Mapbox Developer MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides AI assistants with direct access to Mapbox developer APIs. This server enables AI models to interact with Mapbox services, helping developers build Mapbox applications more efficiently.

Mapbox-Developer-MCP.Server-demo.mp4

Table of Contents

• Mapbox Developer MCP Server
  • Table of Contents
  • Quick Start
    • Integration with Developer Tools
    • DXT Package Distribution
      • Creating the DXT Package
    • Hosted MCP Endpoint
    • Getting Your Mapbox Access Token
  • Tools
    • Documentation Tools
    • Reference Tools
    • Style Management Tools
    • Token Management Tools
      • create-token
      • list-tokens
    • Local Processing Tools
      • GeoJSON Preview tool (Beta)
      • Coordinate Conversion tool
      • Bounding Box tool
  • Resources
  • Development
    • Testing
      • Tool Snapshot Tests
    • Inspecting Server
      • Using Node.js
      • Using Docker
    • Creating New Tools
    • Environment Variables
      • VERBOSE_ERRORS
  • Troubleshooting
  • Contributing

Quick Start

Integration with Developer Tools

Get started by integrating with your preferred AI development environment:

• Claude Code Integration - Command-line development with Claude
• Claude Desktop Integration - Desktop application integration

DXT Package Distribution

This MCP server can be packaged as a DXT (Desktop Extension) file for easy distribution and installation. DXT is a standardized format for distributing local MCP servers, similar to browser extensions.

Creating the DXT Package

To create a DXT package:

# Install the DXT CLI tool
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/dxt

# Build the server first
npm run build

# Create the DXT package
npx @anthropic-ai/dxt pack

This will generate mcp-devkit-server.dxt using the configuration in manifest.json.

The DXT package includes:

• Pre-built server code (dist/esm/index.js)
• Server metadata and configuration
• User configuration schema for the Mapbox access token
• Automatic environment variable setup

Hosted MCP Endpoint

For quick access, you can use our hosted MCP endpoint:

Endpoint: https://mcp-devkit.mapbox.com/mcp

For detailed setup instructions for different clients and API usage, see the Hosted MCP Server Guide. Note: This guide references the standard MCP endpoint - you'll need to update the endpoint URL to use the devkit endpoint above.

Getting Your Mapbox Access Token

A Mapbox access token is required to use this MCP server.

1. Sign up for a free Mapbox account at mapbox.com/signup
2. Navigate to your Account page
3. Create a new token with the required scopes for your use case

For more information about Mapbox access tokens, see the Mapbox documentation on access tokens.

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Token Privileges Required

The MAPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN environment variable is required. Each tool requires specific token scopes/privileges to function properly. For example:

• Reading styles requires styles:read scope
• Creating styles requires styles:write scope
• Managing tokens requires tokens:read and tokens:write scopes

Tools

Documentation Tools

get_latest_mapbox_docs_tool - Access the latest official Mapbox documentation directly from the source. This tool fetches comprehensive, up-to-date information about all Mapbox APIs, SDKs, and developer resources from docs.mapbox.com/llms.txt.

Example prompts:

• "What are the latest Mapbox APIs available for developers?"
• "Show me all current Mapbox services and SDKs"
• "I need up-to-date Mapbox documentation for my project"
• "What mapping solutions does Mapbox offer for my tech stack?"
• "Give me an overview of Mapbox's navigation and routing capabilities"
• "Compare Mapbox web SDKs versus mobile SDKs"
• "What's new in the Mapbox ecosystem?"

📖 See more examples and interactive demo →

Reference Tools

get_reference_tool - Access static Mapbox reference documentation and schemas. This tool provides essential reference information that helps AI assistants understand Mapbox concepts and build correct styles and tokens.

Note: This tool exists as a workaround for Claude Desktop's current limitation with MCP resources. Claude Desktop can see resources (via resources/list) but doesn't automatically call resources/read to fetch their content. This tool provides the same reference data through the tool interface, which Claude Desktop does support. Other MCP clients that fully support the resources protocol can access this data directly as MCP Resources (see Resources section below).

Available References:

• resource://mapbox-style-layers - Mapbox GL JS style specification reference guide covering all layer types (fill, line, symbol, circle, fill-extrusion) and their properties
• resource://mapbox-streets-v8-fields - Complete field definitions for all Mapbox Streets v8 source layers, including enumerated values for each field (useful for building filters)
• resource://mapbox-token-scopes - Comprehensive token scope reference explaining what each scope allows and which scopes are needed for different operations
• resource://mapbox-layer-type-mapping - Mapping of Mapbox Streets v8 source layers to compatible GL JS layer types, with common usage patterns

Example prompts:

• "What fields are available for the landuse layer?"
• "Show me the token scopes reference"
• "What layer type should I use for roads?"
• "Get the Streets v8 fields reference"
• "What scopes do I need to display a map?"

Style Management Tools

Complete set of tools for managing Mapbox styles via the Styles API:

Style Builder Tool - Create and modify Mapbox styles programmatically through conversational prompts

📖 See the Style Builder documentation for detailed usage and examples →

ListStylesTool - List all styles for a Mapbox account

• Input: limit (optional - max number of styles), start (optional - pagination token)
• Returns: Array of style metadata with optional pagination info

CreateStyleTool - Create a new Mapbox style

• Input: name, style (Mapbox style specification)
• Returns: Created style details with ID

RetrieveStyleTool - Retrieve a specific style by ID

• Input: styleId
• Returns: Complete style specification

UpdateStyleTool - Update an existing style

• Input: styleId, name (optional), style (optional)
• Returns: Updated style details

DeleteStyleTool - Delete a style by ID

• Input: styleId
• Returns: Success confirmation

PreviewStyleTool - Generate preview URL for a Mapbox style using an existing public token

• Input: styleId, title (optional), zoomwheel (optional), zoom (optional), center (optional), bearing (optional), pitch (optional)
• Returns: URL to open the style preview in browser
• Note: This tool automatically fetches the first available public token from your account for the preview URL. Requires at least one public token with styles:read scope.

⚠️ Required Token Scopes:

All style tools require a valid Mapbox access token with specific scopes. Using a token without the correct scope will result in authentication errors.

• ListStylesTool: Requires styles:list scope
• CreateStyleTool: Requires styles:write scope
• RetrieveStyleTool: Requires styles:download scope
• UpdateStyleTool: Requires styles:write scope
• DeleteStyleTool: Requires styles:write scope
• PreviewStyleTool: Requires tokens:read scope (to list tokens) and at least one public token with styles:read scope

Note: The username is automatically extracted from the JWT token payload.

Example prompts:

• "Can you create a Christmas themed Style for me?"
• "Please generate a preview link for this style"
• "Can you change the background to snow style?"

Token Management Tools

create-token

Create a new Mapbox access token with specified scopes and optional URL restrictions.

Parameters:

• note (string, required): Description of the token
• scopes (array of strings, required): Array of scopes/permissions for the token. Must be valid Mapbox scopes (see below)
• allowedUrls (array of strings, optional): URLs where the token can be used (max 100)
• expires (string, optional): Expiration time in ISO 8601 format (maximum 1 hour in the future)

Available Scopes:

Available scopes for public tokens:

• styles:tiles - Read styles as raster tiles
• styles:read - Read styles
• fonts:read - Read fonts
• datasets:read - Read datasets
• vision:read - Read Vision API

Example:

{
  "note": "Development token for my app",
  "scopes": ["styles:read", "fonts:read"],
  "allowedUrls": ["https://myapp.com"]
}

Example prompts:

• "Create a new Mapbox token for my web app with styles:read and fonts:read permissions"
• "Generate a token that expires in 30 minutes with styles:tiles and vision:read scopes"
• "Create a restricted token that only works on https://myapp.com with styles:read, fonts:read, and datasets:read"

list-tokens

List Mapbox access tokens for the authenticated user with optional filtering and pagination.

Parameters:

• default (boolean, optional): Filter to show only the default public token
• limit (number, optional): Maximum number of tokens to return per page (1-100)
• sortby (string, optional): Sort tokens by "created" or "modified" timestamp
• start (string, optional): The token ID after which to start the listing (when provided, auto-pagination is disabled)
• usage (string, optional): Filter by token type: "pk" (public)

Pagination behavior:

• When no start parameter is provided, the tool automatically fetches all pages of results
• When a start parameter is provided, only the requested page is returned (for manual pagination control)

Example:

{
  "limit": 10,
  "sortby": "created",
  "usage": "pk"
}

Example prompts:

• "List all my Mapbox tokens"
• "Show me my public tokens sorted by creation date"
• "Find my default public token"
• "List the 5 most recently modified tokens"
• "Show all public tokens in my account"

Local Processing Tools

GeoJSON Preview tool (Beta)

Generate a geojson.io URL to visualize GeoJSON data. This tool:

• Validates GeoJSON format (Point, LineString, Polygon, Feature, FeatureCollection, etc.)
• Returns a direct URL to geojson.io for instant visualization
• Supports both GeoJSON objects and JSON strings as input

Example usage:

{
  "geojson": {
    "type": "Point",
    "coordinates": [-122.4194, 37.7749]
  }
}

Returns: A single URL string that can be opened in a browser to view the GeoJSON data.

Note: This is a beta feature currently optimized for small to medium-sized GeoJSON files. Large GeoJSON files may result in very long URLs and slower performance. We plan to optimize this in future versions by implementing alternative approaches for handling large datasets.

Example prompts:

• "Generate a preview URL for this GeoJSON data"
• "Create a geojson.io link for my uploaded route.geojson file"

Coordinate Conversion tool

Convert coordinates between different coordinate reference systems (CRS), specifically between WGS84 (EPSG:4326) and Web Mercator (EPSG:3857).

Parameters:

• coordinates (array, required): Array of coordinate pairs to convert. Each coordinate pair should be [longitude, latitude] for WGS84 or [x, y] for Web Mercator
• fromCRS (string, required): Source coordinate reference system. Supported values: "EPSG:4326" (WGS84), "EPSG:3857" (Web Mercator)
• toCRS (string, required): Target coordinate reference system. Supported values: "EPSG:4326" (WGS84), "EPSG:3857" (Web Mercator)

Returns:

An array of converted coordinate pairs in the target CRS format.

Example:

{
  "coordinates": [
    [-122.4194, 37.7749],
    [-74.006, 40.7128]
  ],
  "fromCRS": "EPSG:4326",
  "toCRS": "EPSG:3857"
}

Example prompts:

• "Convert these coordinates from WGS84 to Web Mercator: [-122.4194, 37.7749] and [-74.006, 40.7128]"
• "Convert the coordinates [-13627361.0, 4544761.0] from Web Mercator to WGS84"

Bounding Box tool

Calculates the bounding box of given GeoJSON content, returning coordinates as [minX, minY, maxX, maxY].

Parameters:

• geojson (string or object, required): GeoJSON content to calculate bounding box for. Can be provided as:
  • A JSON string that will be parsed
  • A GeoJSON object

Supported GeoJSON types:

• Point
• LineString
• Polygon
• MultiPoint
• MultiLineString
• MultiPolygon
• GeometryCollection
• Feature
• FeatureCollection

Returns:

An array of four numbers representing the bounding box: [minX, minY, maxX, maxY]

• minX: Western-most longitude
• minY: Southern-most latitude
• maxX: Eastern-most longitude
• maxY: Northern-most latitude

Example:

{
  "geojson": {
    "type": "FeatureCollection",
    "features": [
      {
        "type": "Feature",
        "geometry": {
          "type": "Point",
          "coordinates": [-73.9857, 40.7484]
        },
        "properties": {}
      },
      {
        "type": "Feature",
        "geometry": {
          "type": "Point",
          "coordinates": [-74.006, 40.7128]
        },
        "properties": {}
      }
    ]
  }
}

Example prompts:

• "Calculate the bounding box of this GeoJSON file" (then upload a .geojson file)
• "What's the bounding box for the coordinates in the uploaded parks.geojson file?"

Resources

This server exposes static reference documentation as MCP Resources. While these are primarily accessed through the get_reference_tool, MCP clients that fully support the resources protocol can access them directly.

Available Resources:

1. Mapbox Style Specification Guide (resource://mapbox-style-layers)

   • Complete reference for Mapbox GL JS layer types and properties
   • Covers fill, line, symbol, circle, and fill-extrusion layers
   • Includes paint and layout properties for each layer type

2. Mapbox Streets v8 Fields Reference (resource://mapbox-streets-v8-fields)

   • Field definitions for all Streets v8 source layers
   • Enumerated values for filterable fields
   • Essential for building accurate style filters
   • Example: landuse layer has class field with values like park, cemetery, hospital, etc.

3. Mapbox Token Scopes Reference (resource://mapbox-token-scopes)

   • Comprehensive documentation of token scopes
   • Explains public vs. secret token scopes
   • Common scope combinations for different use cases
   • Best practices for token management

4. Mapbox Layer Type Mapping (resource://mapbox-layer-type-mapping)

   • Maps Streets v8 source layers to compatible GL JS layer types
   • Organized by geometry type (polygon, line, point)
   • Includes common usage patterns and examples
   • Helps avoid incompatible layer type/source layer combinations

Accessing Resources:

• Claude Desktop & Most MCP Clients: Use the get_reference_tool to access these references
• Future MCP Clients: May support direct resource access via the MCP resources protocol

Note: Resources provide static reference data that doesn't change frequently, while tools provide dynamic, user-specific data (like listing your styles or tokens) and perform actions (like creating styles or tokens).

Development

Testing

Tool Snapshot Tests

The project includes snapshot tests to ensure tool integrity and prevent accidental additions or removals of tools. These tests automatically discover all tools and create a snapshot of their metadata.

What the snapshot test covers:

• Tool class names
• Tool names (must follow snake_case_tool naming convention)
• Tool descriptions

When to update snapshots:

1. Adding a new tool: After creating a new tool, run the test with snapshot update flag:

   npm test -- test/tools/tool-naming-convention.test.ts --updateSnapshot

2. Removing a tool: After removing a tool, update the snapshot:

   npm test -- src/tools/tool-naming-convention.test.ts --updateSnapshot

3. Modifying tool metadata: If you change a tool's name or description, update the snapshot:

   npm test -- src/tools/tool-naming-convention.test.ts --updateSnapshot

Running snapshot tests:

# Run all tests (snapshot will fail if tools have changed)
npm test

# Update snapshots after intentional changes
npm test -- --updateSnapshot

Important: Only update snapshots when you have intentionally added, removed, or modified tools. Unexpected snapshot failures indicate accidental changes to the tool structure.

Inspecting Server

Using Node.js

# Build
npm run build

# Inspect
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/esm/index.js

Using Docker

# Build the Docker image
docker build -t mapbox-mcp-devkit .

# Run and inspect the server
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector docker run -i --rm --env MAPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN="YOUR_TOKEN" mapbox-mcp-devkit

Creating New Tools

npx plop create-tool
# 1. Choose tool type:
#    - Mapbox tool (makes API calls to Mapbox services)
#    - Local tool (local processing, no API calls)
# 2. Provide tool name without suffix using PascalCase (e.g. Search)

Generated file structure:

The plop generator creates three files for each new tool:

src/tools/your-tool-name-tool/
├── YourToolNameTool.schema.ts    # Input schema definition and types
├── YourToolNameTool.ts           # Main tool implementation
└── YourToolNameTool.test.ts      # Unit tests

After creating a new tool:

1. Update the input schema in YourToolNameTool.schema.ts:

   • Define the input parameters using Zod schema
   • Export both the schema and the inferred TypeScript type

2. Update the tool description in YourToolNameTool.ts:

   • Provide a clear description of what the tool does

3. Implement the tool logic in the execute method

4. Update test cases with actual test data in YourToolNameTool.test.ts

5. Update the snapshot test to include the new tool:

   npm test -- src/tools/tool-naming-convention.test.ts --updateSnapshot

6. Run all tests to ensure everything works:

   npm test

Schema separation benefits:

• Better code organization with separate schema files
• Easier maintenance when schema changes
• Consistent with existing tools in the project
• Enhanced TypeScript type safety

Environment Variables

VERBOSE_ERRORS

Set VERBOSE_ERRORS=true to get detailed error messages from the MCP server. This is useful for debugging issues when integrating with MCP clients.

By default, the server returns generic error messages. With verbose errors enabled, you'll receive the actual error details, which can help diagnose API connection issues, invalid parameters, or other problems.

Troubleshooting

Issue: Tools fail with authentication errors

Solution: Check that your MAPBOX_ACCESS_TOKEN has the required scopes for the tool you're using. See the token scopes section above.

Issue: Large GeoJSON files cause slow performance

Solution: The GeoJSON preview tool may be slow with very large files. Consider simplifying geometries or using smaller datasets for preview purposes.

Contributing

We welcome contributions to the Mapbox Development MCP Server! Please review our standards and guidelines before contributing:

• Engineering Standards (CLAUDE.md) - Code quality, testing, documentation, and collaboration standards for all contributors
• AI Agent Instructions (AGENTS.md) - Comprehensive guide for AI agents working with this codebase
• GitHub Copilot Guidelines - Best practices for using GitHub Copilot responsibly in this project