{"slug": "show-hn-geolens-a-self-hosted-catalog-and-map-builder-for-spatial-data", "title": "Show HN: GeoLens – a self-hosted catalog and map builder for spatial data", "summary": "GeoLens, an open-source self-hosted catalog and map builder for geospatial data, has been released. The platform allows users to search and preview datasets, compose multi-layer maps with 3D terrain, and serve them over OGC APIs on their own infrastructure with no telemetry. It is built on PostGIS, MapLibre, Titiler, and FastAPI, and supports open standards such as OGC API, STAC, and DCAT.", "body_md": "Open Source · Self-Hosted · OGC API\n\n# The self-hosted catalog and map builder for your geospatial data\n\nGeoLens is an open-source, self-hosted catalog and map builder for geospatial data. Search and preview datasets, compose multi-layer maps with 3D terrain, and serve them over open OGC APIs, all on infrastructure you control, with no telemetry.\n\nBuilt on PostGIS · MapLibre · Titiler · FastAPI Open standards OGC API · STAC · DCAT\n\nSearch and discover\n\n## Find any dataset in seconds\n\nSearch across your entire GeoLens catalog by name and description. When an embedding provider is configured, you can also search by semantic meaning, so related datasets surface even when the exact words differ. Filter by geometry type (vector, raster, or table) and preview datasets on a map before you download.\n\nCreate and share maps\n\n## Compose multi-layer maps in minutes\n\nCombine vector and raster datasets with point-and-click layer controls: reorder layers, set color ramps and filters, draw and edit features, switch basemaps, and tilt into 3D terrain. Then share a live map with a signed link or embed code, without writing SQL or leaving the browser.\n\nSelf-hosted install\n\n## One command. Your data, your infrastructure.\n\nYou do not need a cloud account. The full platform is open source under Apache 2.0: the entire catalog, map builder, and APIs, free to self-host. Run on a laptop, a single VM, or your own servers with Docker Compose. A community-maintained Helm chart is available for Kubernetes.\n\n``` bash\n$ curl -fsSL https://getgeolens.com/install.sh | sh\n# or, from a source checkout:\n$ bash scripts/install.sh\n\nOK catalog ready at http://localhost:8080\nOK OGC API at      http://localhost:8080/api/collections\n```\n\nHow it works\n\n## One stack. One docker compose up.\n\nEvery GeoLens deployment is the same handful of services, orchestrated by a single compose file, with no external search engine and no separate tile server to run.\n\n- 1\n### Frontend\n\nReact + MapLibre UI: catalog, map builder, and 3D.\n\n- 2\n### API\n\nFastAPI: REST, OGC API, and tile endpoints.\n\n- 3\n### Catalog & search\n\nPostgreSQL + PostGIS + pgvector: spatial and semantic in one database.\n\n- 4\n### Raster tiles\n\nTitiler: Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF tiling.\n\nWhat GeoLens does\n\n## Everything your team needs to work with geospatial data\n\n[Search and semantic discovery](/features/#search)\n\nFind any dataset with full-text search, plus optional vector semantic ranking when you configure an embedding provider. Filter by geometry type, CRS, or date. You do not need SQL.\n\n[Map builder & sharing](/features/#map-builder)\n\nCompose multi-layer maps in minutes, then share them with a signed link or embed a live, interactive map in any page.\n\n[3D terrain](/features/#map-builder)\n\nBind a DEM and tilt into 3D: hillshade, terrain exaggeration, and your choice of basemap in the built-in map builder, powered by MapLibre. You do not need desktop GIS.\n\n[Raster and COG tiles](/features/#raster)\n\nIngest Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFFs and large rasters, build VRT mosaics, and serve tiles via Titiler with automatic colormaps, without running a separate tile server.\n\n[AI assist (optional)](/features/#ai-chat)\n\nBring an OpenAI-compatible endpoint or Anthropic key to ask about your catalog in plain language, create maps, and draft dataset descriptions. The feature is optional and off by default; GeoLens runs fully without it.\n\n[OGC API](/features/#ogc)\n\nServe your datasets over OGC API - Features and Records, with CQL2 filtering and direct tile URLs for map clients. Compatible with QGIS, ArcGIS, and OGC clients.\n\n[Data ingestion](/features/#ingestion)\n\nDrop in shapefiles, GeoTIFFs, GeoJSON, GeoPackages, COGs, and CSV. GeoLens validates, detects CRS, and indexes for you.\n\n[Self-hosted](/quickstart/)\n\nDocker Compose on a laptop, a VM, or your own servers is the supported path. A community-maintained Helm chart is available for Kubernetes. Your infrastructure, your data; no cloud account required.\n\n[RBAC & access control](/features/#rbac)\n\nAdmin, editor, and viewer roles with per-dataset permissions. OAuth (Google, Microsoft, OIDC) and JWT sessions. Audit log included.\n\nWhy GeoLens\n\n## A modern alternative to heavyweight GIS stacks\n\n### One command, not a server farm\n\nA single docker compose stack stands up the catalog, API, tiles, and UI, not a multi-image orchestration project.\n\n### A modern UI, by default\n\nA React + MapLibre interface with a real map builder, not an afterthought UI on top of a data store.\n\n### Standards included, never paywalled\n\nOGC API, STAC, and DCAT ship in the box, so your data stays portable and your existing clients keep working.\n\n### Your infrastructure, your data\n\nSelf-host on a laptop, a VM, or Kubernetes, even fully offline or air-gapped. You do not need a cloud account, and GeoLens does not collect telemetry. Outbound traffic comes only from the integrations you enable: AI, SSO, SMTP, basemaps, or remote data. Plus an audit log of who did what.\n\n### Works with the tools you already run\n\nPoint QGIS or ArcGIS Pro straight at your OGC API URL, with no format conversion and no plugin to install. GeoLens fits alongside your existing stack instead of replacing it.\n\n### Standard formats, clean exit\n\nYour data stays in standard PostGIS and open formats, reachable and exportable over OGC API, STAC, and DCAT. Leaving does not require a migration project.\n\nWho it's for\n\n## Built for teams that work with spatial data\n\n### GIS analysts & teams\n\nReplace the tangle of shapefiles on a shared drive with one searchable catalog your whole team can preview, style, and share.\n\n### Data engineers\n\nServe datasets as OGC API Features, tiles, and STAC, straight into QGIS, ArcGIS, or your own clients, and script it all with the CLI.\n\n### Government & utilities\n\nKeep sensitive data on your own network, on-prem or air-gapped, with no telemetry; point basemaps at internal tiles for zero third-party egress. Role-based access, per-dataset scoping, and a full audit log are built in.\n\n### Civic tech & research\n\nPublish open data catalogs on a permissive Apache 2.0 stack, with no licensing cost and no vendor lock-in.\n\n## Install GeoLens with one command\n\nRun the public installer, log in, and upload your first dataset. The Quickstart also covers the source checkout path.\n\n[Read the Quickstart](/quickstart/)\n\n[Integrate via the API](https://docs.getgeolens.com/guides/api/)\n\nOr script it: automate GeoLens from the command line or your own code.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-geolens-a-self-hosted-catalog-and-map-builder-for-spatial-data", "canonical_source": "https://getgeolens.com/", "published_at": "2026-07-07 00:06:46+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-07 00:39:27.564865+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["developer-tools"], "entities": ["GeoLens", "PostGIS", "MapLibre", "Titiler", "FastAPI", "OGC", "STAC", "DCAT"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-geolens-a-self-hosted-catalog-and-map-builder-for-spatial-data", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-geolens-a-self-hosted-catalog-and-map-builder-for-spatial-data.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-geolens-a-self-hosted-catalog-and-map-builder-for-spatial-data.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-geolens-a-self-hosted-catalog-and-map-builder-for-spatial-data.jsonld"}}