a map, publish them, and your websites and apps load the published content from the Content Delivery API. See What is Spatibase?.

Do I need a password?

No. You enter your email address and Spatibase sends you a sign-in link, and a 6-digit code you can type instead, that works once and expires after 15 minutes. You stay signed in for 30 days, and every visit starts the 30 days again. See Create a project.

Can I start from a ready-made project?

Yes. On the New project screen, choose Template: Store locator, Trails & outdoor spots, or Events map. Each comes with a content model, a few sample entries and a group, which you can change or delete; the template’s sample places show on the map before you create it. Or copy a free dataset, such as the world’s airports, from its page at spatibase.com/datasets, which opens New project with Public dataset chosen. See Create a project.

How do I delete my account?

Open Account settings, choose Profile, then Delete account…. The window shows what happens to your projects, then emails you a 6-digit code to confirm with Delete my account. Your account is deleted after 30 days; sign in before then and choose Keep my account to cancel. If you are the only owner of a project other people work in, hand it over or delete it first. See Delete your account.

Can I change my email address?

Not yourself in the app. Write to hello@spatibase.com from the address you sign in with and say which address you want instead; the team changes it by hand. See Account and plan.

Content model

What is the difference between a type and an element?

A type is a kind of place or item, such as “Store” or “Trail”. An element is one field, such as “Opening hours” or “Photos”, that you create once and can put on several types. See Types and Elements.

What are subtypes?

A subtype is a type placed under another type, such as “Cafe” under “Venue”. It inherits all elements of its parent and can add its own, and asking the API for the parent type also returns the subtypes’ entries. Types can be nested up to 5 levels deep. See Types.

What happens to my entries when I change the model?

Values are never silently thrown away. Removing an element from a type, or archiving it, keeps the stored values, and you can bring the element back. Renaming an element’s API key rewrites it in every entry, so apps reading the old key stop finding it. See Change the model safely.

What is a map feature type?

A map feature type is a named, styled kind of extra shape, such as “Path” as a line or “Parking area” as an area. Editors pick one when they draw a shape in a map shapes element, and apps receive its name and color. See Map feature types.

Content

Why can’t visitors see my changes?

Everything you save is a draft, and visitors only see what you publish. Mark a draft Ready to publish in its editor, then press Publish in the side panel: everything that is ready goes live together, as a numbered version. See Drafts and publishing.

Can I undo a publish?

Yes. Every publish is saved as a numbered version. Open Versions, pick the version you want, and choose Go back to this version: the API serves it again at once, and going back is itself a new version. Versions of the last 90 days are kept, and always at least the last 20. See Versions and going back.

Can I publish or delete many entries at once?

Yes. Tick the Select entries box above the entry list, tick the entries, and choose an action in the bar at the bottom: ready to publish, back to draft, unpublish, keep, delete, or add to or remove from a group. Nothing goes live until you press Publish. To change one field in many entries, use the table. See Find, edit and export entries and Edit entries in a table.

Can I add entries from my phone?

Yes. On a phone, Spatibase opens Collect, a version made for the field: you add entries, set their location from GPS and attach photos, and everything shows up in the full app at once. On a computer, choose Collect on a phone… in the project menu for a QR code. See Collect entries on a phone.

Can I bring in a spreadsheet or a map file?

Yes. You can import CSV, Excel, GeoJSON, KML, KMZ, GPX, Shapefile or GeoParquet files, a Google Sheet, a Google My Maps map or a PostGIS table, up to 10,000 rows and 45 MB at a time, into an existing type or into a new type made from your columns. New project → File (or Online source) does it all when you create the project. Imported entries arrive as drafts, so nothing goes live until you publish. See Import.

I pressed Save to Spatibase in a free tool. Where is my file?

In the browser where you used the tool. It waits there for 24 hours until you import it, and nothing is uploaded before you click Import. If you opened the sign-in email on another device, go back to that browser to continue. See Save from a free tool.

Which image formats can I upload?

JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP, AVIF and SVG are treated as images and can be resized on the fly. Other files, including TIFF and HEIC, are stored as plain files. Each file can be up to 25 MB. See Media.

I deleted something by mistake. Can I get it back?

Yes, within 30 days. Open Trash: deleted entries and files wait there and can be restored with the same id. A restored entry comes back as a draft, so mark it ready and publish to make it live. See Activity and trash.

Why does the map style change for everyone?

The basemap is saved for the project, so everyone working on it sees the same background map. It only affects the editor and never changes what your apps get from the API. See Change the map style.

Team

What can an Editor do compared with an Owner?

Editors work on content: entries, groups, media, import and export, publishing and the trash. Owners can also change the content model, project settings, keys and members. Developers look after API keys and the webhook and can read everything else. See Members and roles.

How do I invite someone?

As an Owner, open Members, choose Invite, and enter the email address and a role. The invitation link is valid for 7 days, and the person must sign in with that address to accept it. See Members and roles.

Why can’t I remove myself from a project?

A project always keeps at least one owner. If you are the only owner, make someone else an owner first, then leave. An owner whose account is being deleted does not count as an owner. See Members and roles.

How do I see who changed an entry?

Open Activity. It lists who changed what and when, with the fields that changed, and changes made by an AI assistant carry a robot icon. See Activity and trash.

Publishing and the API

Can I see my published entries on a map without building anything?

Yes. Choose Preview data in the project menu (or in search) to open a ready-made map page of the project’s published entries in a new tab. For a public project you can share its link; a private project shows it only to its members. See Preview your data.

Where do I find the API address for my developer?

Open the project’s API page. It shows the API address of the project with a copy button, ready-made URLs and a request builder. The address has the form https://api.spatibase.com/delivery/v1/projects/$PROJECT_ID. See Content Delivery API.

Can I keep my content private?

Yes. By default anyone who knows the project’s id can read its published entries (never drafts). An owner can make it private on the Access & keys page of API, and then every Content Delivery API request needs an API key. Give each website or app its own key. See Access and API keys.

Are files protected in a private project?

No. Images and files stay reachable by their URL, which is long and unguessable but not protected, because an image tag cannot send a key. Spatibase does not sign file URLs. See Assets and images.

How quickly do published changes reach my website?

Within a few minutes. Delivery responses may be cached for up to 60 seconds in browsers and 300 seconds on a CDN, and every response has an ETag so your app can check for changes cheaply with If-None-Match. See Content Delivery API.

Is there a rate limit on the Content Delivery API?

Only failed API key checks are limited: after 60 from one IP address in 10 minutes, that address gets 429 for a while. There is no other request quota per project or key, so cache responses on your side. See Limits.

How does my site find out that content changed?

Set up a webhook. Spatibase sends a signed message to your server when a publish (or going back to a version) publishes, unpublishes or deletes entries or changes a group. Because a retry can be lost, also compare the project’s contentVersion with the last value you saw. See Webhooks and Webhook events.

Should I use GeoJSON or vector tiles?

Use GeoJSON when you need every field and exact coordinates: one request returns up to 5,000 features and works with Leaflet, MapLibre and QGIS. Use vector tiles for maps of any size, which load only what is on screen but carry only the title, color and simple fields. See GeoJSON and tiles.

Is there an OpenAPI spec for the API?

Yes, two OpenAPI 3.1 files for the Content Delivery API. Your project’s typed file, https://api.spatibase.com/delivery/v1/projects/<project id>/openapi.json, describes your own types and fields, so a generated TypeScript client knows every field; a private project needs a read key for it, and you regenerate the client after changing the content model. The generic file, https://api.spatibase.com/delivery/v1/openapi.json, describes the API for any project, needs no key, and suits Postman, Insomnia or Bruno. There is no official SDK. See Machine-readable spec.

Can my app write content back to Spatibase?

Not through the Content Delivery API, which is read-only. Scripts can write through the Content Management API, which is the web app’s own interface: it needs a signed-in person and can change without notice. See Content Management API.

Do API keys work on the Content Management API?

No. API keys open the Content Delivery API (and edit keys the MCP server for AI assistants). Scripts that use the Content Management API sign in by emailed link and keep the session cookie. See Authentication.

Can I use Claude or ChatGPT with my project?

Yes. Every project has an MCP server that assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor can connect to. Open the AI agents page for the address and the setup for each tool. See Connect an AI assistant.

Will an assistant publish things by itself?

Only if you allowed it. An assistant starts with drafts; publishing (marking ready and publishing the project) and deleting are separate permissions that are off unless you switch them on for the key or connection. An assistant never manages keys, members or the webhook. See What AI assistants can do.

Where do I see what an assistant changed?

Every change an assistant makes appears in Activity with a robot icon, named after its key or as “person via app”. Drafts it changed are flagged until someone reviews them, and the entry list has an AI changes filter. See What AI assistants can do.

Tools that take a header, such as Claude Code or Cursor, can use an edit key, which only owners create. Connectors such as Claude.ai and ChatGPT sign in with your own account through OAuth, and the assistant then gets at most the rights of your role. See OAuth for MCP clients and MCP server.

How much can an assistant do in a day?

Each key or connection can make 120 calls and 30 write calls a minute, and change up to 2,000 entries a day. Over those limits the assistant gets a clear error and can retry later. See MCP server.

Account

What is the Usage page?

It shows what your projects use right now: projects, entries, file storage and AI assistant calls over the last 30 days. These are measurements only; nothing stops working when a number gets big. See Account and plan.

How do I change my plan?

On the Plan page, choose Ask to upgrade or Ask to downgrade. Your email app opens with a message to hello@spatibase.com, and the team changes the plan. Nothing in your projects changes. See Account and plan.

Are there keyboard shortcuts?

Yes. ⌘ K (or Ctrl K) searches and jumps anywhere, including to any entry by its title, T switches between light and dark, and ⌘ or Ctrl plus a letter opens a section of the project. Preferences lists them all. See Find your way around.