tippecanoe
Builds vector tilesets from large (or small) collections of GeoJSON, FlatGeobuf, or CSV features
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need to generate or manipulate vector tilesets from geographic data. The package is actively maintained, has no security vulnerabilities, carries a permissive license, and provides convenient prebuilt binaries for common platforms. Install friction is moderate but manageable; the main consideration is ensuring your target architecture has a prebuilt wheel available.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- The Python bin directory must be on your PATH after installation, or activate a virtual environment if installing in one.
- Building from source requires internet access to download tippecanoe source code.
- Medium install friction due to binary compilation; however, prebuilt wheels are provided for macOS and Linux across most CPU architectures, making installation straightforward on supported platforms.
License · maintenance · safety
BSD License (permissive) — Permissive BSD License (BSD 2-Clause for tippecanoe itself, BSD 3-Clause for the packaging wrapper). No restrictions on commercial or proprietary use.
last release 2024-12-10 (612 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-14 · 1,582 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 95,613 downloads/mo, #13,261 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install tippecanoe
After installation, run tippecanoe commands directly:
tippecanoe -o output.mbtiles input.geojson
Or use in pyproject.toml:
[build-system]
requires = ["tippecanoe"]- Whether prebuilt wheels cover all intended deployment architectures beyond the listed macOS and Linux platforms
- Performance characteristics when processing very large GeoJSON or CSV datasets
- Specific version compatibility with downstream tools that consume the generated tilesets
What it is and what it does
tippecanoe is a Python distribution wrapper around the tippecanoe command-line tool, which converts geographic feature data (GeoJSON, FlatGeobuf, CSV) into vector tilesets in MBTiles format. It installs as a set of console commands (tippecanoe, tile-join, tippecanoe-decode, tippecanoe-enumerate, tippecanoe-json-tool, tippecanoe-overzoom) that you run from the shell or invoke programmatically.
The package provides prebuilt binary wheels for macOS and Linux across multiple architectures, eliminating the need to compile tippecanoe yourself. It has no Python runtime dependencies, making it lightweight to install. You can use it standalone via pip, integrate it into build systems via pyproject.toml, or run it on-demand with pipx without a permanent installation.
Use it for
- Convert large GeoJSON feature collections into optimized MBTiles for use in web mapping applications
- Build vector tilesets from CSV or FlatGeobuf data as part of a geospatial data pipeline
- Include tippecanoe in a Python project's build-system.requires to generate tiles during wheel builds
- Run tippecanoe in CI/CD workflows (e.g., GitHub Actions) without pre-installing it, using pipx
- Decode and inspect existing MBTiles or manipulate tilesets with tile-join and other bundled utilities
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need to generate or manipulate vector tilesets from geographic data.
The package is actively maintained, has no security vulnerabilities, carries a permissive license, and provides convenient prebuilt binaries for common platforms. Install friction is moderate but manageable; the main consideration is ensuring your target architecture has a prebuilt wheel available.
Install
tippecanoe on PyPI
Before you install
Medium install friction due to binary compilation; however, prebuilt wheels are provided for macOS and Linux across most CPU architectures, making installation straightforward on supported platforms. Repository is active with recent commits.
The Python bin directory must be on your PATH after installation, or activate a virtual environment if installing in one. Building from source requires internet access to download tippecanoe source code.
License in practice
Permissive BSD License (BSD 2-Clause for tippecanoe itself, BSD 3-Clause for the packaging wrapper). No restrictions on commercial or proprietary use.
Quickstart
pip install tippecanoe
After installation, run tippecanoe commands directly:
tippecanoe -o output.mbtiles input.geojson
Or use in pyproject.toml:
[build-system]
requires = ["tippecanoe"]Verify before relying
- Whether prebuilt wheels cover all intended deployment architectures beyond the listed macOS and Linux platforms
- Performance characteristics when processing very large GeoJSON or CSV datasets
- Specific version compatibility with downstream tools that consume the generated tilesets
Package facts
| License | BSD License permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.7 |
| Install friction | Medium. Platform-specific wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 612 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 95,613 / month, #13,261 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableEnvironment :: ConsoleIntended Audience :: DevelopersIntended Audience :: End Users/DesktopIntended Audience :: Science/ResearchLicense :: OSI Approved :: BSD LicenseNatural Language :: EnglishOperating System :: MacOS :: MacOS XOperating System :: POSIX :: LinuxOperating System :: UnixProgramming Language :: CProgramming Language :: C++Programming Language :: PythonTopic :: Scientific/EngineeringTopic :: Scientific/Engineering :: GISTopic :: Software DevelopmentTopic :: Utilities |
Evidence: tippecanoe-2.72.0-py2.py3-none-macosx_10_14_x86_64.whl; tippecanoe-2.72.0-py2.py3-none-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; tippecanoe-2.72.0-py2.py3-none-manylinux_2_17_aarch64.manylinux2014_aarch64.whl; tippecanoe-2.72.0-py2.py3-none-manylinux_2_17_i686.manylinux2014_i686.whl; tippecanoe-2.72.0-py2.py3-none-manylinux_2_17_s390x.manylinux2014_s390x.whl; tippecanoe-2.72.0-py2.py3-none-manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.whl; tippecanoe-2.72.0-py2.py3-none-musllinux_1_2_aarch64.whl; tippecanoe-2.72.0-py2.py3-none-musllinux_1_2_i686.whl; tippecanoe-2.72.0-py2.py3-none-musllinux_1_2_ppc64le.whl; tippecanoe-2.72.0-py2.py3-none-musllinux_1_2_s390x.whl; tippecanoe-2.72.0-py2.py3-none-musllinux_1_2_x86_64.whl
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