# mapnik/mapnik

Mapnik is an open source toolkit for developing mapping applications

Repository: https://github.com/mapnik/mapnik
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/mapnik
Homepage: http://mapnik.org
Language: C++
License: LGPL-2.1
License Family: copyleft
Topics: mapnik, c-plus-plus, mapping, cartography, gis, wiki, python, rendering, beautiful-maps
Last push: 2026-08-26T10:04:37+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 93/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 82, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5440, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 40, "gap_med": 37, "n_releases_24m": 14}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3955, forks 841 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:30.504904+00:00)

## What it is
Mapnik is an open-source C++ toolkit for developing mapping applications, providing algorithms and patterns for spatial data access and high-quality cartographic rendering. It exposes bindings for C++, Python, and Node.js and renders maps from XML stylesheets to images like PNG.

## Use cases
- render map tiles for web mapping applications
- generate static map images from geospatial data
- style maps with XML stylesheets
- render vector and raster data sources like PostGIS, GeoJSON, and shapefiles
- build server-side map rendering services
- create printable cartographic maps

## When to choose
- you need pixel-perfect, fast server-side map rendering in C++, Python, or Node.js
- you want a library that works headlessly on any server without windowing systems
- you need to render many geospatial data formats (PostGIS, GeoJSON, Shapefile, GDAL rasters) with one toolkit

## When to avoid
- you need interactive slippy-map client-side rendering in the browser (use Leaflet or MapLibre instead)
- you want a full GIS desktop application rather than a rendering library
- you need simple basemap tiles without custom cartography

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: graphics, image-processing, sdk, data-visualization
- domain: graphics, web-development
- platform: windows, cpp, python, cross-platform
- tags: gis, cartography, map-rendering, spatial-data, map-tiles, bindings, maps, geospatial, linux, macos, nodejs

## Member repositories
- mapnik/mapnik (main) score 93

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:30.504904+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:24:29.568593+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/mapnik/mapnik (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:30.504904+00:00, sha c76b5515a1f3)
  - homepage: http://mapnik.org (fetched 2026-08-29T09:18:01.087911+00:00, sha 77a3dba554fd)
  - site_page: http://mapnik.org/node-mapnik/documentation (fetched 2026-08-29T09:18:01.090570+00:00, sha 74097f06451b)
  - site_page: http://mapnik.org/docs/v2.2.0/api/python/index.html (fetched 2026-08-29T09:18:01.092538+00:00, sha be9d9fc2c3f6)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.