mapbox / mapbox/tilejson-spec

Variable zoom depth

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Description

I have just been working with some Esri vector tiles, which support a variable zoom depth. That is, tiles are generated to higher zoom levels in areas that contain more detail, and aren't generated in comparatively empty areas.

https://developers.arcgis.com/rest/services-reference/vector-tilemap.htm

It has obvious benefits when statically generating large tilesets that cover both urban and rural areas. The downside is that you also need to communicate to the client where tiles are available. Esri does this through a hefty `tilemap` JSON file, but there probably more efficient ways.

Is it worth putting something like this in TileJSON? Or maybe it doesn't make sense if Mapbox isn't going to support it.

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First steps

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  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reviewing the TileJSON specification and the linked ArcGIS vector tile map reference, focusing on how variable zoom availability is represented. Define whether TileJSON should support this metadata and what an efficient representation would require; done means a clear, accepted specification decision.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
json
Domain
backend-api-design
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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