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Analysis in MapX is a catalog of deterministic spatial tools that run on the server against your project data — the operations you would otherwise script in PostGIS, pgRouting, GDAL, QGIS, or Python. The AI chooses the tool and fills in the parameters when you ask in chat, but the computation itself is a fixed tool run, so results are reproducible. The Analysis catalog in the workspace, with tool families on the left and tool details on the right

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Where analysis lives

Analysis has two surfaces, and they are not the same thing: The Analysis panel showing recent runs with status, elapsed time and results

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Tool families

The catalog ships more than 70 tools, grouped into twelve families. The counts below are the current defaults; open Analysis and search to see the exact list for your deployment.

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Run a tool

1

Open the catalog

Press ⌘+K or open the top menu and choose Analysis. Filter by family, or type a keyword such as buffer, service area, or slope.
2

Read the tool description

Selecting a tool shows what it answers, its inputs, and its parameters. Inputs are typed: a tool that expects polygon zones will not accept a point layer, and the picker only offers layers that fit.
3

Pick the data

Choose the layer or layers the tool runs on. Most tools take one input; overlay and network tools take two or more (for example origin layer and destination layer).
4

Set the parameters

Parameters are typed too — distances in meters, classifications, field names, thresholds. Fields come from the columns actually present in the layer you selected.
5

Start the run

Choose Start. The run is queued, then executes on the server. You can keep working in the project while it runs.

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Read the result

Each run produces a result layer, and some tools also produce tables or charts:
  • Result layer — appears in the layer list and on the map, styled with a default legend the tool declares. Open Layers to restyle it like any other layer.
  • Statistics — numeric summaries (counts, areas, means, coverage) are attached to the run, not only to the map.
  • Data table — tabular outputs open in the data table panel and can be exported.

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Statuses and failures

Runs move through a small state machine: queued → running → succeeded, with failed and cancelled as terminal states. The ledger shows elapsed time per run and keeps a history per project. When a run fails, MapX reports the reason in plain language and suggests the next step — for example a scale or memory budget that the input exceeds, a missing field, or a data source that needs filling before terrain analysis. Typical fixes:
  • Input too large — clip the extent first, or run the tool on a subset.
  • Wrong geometry type — check the layer type in the Layers panel; some tools need polygons where you have points, or the reverse.
  • Missing or invalid data — raster tools need a valid CRS and real values; hydrology tools need filled sinks.
Retrying a failed run keeps the inputs and parameters, so you only change what caused the failure. Deleting a run record removes the record and its detail, not the layers, charts, and reports it produced.
Running a tool does not call the AI model, so the computation itself does not consume AI credits — the conversation that sets it up does. See Credits for how AI usage is billed.

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Chat or catalog?

Use chat when you are exploring: you describe the question, the AI chains the right tools, and you refine by asking follow-ups. Use the catalog when you already know the operation you need, or when you want to control inputs and parameters exactly. Both paths write to the same run ledger, so a run started by the AI and a run started by hand are auditable in the same place.
  • AI chat — how the AI selects tools and chains them
  • Built-in datasets — ready-made inputs for analysis
  • Scenarios — prepared study areas with suggested analyses
  • Workflows and plans — turn a multi-step analysis into a repeatable workflow
  • Layers — styling and managing result layers