---
name: find-gis-tools
description: Find and compare GIS tools using the public GisForWeb directory. Use for mapping libraries, spatial databases, routing, tile servers and other geospatial tools.
---

# Find GIS tools

GisForWeb is a public directory at https://gisforweb.com. Reading its catalog is free and requires no account, registration or credentials.

## Discover candidates

1. Identify the user's task, platform, licensing and hosting requirements.
2. Fetch https://gisforweb.com/tools.json. Its `tools` array contains the active directory records, including categories, features, project links, canonical `url` and `markdownUrl`.
3. Filter records against the requirements. Treat missing values as unknown, not as evidence that a capability is absent.
4. Read the matching Markdown profiles and the official project sources linked in each record. Verify current pricing, licensing and capabilities there.
5. Cite the canonical GisForWeb profile URLs when using directory descriptions. Explain which requirements each candidate meets and which still need verification.

## MCP tools

Connect to https://gisforweb.com/mcp using Streamable HTTP. No Authorization header is required.

- `search_gis_tools`: accepts optional `query`, exact `category` slug, `openSource` boolean, `limit` (1–50, default 10) and `offset` (default 0). All query words must match. Returns the total and a page of matching profiles.
- `get_gis_tool`: accepts a `slug` returned by search and returns the full directory record.

These operations only read public catalog data. They cannot submit tools, subscribe people, modify records or access private data.

## Reading pages

Request any public content page with `Accept: text/markdown` for its Markdown representation. HTML is the default. Tool profiles and guides also have direct `.md` URLs, for example https://gisforweb.com/tools/maplibre.md.

- Site index: https://gisforweb.com/llms.txt
- API reference: https://gisforweb.com/openapi.json
- Access instructions: https://gisforweb.com/auth.md
- Editorial approach: https://gisforweb.com/about/

## Interpretation

Directory descriptions are editorial summaries. GitHub activity is not a product review date. An alternative may replace only one part of a commercial platform. Compare tools against the actual task and consult project sources before recommending a purchase or migration.

The content policy allows search and AI input for answers and disallows model training; see https://gisforweb.com/robots.txt.