Layer AI is the AI Agent in Lokimaps. It searches for public WMS, WMTS, and WFS sources, validates technical compatibility, and lets you preview one concrete map or layer before you decide to add it.

Layer AI is deliberately focused on maps and geographic layers. It is not a general-purpose chatbot, and it never silently adds a source to your collection.

If maps, layers, and visibility controls are new to you, read Maps and layers first.

What Layer AI doesWhat Layer AI does

For a specific request, Layer AI can:

  1. Search the public web, prioritising official mapping agencies, government and municipal open data, parks, weather and avalanche services, trail sources, nautical data, cadastral services, and other authoritative providers.
  2. Find a public HTTPS WMS, WMTS, or WFS service endpoint.
  3. Read and validate the service's GetCapabilities document.
  4. Check compatible coordinate systems, formats, request URLs, tile matrices, and available layer or feature identifiers.
  5. Suggest one exact, addable item with its provider, protocol, usage, identifier, and a short explanation.
  6. Open a fresh preview on your device before Add becomes available.

For inspectable trails, points, routes, boundaries, and zones, the agent prefers WFS when a compatible feature type exists. WMS or WMTS is used when rendered map imagery is a better fit or no compatible WFS is available.

Open Layer AIOpen Layer AI

Layer AI is available with Lokimaps PRO.

  1. Open Maps from the map controls.
  2. Select Add map if you want a new background map, or Add layer if you want information above the current map.
  3. Select Add custom map or Add custom layer .
  4. Enter what you want, or select one of the suggested requests.
  5. Select Ask.

The screen shows progress while the agent is thinking, searching the web, validating findings, or preparing a suggestion. You can stop a response and refine the request at any time.

Write a useful requestWrite a useful request

Include these details when they matter:

  • Area: country, municipality, park, route, or “near me”
  • Theme: trails, geology, zoning, avalanche terrain, fire pits, property data, imagery, or another dataset
  • Role: a complete base map or an overlay above the current map
  • Provider: an official agency, municipality, or named open-data portal when you have a preference
  • Data type: ask for WFS when you want to select objects and read their attributes

Useful requests include:

  • “Find official hiking trails near Tromsø. Prefer a WFS layer with inspectable features.”
  • “Find an up-to-date geological base map for Iceland.”
  • “Find the City of Helsinki zoning plan as an overlay.”
  • “Find a WFS layer for fire pits around Oulu.”
  • “Find an avalanche terrain layer for Norway.”
  • “What compatible layers are available from this provider?”
  • “I have this open-data page. Can you find its WMS, WMTS, or WFS service?”

If the area or theme is missing, the agent asks one concise clarification question before searching.

Choose between matching layers or feature typesChoose between matching layers or feature types

One service can publish dozens of similarly named layers. If several compatible choices could satisfy the request, Layer AI lists the relevant names and asks you to choose rather than guessing.

Reply with the exact option you want, or explain the distinction that matters. For example: “Use the maintained winter trails, not the proposed routes,” or “I need municipality boundaries, not regional boundaries.”

For a very large service catalog, the agent may only see a subset of compatible entries. Use manual source setup to browse the service directly when the wanted item is not offered.

How a suggestion is validatedHow a suggestion is validated

Layer AI must complete two server-side checks before showing an addable suggestion:

  1. It validates that the public HTTPS GetCapabilities address responds with the expected WMS, WMTS, or WFS document and contains technically compatible items.
  2. It validates that the suggested layer identifier exactly matches one of those compatible items.

When you select Preview , Lokimaps fetches the capabilities document again on the device and confirms that the exact item still exists. This protects against invented URLs, mismatched identifiers, and stale search results.

Validation proves technical compatibility at that moment. It does not verify the provider's accuracy, update schedule, authority, licence, completeness, or suitability for navigation.

Preview and add a suggestionPreview and add a suggestion

An accepted suggestion card shows the proposed title, whether it is a base map or layer, the WMS, WMTS, or WFS protocol, the provider hostname, the exact layer identifier, and why it matches.

  1. Check the provider hostname and exact layer identifier on the suggestion card.
  2. Select Preview .
  3. Inspect the preview and source settings.
  4. Review the style, format, coordinate system, tile matrix, transparency, or WFS display options that apply.
  5. For WMS or WMTS, confirm whether it should be a Base map or Layer. WFS is always a layer.
  6. Select Add.

Only this final action saves and enables the source. For all available settings, see Add custom maps and layers.

When Layer AI recommends a built-in mapWhen Layer AI recommends a built-in map

Before searching, the agent checks the complete built-in map and layer catalog. If the request strongly matches a native item, such as Finnish Topo, Finnish Property borders, Finnish Historic maps, or an Oma riista area, it recommends that flow instead of creating a duplicate custom source.

Built-in sources can provide better caching, offline downloads, year and opacity controls, tap details, subscription handling, or other app-specific behavior that a generic OGC source cannot reproduce.

For broad requests such as “find hiking trails,” the agent continues searching rather than treating a general outdoor base map as the answer.

Supported sources and limitationsSupported sources and limitations

Layer AI supports only public HTTPS OGC WMS, WMTS, and WFS services. It cannot add XYZ or TMS templates, Mapbox styles, vector tiles, ArcGIS REST-only endpoints, localhost or private-network services, private services, or sources requiring a password or private API key.

The agent can fail to find a result when a provider offers only a web viewer, a downloadable file, an unsupported projection, an authenticated API, or no public OGC service. In that case, provide the agency name or source webpage, narrow the area, or ask for a different data type.

Requests are rate-limited to keep the shared service reliable. If the service asks you to try again later, wait a moment before continuing.

Privacy and safe usePrivacy and safe use

Layer AI sends the conversation to the Lokimaps backend and its AI service provider. If Lokimaps has a recent device location, the app may reverse-geocode it on the device and send only an approximate country, city, optional region, and timezone to improve requests such as “near me.” This automatically supplied location context does not include latitude or longitude, although anything you type into the conversation is sent as message text.

The backend supplies a pseudonymous app user identifier to the AI gateway and provider for request routing and safety, and provider-side request storage is enabled. When Layer AI produces a validated suggestion, Lokimaps separately records the latest question, the suggested service and layer details, a hashed user identifier, app context, and the approximate location fields when available. This event records that the agent produced a suggestion, not that you selected Add.

Do not enter passwords, access tokens, private API keys, private service addresses, or other secrets. The Lokimaps backend contacts candidate providers during AI validation, and your device contacts a provider when you open Preview and after you add the source. Those requests expose normal network metadata and the requested map areas to the provider, so its terms and privacy practices also apply. See the Lokimaps privacy policy for current processing terms.

Check every resultCheck every result

AI can make mistakes, and technically valid geographic data can still be outdated or unsuitable for your purpose. Before relying on a suggestion:

  1. Confirm the provider and licence.
  2. Check the documented coverage and update date.
  3. Inspect several locations and zoom levels.
  4. Compare safety-critical information with an authoritative source.
  5. Keep an appropriate offline map available when heading beyond network coverage.

If previews repeatedly fail or an added source is blank, follow custom-source troubleshooting or contact support through Troubleshooting and support.