# mapbox/vector-tile-spec

Mapbox Vector Tile specification

Repository: https://github.com/mapbox/vector-tile-spec
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/vector-tile-spec
Homepage: https://www.mapbox.com/vector-tiles/specification/
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-06-29T15:24:39+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 73/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 90, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4526, "days_push": 65, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1004, forks 213 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:11.466053+00:00)

## What it is
The Mapbox Vector Tile Specification, a formal standard for encoding tiled vector geographic data as Protocol Buffers (.mvt files). It defines geometry and attribute encoding rules, versioning, and a reference .proto file for implementers.

## Use cases
- implement a vector tile encoder or decoder
- understand how mapbox vector tiles store geometry and attributes
- find the .proto file for mvt format
- learn the mvt file format specification
- build a gis tool that reads or writes vector tiles
- check versioning rules for vector tile layers

## When to choose
- you are building software that encodes or decodes Mapbox Vector Tiles (MVT)
- you need the authoritative reference for the .mvt protobuf format
- you want to verify interoperability of your tiling implementation

## When to avoid
- you need a working library rather than a specification - use an implementation like awesome-vector-tiles lists
- you are working with OpenStreetMap PBF files, which are unrelated despite sharing the protobuf format
- you need raster tiles or a map rendering engine

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: stable
- function: serialization, geospatial, documentation
- domain: web-development, documentation
- platform: cross-platform
- tags: vector-tiles, mapbox, protobuf, mvt, specification, gis, geospatial, maps

## Member repositories
- mapbox/vector-tile-spec (main) score 73

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:11.466053+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 2026-08-30T07:13:46.052388+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/mapbox/vector-tile-spec (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:11.466053+00:00, sha 62a14c142e6c)
  - homepage: https://www.mapbox.com/vector-tiles/specification/ (fetched 2026-08-29T13:13:50.052311+00:00, sha 50fec4c430e8)
  - site_page: https://docs.mapbox.com (fetched 2026-08-29T13:13:50.055624+00:00, sha 6b830788a899)
  - site_page: https://docs.mapbox.com/ask-ai (fetched 2026-08-29T13:13:50.057468+00:00, sha 7e710e32fef4)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.