Map panel

Display geographic data on a world map.

Supported messages

To use this panel, your data must provide messages conforming to one of the following supported schemas.

LocationFix

For geographic point data, with optional display of heading and velocity. If the message includes a metadata field (an array of key-value pairs), those values are displayed in the point's tooltip on hover.

framework	schema
ROS 1	sensor_msgs/NavSatFix
ROS 2	sensor_msgs/msg/NavSatFix
Custom	foxglove.LocationFix

GeoJSON

For displaying arbitrary shapes or points.

framework	schema
Custom	foxglove.GeoJSON

The following fields in each feature's properties object are displayed in the tooltip on hover:

• name – Displayed as a "Name" row.
• metadata – Additional key-value information. Supported formats:
  • A string, displayed as a single "Metadata" row
  • An array of { "key": "Zone", "value": "north" } objects, each displayed as a labeled row
  • A plain object (e.g. { "Zone": "north", "Priority": "high" }), where each entry becomes a labeled row

Use the style field within each feature's properties to style objects on the map:

{
  "type": "FeatureCollection",
  "features": [
    {
      "type": "Feature",
      "properties": {
        "name": "Name of map entity",
        "metadata": [
          { "key": "Zone", "value": "north-sector" },
          { "key": "Status", "value": "active" }
        ],
        "style": {
          "color": "#ff0000",
          "dashArray": "4 4",
          "lineCap": "butt",
          "opacity": "1",
          "weight": 4
        }
      },
      "geometry": "..."
    }
  ]
}

See the Leaflet documentation for additional supported style attributes.

Settings

General

field	description
Base layer	Street (© OpenStreetMap contributors) Satellite (© Esri — Esri, i-cubed, USDA, USGS, AEX, GeoEye, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, UPR-EGP, and the GIS User Community) Shaded relief (GEBCO grayscale bathymetry) Custom – Load from a custom URL (Pro and Enterprise plans only)
Custom map tile URL	Displayed when the Custom type is selected. URL to your custom map tiles following the Tile Map Service specs, for example https://my.custom.url/{x}/{y}/{z}.png
Max tile level	Displayed when the Custom type is selected. Highest zoom supported by the custom map source. See leaflet documentation for more information.
Follow topic	Topic to follow in the panel viewport
Follow frame	The frame_id of the location fix to follow. Only present when there are multiple frame IDs in the selected follow topic (e.g. from foxglove.LocationFixes).

Layers

Add additional layers on top of the base map to display more information, such as nautical charts, topography, or custom tile layers.

field	description
Type	Street (© OpenStreetMap contributors) Satellite (© Esri) Shaded relief (GEBCO grayscale bathymetry) Sea marks (OpenSeaMap nautical markers) Isobaths (OpenSeaMap depth contours) Custom – Load from a custom URL (Pro and Enterprise plans only)
Custom map tile URL	Displayed when the Custom type is selected. URL to your custom map tiles following the Tile Map Service specs, for example https://my.custom.url/{x}/{y}/{z}.png. See Leaflet's TileLayer documentation for more information. Most OpenStreetMap based services also work for this.
Opacity	Adjust layer visibility from fully transparent (0) to fully opaque (1)

Use the layer actions to:

• Toggle visibility for each layer
• Reorder layers (move up/down) to control stacking
• Delete layers

Topics

The Topics section allows you to toggle visibility and settings for individual topics.

field	description
Point style	Shape for location points: Dot Arrowhead: rotates to point in the heading direction; only available when heading data is present Diamond Square Plus Cross Pin: not compatible with heading or velocity display When this setting has not been explicitly set for a topic, the panel automatically selects Arrowhead if heading data exists, otherwise Dot. If a topic is configured as Arrowhead but heading data is not present, the panel falls back to Dot.
Show heading	Display heading visuals for the topic. This setting is available when the LocationFix topic includes heading data. Enabled by default.
Show velocity	Display velocity vectors for the topic. This setting is available when the LocationFix topic includes velocity data. Enabled by default.
Point size	Diameter of points in pixels.
Coloring	Color mode for features: Automatic: color is automatically assigned Custom: you pick the color
Time range	Control which messages are displayed: Latest: display only the latest message All previous: display all messages from the start of the file up to the current playback time Last N seconds: display messages within a sliding time window relative to the current playback time All: display all available messages for the topic
Seconds	Displayed when Last N seconds is selected. Number of seconds of data to show relative to the current playback time (default: 30).

Heading and velocity

The heading field (radians, clockwise from north) controls how markers indicate direction:

• Arrowhead – The marker rotates to point in the heading direction, including historical trail markers. This point style is only available when heading data is present; without heading data the panel falls back to Dot.
• Dot, Diamond, Square, Plus, Cross – A directional arrow annotation appears beside the latest marker
• Pin – Does not display heading or velocity information

The velocity field (x/y/z in m/s, East-North-Up frame) adds a course and speed vector to the latest marker, with length proportional to speed.

Use Show heading and Show velocity in each topic's settings to toggle these visuals.

Using custom maps

Load custom map layers by pointing to a URL that serves rasterized slippy tiles following the Tile Map Service specification with Web Mercator projection. See Leaflet's TileLayer documentation for more information on URL template construction. Most OpenStreetMap based services will work for this. See Switch2OSM for more information on serving your own tiles.

Controls and shortcuts

• Hover over the playback bar to highlight map points corresponding to that time
• Hover over a point on the map to highlight its corresponding time in the playback bar
• Click a map point to seek playback to that time
• Scroll over the map to zoom; drag the map to pan (zoom and pan levels will be persisted to the layout)

Links and resources

• Write a message converter extension (Map panel)