tileserver-gl

tileserver-gl is an open-source vector tile and raster tile server (commonly used with Mapbox/GL style inputs) that serves map tiles over HTTP, typically backed by PostGIS and/or other tile sources.

Evaluated Mar 30, 2026 (24d ago)
Homepage ↗ Repo ↗ Infrastructure gis mapping tiles vector-tiles mapbox-gl http-server open-source
⚙ Agent Friendliness
33
/ 100
Can an agent use this?
🔒 Security
35
/ 100
Is it safe for agents?
⚡ Reliability
25
/ 100
Does it work consistently?

Score Breakdown

⚙ Agent Friendliness

MCP Quality
0
Documentation
30
Error Messages
0
Auth Simplicity
70
Rate Limits
10

🔒 Security

TLS Enforcement
70
Auth Strength
20
Scope Granularity
0
Dep. Hygiene
40
Secret Handling
50

Security is largely deployment-dependent (TLS termination, network access controls, and proxy-based auth/rate limiting). As an open-source server, threat model should assume you manage hardening: restrict inbound traffic, enforce HTTPS, and monitor logs/metrics. No claims can be made about auth/scopes or secret handling without full repo/documentation inspection.

⚡ Reliability

Uptime/SLA
0
Version Stability
45
Breaking Changes
30
Error Recovery
25
AF Security Reliability

Best When

You control the deployment environment and can configure the tile source(s) and networking/security controls to suit your application.

Avoid When

You cannot provide infrastructure-level security (network controls, TLS termination, rate limiting) and want the server itself to handle all security requirements.

Use Cases

  • Serving Mapbox GL compatible vector tiles to web/mobile map frontends
  • Hosting raster or vector tiles for offline or performance-sensitive map applications
  • Building custom map backends for GIS/geo applications

Not For

  • As a managed hosted service requiring SaaS-style guarantees
  • Use cases needing fine-grained user authentication/authorization out of the box for each tile request
  • Workloads that require strict API contract/versioning guarantees like enterprise APIs (it is primarily an application/server)

Interface

REST API
No
GraphQL
No
gRPC
No
MCP Server
No
SDK
No
Webhooks
No

Authentication

OAuth: No Scopes: No

No dedicated authentication mechanism is evident from the provided material; production auth is typically handled via reverse proxy/network controls (or tileserver configuration, if present in the full docs).

Pricing

Free tier: No
Requires CC: No

Open-source; costs are infrastructure/ops (compute, storage, database) rather than API usage pricing.

Agent Metadata

Pagination
none
Idempotent
False
Retry Guidance
Not documented

Known Gotchas

  • Treat as an HTTP tile server rather than a typical CRUD API; agent workflows should focus on URL construction and caching behavior.
  • Rate limiting and access control are typically implemented at the reverse proxy layer, so agent-driven traffic may need external throttling controls.

Alternatives

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Scores are editorial opinions as of 2026-03-30.

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