mapbox-vector-tile
Mapbox Vector Tile encoding and decoding.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need to work with Mapbox Vector Tiles in Python. The package is permissively licensed, has low install friction, and carries no known vulnerabilities. Maintenance is aging, so verify that the version supports your use case before committing; for active development or rapid bug fixes, check the repository's issue tracker first.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Geometries must have coordinates in tile-relative space (range [0, 4096)) or you must provide quantize_bounds for automatic scaling.
- Low friction installation with a pure-Python wheel.
- Maintenance is aging—last release was over a year ago—but the repository remains active and the package has been stable since its early releases.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution with minimal legal friction.
last release 2025-07-08 (402 days) · last repo commit 2025-07-08 · 274 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 438,264 downloads/mo, #6,661 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install mapbox-vector-tile
import mapbox_vector_tile
tile_data = mapbox_vector_tile.encode([
{
"name": "layer1",
"features": [
{
"geometry": "POLYGON ((0 0, 0 1, 1 1, 1 0, 0 0))",
"properties": {"id": 1}
}
]
}
])- Whether the package handles all geometry types supported by the MVT specification, or if limitations beyond GeometryCollection exist.
- Performance characteristics when encoding or decoding large tiles or many layers.
- Whether optional pyproj dependency is required for most use cases or only for CRS transformations.
What it is and what it does
Mapbox Vector Tile is a library for encoding geographic features into and decoding them from the MVT binary format, which is a widely used standard for transmitting vector map data efficiently over the web. It works with geometries in WKT (Well-Known Text), WKB (Well-Known Binary), or shapely objects, and handles the coordinate scaling and transformation needed to fit geometries into the tile's 4096-unit extent.
The library sits between your geographic data and the tile format, managing the protocol buffer serialization and layer organization. It supports coordinate system conversions when you provide tile bounds, allowing you to work with data in one projection and transform it into tile-relative coordinates. The core dependencies are protobuf for binary encoding, shapely for geometry handling, and pyclipper for polygon clipping operations.
Use it for
- Encode geographic features from a database or GIS system into MVT format for serving to web map clients.
- Decode MVT tiles received from a tile server to extract and analyze feature properties and geometries.
- Transform geometries from different projections into tile coordinates for encoding.
- Build a tile generation pipeline that processes vector data and outputs MVT files for map rendering.
- Integrate with web mapping frameworks that consume MVT tiles as a data source.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need to work with Mapbox Vector Tiles in Python.
The package is permissively licensed, has low install friction, and carries no known vulnerabilities. Maintenance is aging, so verify that the version supports your use case before committing; for active development or rapid bug fixes, check the repository's issue tracker first.
Install
mapbox-vector-tile on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction installation with a pure-Python wheel. Maintenance is aging—last release was over a year ago—but the repository remains active and the package has been stable since its early releases.
Geometries must have coordinates in tile-relative space (range [0, 4096)) or you must provide quantize_bounds for automatic scaling.
License in practice
MIT license permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution with minimal legal friction.
Quickstart
pip install mapbox-vector-tile
import mapbox_vector_tile
tile_data = mapbox_vector_tile.encode([
{
"name": "layer1",
"features": [
{
"geometry": "POLYGON ((0 0, 0 1, 1 1, 1 0, 0 0))",
"properties": {"id": 1}
}
]
}
])Verify before relying
- Whether the package handles all geometry types supported by the MVT specification, or if limitations beyond GeometryCollection exist.
- Performance characteristics when encoding or decoding large tiles or many layers.
- Whether optional pyproj dependency is required for most use cases or only for CRS transformations.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release <4.0,>=3.9 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 3 packagesprotobufshapelypyclipper |
| Maintenance | Aging 402 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 438,264 / month, #6,661 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | License :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9 |
Evidence: mapbox_vector_tile-2.2.0-py3-none-any.whl
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See also geomet · pyGeoTile · polyline · geojson · utm · mercantile · plpygis · pygeoif · pyvrl · mapbox