Geospatial Frontend

Geospatial Frontend Demo Builder

Build premium map-centric demo webapps. Derived from a production geospatial retrieval demo with battle-tested design patterns.

Architecture

• Stack: Vite + vanilla TypeScript + MapLibre GL JS (globe) + DuckDB-WASM + pure CSS
• No frameworks: No React, Vue, Tailwind, CSS-in-JS. Pure semantic HTML + CSS custom properties + vanilla TS.
• Map-first: The globe IS the app. Everything else floats on top as a transparent HUD.
• Single source of truth: Global state object; updateView() re-renders; fingerprint diffing prevents redundant DOM rebuilds.

Design System

See references/design-system.md for full token spec (colors, fonts, shadows, spacing, radii, animations, components).

Core identity: Warm espresso + ivory + rust. Dark mode only. Glassmorphed floating panels. Inspired by Anthropic Salon aesthetic.

UI Rules

See references/user-preferences.md for battle-tested patterns, confirmed features, and design rules.

Layout

viewport (100vw x 100vh, fixed)
  ::before  starfield
  ::after   vignette
  #map      MapLibre globe canvas
  brand     top-left (spinning rings + logotype)
  search    top-center (glassmorphed geocoder)
  status    top-center-below (pulsing LED + message)
  panel-L   left (query: draw controls, exemplars, results)
  panel-R   right (explore/discoveries, optional)
  tutorial  overlay + spotlight + card (z:1000+)

Panels are position: fixed, glassmorphed, with generous padding. Map fills entire viewport underneath.

Map Integration

• MapLibre GL JS with projection: "globe" (3D globe, not flat)
• Sentinel-2 cloudless tiles (or similar satellite basemap)
• Layer stack: AOI fill/stroke -> draft layers -> result fill/stroke -> point circles with halos -> hover preview
• Drawing: rectangle (shift+drag with DOM overlay) + polygon (click-to-add, double-click-to-close)
• Fly-to animations: globe.flyTo() with curve 1.4, speed 1.2
• GeoJSON sources: all data as GeoJSON, expression-based paint properties for dynamic styling

Data Pipeline Pattern

• DuckDB-WASM loads Parquet manifest + shards
• Spatial filtering via ST_Intersects or bbox containment
• Web Worker for heavy compute (embedding distances, scoring)
• Concurrency-limited parallel shard fetches
• Two-phase data loading: metadata first, embeddings on demand

Tutorial System

Interactive 5-7 step spotlight walkthrough that SIMULATES real actions:

• Box-shadow spotlight (0 0 0 9999px rgba(...)) cuts a hole over target element
• Card auto-positioned via getBoundingClientRect(), glass-panel styled
• Simulated clicks with animated ripple effect
• Enter key advances; auto-place exemplars if user skips ahead
• Store completion in localStorage
• Must be a LIVE demo -- simulate zoom, draw, exemplar placement, view modes

Responsive

Two breakpoints only:

• 1100px: shrink panels, hide secondary nav
• 900px: panels collapse to bottom-center stack, max-height 40-45vh

File Organization

Keep files under ~500 LOC. Split by concern:

• main.ts -- app state, DOM, event handlers, tutorial
• map.ts -- MapLibre setup, layers, drawing, camera
• types.ts -- interfaces
• util.ts -- geometry, color interpolation, formatting
• scoring-worker.ts -- Web Worker for compute
• styles.css -- all CSS (pure, no preprocessor)
• index.html -- entry with font preloads + meta tags