ColorfulMaps Submit

About ColorfulMaps

ColorfulMaps is an independent directory of interactive maps, edited by an urban planner and cartographer with fifteen years of making maps for a living.

What gets listed

We list maps you can open in a browser and explore: zoom, pan, click, filter or watch live. The directory currently has 361 maps in 23 categories. Every listing is written after opening the map, and we look for three things: it works, it is public, and it shows something worth seeing.

What each listing tells you

Coverage (worldwide, one country, one city, a fictional world), how often the data updates, where the data comes from, who made the map, whether it is free, whether you need an account and how well it works on a phone. Descriptions are summaries of public information; the map's own website always has the final word.

How rankings work

Rankings count unique visits that ColorfulMaps sends to each map. A visitor is counted once per map every 24 hours, using an anonymous hash; we do not store IP addresses. Known bots and crawlers are ignored.

Sponsored and featured listings

Sponsored and featured maps are labelled on every card. Payment buys position, not opinions: listing text is written the same way for every map.

API

The directory is available as JSON. Read endpoints are public; write endpoints need an API key.

GET  https://colorfulmaps.com/api/maps?category=live-tracking&limit=50
GET  https://colorfulmaps.com/api/maps?region=japan&live=1
GET  https://colorfulmaps.com/api/maps/flightradar24
GET  https://colorfulmaps.com/api/categories
GET  https://colorfulmaps.com/api/regions
GET  https://colorfulmaps.com/api/rankings?period=30d&category=weather-climate
GET  https://colorfulmaps.com/api/stats

POST https://colorfulmaps.com/api/submit
     {"name":"…","url":"https://…","category":"live-tracking","tagline":"…"}

MCP server for AI agents

ColorfulMaps runs a read-only Model Context Protocol server, so AI assistants can search the directory, find maps for a place and compare maps directly.

Endpoint:  https://colorfulmaps.com/mcp
Transport: Streamable HTTP (JSON-RPC 2.0), no auth

Tools:
  search_maps         query + filters (category, region, live_only,
                      free_only, no_login, view)
  get_map             full details for one map
  find_similar_maps   alternatives, optionally free only
  compare_maps        2–4 maps side by side
  list_categories     all categories
  list_regions        regions with map counts
  get_rankings        most visited maps (7d / 30d / all)

To add it in Claude: Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, and paste the endpoint URL. Other MCP clients accept the same URL as a remote HTTP server.