Tippecanoe

Tippecanoe is an open-source tool created by MapboxMapboxMapbox is a robust platform that equips developers with tools to create highly customizable, interactive maps for web... for building vector tilesets (MBTilesMBTilesMBTiles is an open specification for storing tiled map data in a single SQLite database file. It provides a portable,...) from large collections of GeoJSONGeoJSONGeoJSON is an open standard format for encoding geographic data structures using JavaScript Object Notation (JSON). I... features. Its key innovation is the use of data-driven algorithms to decide which features to retain and how to simplify geometries at each zoom levelZoom LevelA zoom level is a discrete scale step in a web mapping tile system that determines the amount of geographic detail di..., producing tilesets that maintain visual density and clarity across all scales without manual cartographic intervention. Tippecanoe reads GeoJSON input (from files or streaming) and produces MBTiles output containing Mapbox Vector Tiles (MVT) at specified zoom levels. It applies intelligent feature dropping strategies based on feature importance, geographic density, and attribute values to keep tile sizes manageable at lower zoom levels while preserving all detail at higher zooms. Users can control simplification aggressiveness, minimum and maximum zoom levels, tile size limits, feature filtering, and attribute retention through extensive command-line options. Tippecanoe is essential for anyone preparing large geospatial datasets for vector tileVector TileVector tiles package geographic vector data into a grid of small, efficiently encoded tiles that are transmitted to t...-based web maps. It handles datasets with millions of features that would be impractical to serve as raw GeoJSON. Common uses include preparing OpenStreetMapOpenStreetMapOpenStreetMap (OSM) is a collaborative, open-source mapping project that creates a free, editable map of the world. B... extracts, building tilesets from census data, creating point-of-interest layers, and producing basemapBasemapA basemap is the background reference layer in a web or GIS map that provides geographic context such as roads, terra... data. The output works with MapLibre GLMapLibre GLMapLibre GL is an open-source map rendering library forked from Mapbox GL JS. It provides GPU-accelerated vector tile..., Mapbox GL, and any MVT-compatible renderer. Tippecanoe pairs naturally with TileServer GLTileServer GLTileServer GL is an open-source map tile server that serves vector and raster tiles using Mapbox GL styles. It render... for self-hosted tile serving.