Uploads API
We recommend you use the Mapbox Tiling Service (MTS) to create tilesets instead of the Uploads API. MTS gives you more control over the tiling process, including zoom levels and configuration rules called recipes.
The Mapbox Uploads API transforms geographic data into tilesets that can be used with maps and geographic applications. Given a wide variety of geospatial formats, it normalizes projections and generates tiles at multiple zoom levels to make data viewable on the web.
The upload workflow follows these steps:
- Request temporary S3 credentials that allow you to stage the file. Jump to the Retrieve S3 credentials section.
- Use an S3 client to upload the file to Mapbox's S3 staging bucket using these credentials. Learn more about this process in the Upload to Mapbox using cURL tutorial.
- Create an upload using the staged file's URL. Jump to the Create an upload section.
- Retrieve the upload's status as it is being processed into a tileset. Jump to the Retrieve upload status section.
Note: This documentation discusses how to interact with the Mapbox Uploads API programmatically. For a step-by-step guide on how to use the Uploads API to stage a file to Amazon S3 and create an upload, use the Upload to Mapbox using cURL tutorial.
Retrieve S3 credentials
Mapbox provides an Amazon S3 bucket to stage your file while your upload is processed. This endpoint allows you to retrieve temporary S3 credentials to use during the staging process.
Note: This step is necessary before you can stage a file in the Amazon S3 bucket provided by Mapbox. All uploads must be staged in this Amazon S3 bucket before being uploaded to your Mapbox account. To learn more about how to stage an upload to Amazon S3, read the Upload to Mapbox using cURL tutorial.
Required parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
username | string | The username of the account to which you are uploading a tileset. |
Example request: Retrieve S3 credentials
$ curl -X POST "https://api.mapbox.com/uploads/v1/YOUR_MAPBOX_USERNAME/credentials?access_token=YOUR_SECRET_MAPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN"
Example AWS CLI usage
$ export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID={accessKeyId}
$ export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY={secretAccessKey}
$ export AWS_SESSION_TOKEN={sessionToken}
$ aws s3 cp /path/to/file s3://{bucket}/{key} --region us-east-1
Response: Retrieve S3 credentials
The response body is a JSON object that contains the following properties:
Property | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
accessKeyId | string | AWS Access Key ID |
bucket | string | S3 bucket name |
key | string | The unique key for data to be staged |
secretAccessKey | string | AWS Secret Access Key |
sessionToken | string | A temporary security token |
url | string | The destination URL of the file |
Use these credentials to store your data in the provided bucket with the provided key using the AWS CLI or AWS SDK of your choice. The bucket is located in AWS region us-east-1
.
Example response: Retrieve S3 credentials
{
"accessKeyId": "{accessKeyId}",
"bucket": "somebucket",
"key": "hij456",
"secretAccessKey": "{secretAccessKey}",
"sessionToken": "{sessionToken}",
"url": "{url}"
}
Supported libraries: Retrieve S3 credentials
Mapbox wrapper libraries help you integrate Mapbox APIs into your existing application. The following SDKs support this endpoint:
See the SDK documentation for details and examples of how to use the relevant methods to query this endpoint.
Create an upload
Uploads can be created from a file staged on Mapbox's S3 bucket, or from an existing Mapbox dataset.
After you have used the temporary S3 credentials to transfer your file to Mapbox's staging bucket, you can trigger the generation of a tileset using the file's URL and a destination tileset ID.
Uploaded files must be in the bucket provided by Mapbox. Requests for resources from other S3 buckets or URLs will fail.
Note: You can only replace existing tilesets created with the Uploads API with this endpoint. You cannot replace a tileset created with Mapbox Tiling Service (MTS) with a tileset created with the Uploads API.
Required parameter | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
username | string | The username of the account to which you are uploading. |
The request body must be a JSON object that contains the following properties:
Request body properties | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
tileset | string | The tileset ID to create or replace, in the format username.nameoftileset . Limited to 32 characters. This character limit does not include the username. The only allowed special characters are - and _ . If you reuse a tileset value, this action will replace existing data. Use a random value so that a new tileset is created, or check your existing tilesets first. |
url | string | Either the HTTPS URL of the S3 object provided in the credential request, or the dataset ID of an existing Mapbox dataset. |
name | string | Optional. The name of the tileset. Limited to 64 characters. |
A newly-created tileset is private by default. If you want to make the tileset public, click on the tileset from your Studio account's tilesets page and select the option Make public.
Example request: Create an upload from a file staged on S3
$ curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Cache-Control: no-cache" -d '{
"url": "https://{bucket}.s3.amazonaws.com/{key}",
"tileset": "{username}.{tileset-name}"
}' 'https://api.mapbox.com/uploads/v1/YOUR_MAPBOX_USERNAME?access_token=YOUR_SECRET_MAPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN'
Example request: Create an upload from a Mapbox dataset
$ curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Cache-Control: no-cache" -d '{
"tileset": "{username}.mytileset",
"url": "mapbox://datasets/{username}/{dataset}",
"name": "example-dataset"
}' 'https://api.mapbox.com/uploads/v1/YOUR_MAPBOX_USERNAME?access_token=YOUR_SECRET_MAPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN'
Response: Create an upload
The response body is a JSON object that contains the following properties:
Property | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
complete | boolean | Whether the upload is complete (true ) or not complete (false ). |
tileset | string | The ID of the tileset that will be created or replaced if upload is successful. |
error | string or null | If null , the upload is in progress or has successfully completed. Otherwise, provides a brief explanation of the error. |
id | string | The unique identifier for the upload. |
name | string | The name of the upload. |
modified | string | A timestamp indicating when the upload resource was last modified. |
created | string | A timestamp indicating when the upload resource was created. |
owner | string | The unique identifier for the owner's account. |
progress | integer | The progress of the upload, expressed as a float between 0 (started) and 1 (completed). |
Example response: Create an upload
{
"complete": false,
"tileset": "example.markers",
"error": null,
"id": "hij456",
"name": "example-markers",
"modified": "{timestamp}",
"created": "{timestamp}",
"owner": "{username}",
"progress": 0
}
Supported libraries: Create an upload
Mapbox wrapper libraries help you integrate Mapbox APIs into your existing application. The following SDKs support this endpoint:
See the SDK documentation for details and examples of how to use the relevant methods to query this endpoint.
Retrieve upload status
Once an upload is created, you can track its status. Uploads have a progress
property that start at 0
and end at 1
when an upload is complete. If there's an error processing an upload, the error
property will include an error message.
Required parameters | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
username | string | The username of the account for which you are requesting an upload status. |
upload_id | string | The ID of the upload. Provided in the response body to a successful upload request. |