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maps.guru
maps for sveltekit

SvelteKit maps, the boring infra part sorted.

SvelteKit universal-loads your routes. Wrap the map mount in <svelte:component> + a browser check so maplibre-gl only executes when running in the browser.

Get a free API key SvelteKit docs
install
pnpm add maplibre-gl
svelte
<script lang="ts">
  import { onMount } from 'svelte';
  import { browser } from '$app/environment';
  import maplibregl, { type Map as MapLibreMap } from 'maplibre-gl';
  import 'maplibre-gl/dist/maplibre-gl.css';

  const MAP_STYLE = 'https://maps.guru/api/v1/styles/standard/light/style.json?key=YOUR_API_KEY';

  let container: HTMLDivElement;
  let map: MapLibreMap | undefined;

  onMount(() => {
    // Critical: SvelteKit may hydrate on the server during prerender.
    // Skip maplibre-gl when browser === false.
    if (!browser) return;

    map = new maplibregl.Map({
      container,
      style: MAP_STYLE,
      center: [77.209, 28.6139],
      zoom: 11,
    });
  });
</script>

<div bind:this={container} class="map-canvas"></div>
live · SvelteKit preview

Why SvelteKit teams ship on maps.guru

Free-tier generous enough for real production traffic. 50,000 tile requests/month , no credit card.

  • Use the `browser` flag from $app/environment to skip maplibre-gl on the server.
  • SvelteKit ships with on-demand rendering, so each map renders server HTML then hydrates.
  • Pair with prerendering for the surrounding layout and client-only loading for the map bundle.

Frequently asked

  • Why does my SvelteKit map throw "document is not defined"?

    Maplibre-gl touches document at import time. Guard the import with `import { browser } from "$app/environment"` and only mount the map on browser === true.

  • Can I prerender the route and still show a map?

    Yes. Prerender the layout + headings (great for SEO), then load the map via dynamic import + onMount only in the client.

Mapping terms for SvelteKit developers, defined

The vocabulary behind vector tiles, styles, and geocoding, in plain language.

What is Vector tile?

A vector tile is a compressed binary chunk of map geometry (roads, buildings, labels) that the browser styles and renders at runtime, instead of downloading a pre-drawn image. Vector tiles let one dataset power unlimited visual styles and stay sharp at every zoom level.

What is Basemap?

A basemap is the background map layer (roads, water, landuse, place labels) that your own data is drawn on top of. maps.guru serves basemaps as MapLibre-compatible vector tiles.

What is Map style?

A map style is a JSON document that tells a renderer which colours, fonts, widths, and zoom rules to apply to each layer of a vector tile. maps.guru styles follow the MapLibre Style Specification, so they work in any MapLibre or Mapbox GL JS compatible renderer.

What is Geocoding?

Geocoding is the process of converting a text address or place name into latitude and longitude coordinates. Reverse geocoding does the opposite: it converts coordinates into the nearest human-readable address.

What is PMTiles?

PMTiles is a single-file archive format for map tiles that supports HTTP range requests, so a tile server can read one tile out of a multi-gigabyte archive without unpacking it. maps.guru stores its tile archives as PMTiles on Cloudflare R2.

What is MapLibre GL JS?

MapLibre GL JS is an open-source WebGL map renderer, forked from Mapbox GL JS v1 after that project moved to a proprietary licence. It is the reference renderer for maps.guru styles and carries no per-render licence fee.

What is Tile request?

A tile request is one HTTP fetch of a single map tile. A typical desktop map view loads roughly 10 to 20 tiles, and panning or zooming loads more, which is why tile quotas are counted in tens of thousands rather than page views.

What is Static map?

A static map is a server-rendered PNG or JPEG image of a map at a fixed centre, zoom, and size. Static maps are used where an interactive map cannot run: email, PDF exports, Open Graph share cards, and AI chat replies.

Sources

  1. MapLibre Style Specification — MapLibre
  2. Mapbox Vector Tile specification — Mapbox
  3. MapLibre GL JS documentation — MapLibre
  4. OpenStreetMap tile usage policy — OpenStreetMap Foundation

Maps for other frameworks

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