maptaste

MapLibre style taste checks for coding agents. Four heuristics, two skill packs, an MCP server, and a local map showcase.

Problem

Agents ship ugly MapLibre styles: rainbow fills, faint labels, crowded names, and light-only palettes. Maptaste flags common mistakes before visual review. It is not a full MapLibre validator; expressions and real rendering still need inspection.

Demo

Before / After: compare a stock Liberty basemap and categorical Set1 building colors with a cinematic basemap and sequential blues. Both use real OpenFreeMap San Francisco building footprints and heights, support Light / Dark themes, and preserve the camera when switching.

Before	After	Dark

Install

Node 20+ and pnpm.

pnpm add -g maptaste
# or run without installing
npx maptaste check style.json

CLI

maptaste check style.json --pack global
maptaste check style.json --pack cn --format json

JSON output contains { findings, score, summary }. Exit codes: 0 without errors, 1 with errors, 2 for bad input. Warnings and informational findings do not fail the command.

Score: max(0, 100 - 10*errors - 3*warnings - info). Static colors support hex, rgb(), and common names. Dynamic colors, zoom visibility, and feature counts are not evaluated. Metadata keys containing dark, theme, or styles declare theme consideration.

import { check } from 'maptaste';
const result = check({ version: 8, layers: [] }, { pack: 'global' });

MCP

Build with pnpm install && pnpm build. Add to Claude Desktop or Cursor's MCP configuration (replace the absolute path):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "maptaste": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/maptaste/dist/mcp/server.js"]
    }
  }
}

The installed binary is maptaste-mcp. It uses the MCP SDK over stdio. Tools: check_taste accepts { "style": {} } or { "styleJson": "..." }; validate_style accepts { "style": {} } and checks object/version/layers structure; preview_info locates the showcase. Validation is intentionally basic.

Skills

Load skills/maptaste-global/SKILL.md or skills/maptaste-cn/SKILL.md in your agent's skill directory. Both use paper #ebe7df, void #0b0b0b, navy #1a2a4a, and pale blue #9eb6d4. The cn pack emphasizes administrative label hierarchy and uses a lower label-layer threshold.

Showcase

A standalone Vite + MapLibre Before / After demo with real San Francisco buildings and a 57° pitched camera. Before pairs a stock Liberty base with categorical Set1 height steps. After opens by default with sequential blues, a paper or void base, restrained lighting, and soft sky haze. Light / Dark works in both modes. Every style switch preserves your camera.

A local snapshot of the public OpenFreeMap Liberty style is adapted in showcase/src/main.ts. OpenFreeMap supplies tiles, glyphs, and sprites without an API key; an internet connection and WebGL are required. Map attribution remains visible. Google Fonts supplies Instrument Serif, with a local serif fallback.

cd showcase
pnpm install
pnpm dev
# production check
pnpm build

Development

pnpm install
pnpm build
pnpm test

License

MIT © 2026 Felix Fang.