Introduction

Sarkoa takes the infrastructure work out of sharing geospatial data. Instead of standing up tile servers, converting formats by hand, and paying unpredictable download bills, you upload your files and Sarkoa creates cloud-optimized copies (PMTiles for vectors, Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF for rasters) for fast map delivery. Your originals stay stored and downloadable unchanged.

Who it is for

  • Teams publishing interactive maps and portfolios without running tile infrastructure
  • GIS analysts who want QGIS or CLI access to the same cloud library as the web app
  • Developers embedding maps or consuming tiles via the public API

How you connect

flowchart LR
  subgraph clients [Your tools]
    Browser[Browser]
    Terminal[CLI]
    Desktop[QGIS]
    AppClient[Your app]
  end
  subgraph sarkoa [Sarkoa]
    WebApp[Web app]
    Tools[CLI and QGIS access]
    PublicAPI[Public API]
    Maps[Tile delivery]
  end
  Browser --> WebApp
  Terminal --> Tools
  Desktop --> Tools
  AppClient --> PublicAPI
  WebApp --> Maps
  PublicAPI --> Maps
Client Typical use
Web app Upload, organize, view, share, and manage billing
CLI Scripted upload, list, download, and status checks
QGIS plugin Browse and add Sarkoa layers in a desktop GIS
Public API Programmatic tile and metadata access (api.sarkoa.com)

What happens to your data

  1. You upload a supported vector or raster file (or a supported bundle). Your original stays stored untouched and remains available to download at any time.
  2. Where supported, Sarkoa’s file optimization prepares a separate copy for map viewing.
  3. You open the layer in the built-in viewer, add it to a custom map, share a link or embed, or use tiles from an external client.

Hosted data is not only for looking at. Feature query filters a vector layer server-side and returns GeoJSON, and webhooks tell your systems when new data lands, so a Sarkoa library can sit underneath scripts and scheduled jobs rather than only under a map.

Format lists and billing questions live in the FAQ. To actually get something on a map, continue to Quick start.