Overview

The User Report API allows your end users to share location-based feedback (for example uncharted hazards, accidents, weather, and wildlife).

Vector Charts runs the infrastructure, allowing you to build rich user-feedback into your application without needing backend infrastructure.

For an example of user reports in action, try out user reports in our Vector Charts Demo App.

User reports on the chart

Types of reports

Currently, the User Reports API supports point (latitude/longitude) reports. Each report can be tagged with a category and optional description.

Report reputation

We expose two ways of evaluating report reputation and relevance:

Time: Older reports eventually expire. On Vector Charts OEM, this value is configurable.
User Votes: We expose an API to upvote or downvote user reports, which you can embed in your application.

Displaying reports on the map

Enable the built-in user-report layers by adding showUserReports=true to the Get Vector Style request:

const map = new mapboxgl.Map({
    style: "https://api.vectorcharts.com
/api/v1/styles/base.json?token=<token>&showUserReports=true"
});

When enabled, the style will display icons & text indicators for user reports as a map overlay.

Querying reports directly

If you prefer not to use the built-in style layers, or need reports outside a map viewport, query the REST and tile endpoints directly:

List Reports - paginated JSON feed of all reports
Get Reports (MVT) - Mapbox vector tiles with reports as point features
Get Reports (GeoJSON) - GeoJSON tiles with reports as point features

Authentication

All user report endpoints are authenticated similarly to other API endpoints. To authenticate, provide a valid API token, either as a header or query parameter:

Authorization: Bearer <token> header
?token=<token> query parameter

We Want Your Feedback

User Reports are a new feature. If you need any help, or have suggestions for how to improve the feature, please Contact us.