npx skills add ...
npx skills add mapbox/mapbox-agent-skills --skill mapbox-ios-patterns
npx skills add mapbox/mapbox-agent-skills --skill mapbox-ios-patterns
Official integration patterns for Mapbox Maps SDK on iOS. Covers installation, adding markers, user location, custom data, styles, camera control, and featureset interactions. Based on official Mapbox documentation.
Official patterns for integrating Mapbox Maps SDK v11 on iOS with Swift, SwiftUI, and UIKit.
Use this skill when:
Official Resources:
Add your public token to Info.plist:
Get your token: Sign in at mapbox.com
https://github.com/mapbox/mapbox-maps-ios.git11.0.0Alternative: CocoaPods or direct download (install guide)
Basic map:
With ornaments:
The SDK offers three ways to place a point on the map. Pick the simplest one that fits.
| API | Use it when | Platforms | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Marker (Markers API) | You need a default pin and don't have a custom image asset | SwiftUI only | No image assets required. Experimental SPI — needs @_spi(Experimental) import MapboxMaps. Best < 100 markers. |
PointAnnotation | You have a custom image and want layer-level placement | SwiftUI + UIKit | Backed by a symbol layer, so it scales well to hundreds of markers. Accepts any UIImage that UIKit can render. |
View annotations (ViewAnnotation / MapViewAnnotation) | You want to render a full native view (card, badge, animated content) anchored to a coordinate | SwiftUI + UIKit | SwiftUI uses MapViewAnnotation; UIKit uses mapView.viewAnnotations with a ViewAnnotation. Each annotation is a real view — costs more than PointAnnotation at scale. |
For hundreds or thousands of features, use a style layer (SymbolLayer on a GeoJSONSource) instead of annotations.
Multiple markers from a collection:
Scaling note.
MarkerandPointAnnotationeach create their own view or symbol entry per pin — fine up to about 100 markers. For larger datasets (hundreds or thousands of features — common with open-ended GeoJSON feeds), load the data into aGeoJSONSourceand render it with aSymbolLayerinstead. That scales to thousands of features and enables clustering.
SwiftUI:
UIKit:
Multiple markers:
Step 1: Add location permission to Info.plist:
Step 2: Request permissions and show location:
Check:
MBXAccessToken in Info.plist.standard style (recommended and optimized)Load these references when the task requires deeper patterns:
references/annotations.md — Circle, Polyline, Polygon Annotationsreferences/location-tracking.md — Camera Follow User + Get Current Locationreferences/custom-data.md — GeoJSON: Lines, Polygons, Points, Update/Removereferences/camera-styles.md — Camera Control + Map Stylesreferences/interactions.md — Featureset Interactions, Custom Layer Taps, Long Press, GesturesMap(viewport: $viewport)
.mapStyle(.standard)
.ornamentOptions(OrnamentOptions(
scaleBar: .init(visibility: .visible),
compass: .init(visibility: .adaptive),
logo: .init(position: .bottomLeading)
))import UIKit
import MapboxMaps
class MapViewController: UIViewController {
private var mapView: MapView!
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
let options = MapInitOptions(
cameraOptions: CameraOptions(
center: CLLocationCoordinate2D(latitude: 37.7749, longitude: -122.4194),
zoom: 12
)
)
mapView = MapView(frame: view.bounds, mapInitOptions: options)
mapView.autoresizingMask = [.flexibleWidth, .flexibleHeight]
view.addSubview(mapView)
mapView.mapboxMap.loadStyle(.standard)
}
}import SwiftUI
@_spi(Experimental) import MapboxMaps
struct ContentView: View {
var body: some View {
Map {
Marker(coordinate: CLLocationCoordinate2D(latitude: 37.7749, longitude: -122.4194))
.color(.red)
.text("San Francisco")
}
}
}Map {
ForEvery(locations, id: \.id) { location in
Marker(coordinate: location.coordinate)
.color(.red)
.text(location.name)
}
}Map(viewport: $viewport) {
PointAnnotation(coordinate: CLLocationCoordinate2D(latitude: 37.7749, longitude: -122.4194))
.image(.init(image: UIImage(named: "marker")!, name: "marker"))
}// Create annotation manager (once, reuse for updates)
var pointAnnotationManager = mapView.annotations.makePointAnnotationManager()
// Create marker
var annotation = PointAnnotation(coordinate: CLLocationCoordinate2D(latitude: 37.7749, longitude: -122.4194))
annotation.image = .init(image: UIImage(named: "marker")!, name: "marker")
annotation.iconAnchor = .bottom
// Add to map
pointAnnotationManager.annotations = [annotation]let annotations = locations.map { coordinate in
var annotation = PointAnnotation(coordinate: coordinate)
annotation.image = .init(image: UIImage(named: "marker")!, name: "marker")
return annotation
}
pointAnnotationManager.annotations = annotations<key>NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription</key>
<string>Show your location on the map</string>import CoreLocation
// Request permissions
let locationManager = CLLocationManager()
locationManager.requestWhenInUseAuthorization()
// Show user location puck
mapView.location.options.puckType = .puck2D()
mapView.location.options.puckBearingEnabled = true// ❌ Don't create new managers repeatedly
func updateMarkers() {
let manager = mapView.annotations.makePointAnnotationManager()
manager.annotations = markers
}
// ✅ Create once, reuse
let pointAnnotationManager: PointAnnotationManager
init() {
pointAnnotationManager = mapView.annotations.makePointAnnotationManager()
}
func updateMarkers() {
pointAnnotationManager.annotations = markers
}// ✅ Update all at once
pointAnnotationManager.annotations = newAnnotations
// ❌ Don't update one by one
for annotation in newAnnotations {
pointAnnotationManager.annotations.append(annotation)
}// Use weak self in closures
mapView.gestures.onMapTap.observe { [weak self] context in
self?.handleTap(context.coordinate)
}.store(in: &cancelables)
// Clean up on deinit
deinit {
cancelables.forEach { $0.cancel() }
}// ✅ Standard style is optimized and recommended
.mapStyle(.standard)
// Use other styles only when needed for specific use cases
.mapStyle(.standardSatellite) // Satellite imagerymapView.mapboxMap.onStyleLoaded.observe { [weak self] _ in
print("Style loaded successfully")
// Add layers and sources here
}.store(in: &cancelables)