Hotdata Geospatial

Hotdata Geospatial Skill

Hotdata supports a subset of PostGIS-style functions in PostgreSQL-dialect SQL. This skill is data-agnostic — apply it to any table with geometry columns.

Requires the core hotdata skill for auth, workspace, and table discovery. Related sub-skills (bundled alongside this one — Read on demand): hotdata-analytics (../analytics/SKILL.md — OLAP SQL), hotdata-search (../search/SKILL.md — BM25/vector).

Running these queries

All SQL below runs through the core CLI:

hotdata query "<sql>" [--workspace-id <id>] [--database <db>] [--output table|json|csv]

• Fully qualify tables as <catalog>.<schema>.<table> (or <catalog>.<schema>.<table> for an instant database) — every <table> placeholder below means a qualified name.
• PostgreSQL dialect: double-quote any non-lowercase identifier (e.g. "GeoID").
• Discover candidate tables/columns with hotdata databases tables list (filter with --schema/--table) or hotdata databases tables list (tables inside an instant database) — see core skill.

Geometry columns

Most geospatial tables in Hotdata carry one or both of:

Parse wkb_geometry with ST_GeomFromWKB() before any spatial function:

ST_GeomFromWKB(wkb_geometry)

Access wkb_geometry_bbox fields with bracket notation (dot access is not supported):

wkb_geometry_bbox['xmin']   -- ✓ works
(wkb_geometry_bbox).xmin    -- ✗ not supported

Find these columns by their Binary / Struct types in hotdata databases tables list (or hotdata databases tables show <catalog.schema.table>).

Functions

Common building blocks (full catalog, the unsupported set + workarounds, and unit conversions: references/functions.md):

• Construct: ST_GeomFromWKB, ST_GeomFromText('POLYGON((...))'), ST_MakePoint(lon, lat)
• Inspect: ST_GeometryType, ST_IsValid, ST_X / ST_Y, ST_Centroid, ST_AsText
• Relate (boolean): ST_Within, ST_Contains, ST_Covers, ST_Intersects, ST_Overlaps, ST_Touches, ST_Disjoint, ST_Equals
• Measure (in degrees): ST_Distance, ST_Length, ST_Area
• Process: ST_ConvexHull, ST_Simplify(geom, tol), ST_OrientedEnvelope

Key limits (see reference for the full list + workarounds): no ::geography cast — measurements are in decimal degrees, convert with the factors in the reference (distance × 111000 ≈ meters at mid-latitudes; area is only order-of-magnitude). No ST_Buffer, ST_DWithin, ST_MakeEnvelope, ST_Union, ST_Transform, or GeoJSON I/O — use the documented substitutes.

Common patterns

Geometry types in a table

SELECT ST_GeometryType(ST_GeomFromWKB(wkb_geometry)) AS geom_type, COUNT(*)
FROM <table>
WHERE wkb_geometry IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY 1

Bounding-box filter (replaces ST_MakeEnvelope / ST_DWithin)

Use ST_GeomFromText with a closed WKT polygon ring (repeat the first vertex):

WHERE ST_Within(
  ST_Centroid(ST_GeomFromWKB(wkb_geometry)),
  ST_GeomFromText('POLYGON((minLon minLat, maxLon minLat, maxLon maxLat, minLon maxLat, minLon minLat))')
)

Faster on large tables — filter the precomputed bbox struct (no WKB parsing); use the ST_Within form when you need centroid-in-polygon precision:

WHERE wkb_geometry_bbox['xmin'] >= <minLon>
  AND wkb_geometry_bbox['xmax'] <= <maxLon>
  AND wkb_geometry_bbox['ymin'] >= <minLat>
  AND wkb_geometry_bbox['ymax'] <= <maxLat>

Point-in-polygon

SELECT *
FROM <table>
WHERE ST_Contains(ST_GeomFromWKB(wkb_geometry), ST_MakePoint(<lon>, <lat>))

Nearest neighbors (closest N to a point)

SELECT <id_col>,
  ST_Distance(ST_Centroid(ST_GeomFromWKB(wkb_geometry)), ST_MakePoint(<lon>, <lat>)) * 111000 AS dist_meters
FROM <table>
WHERE wkb_geometry IS NOT NULL
ORDER BY dist_meters
LIMIT 10

Distance between two points

SELECT
  ST_Distance(ST_MakePoint(<lon1>, <lat1>), ST_MakePoint(<lon2>, <lat2>)) * 111000 AS dist_meters,
  ST_Distance(ST_MakePoint(<lon1>, <lat1>), ST_MakePoint(<lon2>, <lat2>)) * 69.0   AS dist_miles

Area of polygons (order-of-magnitude — see reference caveat)

SELECT <id_col>,
  ST_Area(ST_GeomFromWKB(wkb_geometry)) * 111000 * 111000        AS area_sqm,
  ST_Area(ST_GeomFromWKB(wkb_geometry)) * 111000 * 111000 / 4047 AS area_acres
FROM <table>
WHERE wkb_geometry IS NOT NULL

Centroid coordinates

SELECT <id_col>,
  ST_X(ST_Centroid(ST_GeomFromWKB(wkb_geometry))) AS lon,
  ST_Y(ST_Centroid(ST_GeomFromWKB(wkb_geometry))) AS lat
FROM <table>
WHERE wkb_geometry IS NOT NULL

Export / simplify as WKT

-- raw WKT
SELECT <id_col>, ST_AsText(ST_GeomFromWKB(wkb_geometry)) AS wkt FROM <table> WHERE wkb_geometry IS NOT NULL LIMIT 10
-- simplified (tolerance in degrees, ~11 m at mid-latitudes)
SELECT <id_col>, ST_AsText(ST_Simplify(ST_GeomFromWKB(wkb_geometry), 0.0001)) AS wkt FROM <table> WHERE wkb_geometry IS NOT NULL

Workflow: explore a new geospatial table

1. Find geometry columns — hotdata databases tables list; look for Binary (WKB) / Struct (bbox) types.
2. Geometry types — run the "Geometry types in a table" pattern above.
3. Coverage / extent — aggregate the bbox struct:

   SELECT MIN(wkb_geometry_bbox['xmin']) AS min_lon, MIN(wkb_geometry_bbox['ymin']) AS min_lat,
          MAX(wkb_geometry_bbox['xmax']) AS max_lon, MAX(wkb_geometry_bbox['ymax']) AS max_lat
   FROM <table> WHERE wkb_geometry_bbox IS NOT NULL
   

4. Sample WKT — run the "Export as WKT" pattern with LIMIT 3 to see geometry structure.