WMS 1.3.0

WMS is exposed at:

/workspaces/{workspace}/wms

WMS.Enabled must be true in server configuration and the workspace’s WMS settings must also be enabled.

Operations

• GetCapabilities
• GetMap
• GetFeatureInfo
• GetLegendGraphic
• DescribeLayer

GET and XML POST requests are accepted at the same endpoint.

Enable a workspace

curl -X PUT \
  http://localhost:9000/api/v1/workspaces/acme/settings/wms \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "enabled": true,
    "public": false,
    "title": "ACME WMS",
    "max_width": 4096,
    "max_height": 4096,
    "max_pixels": 16777216
  }'

Workspace limits cannot exceed the global WMS ceilings.

Capabilities

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  "http://localhost:9000/workspaces/acme/wms?SERVICE=WMS&VERSION=1.3.0&REQUEST=GetCapabilities"

Capabilities include only enabled layers visible to the caller, including supported CRS, styles, bounds, queryability, and configured dimensions. The root MaxWidth and MaxHeight values are the effective workspace limits capped by the server configuration. GetMap exceptions truthfully advertise XML, INIMAGE, and BLANK; the latter two are accepted only for raster output formats.

GetMap

curl -o map.png -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  "http://localhost:9000/workspaces/acme/wms?SERVICE=WMS&VERSION=1.3.0&REQUEST=GetMap&LAYERS=buildings&STYLES=&CRS=EPSG:4326&BBOX=52.3,13.0,52.7,13.8&WIDTH=800&HEIGHT=600&FORMAT=image/png&TRANSPARENT=true"

GetMap advertises only formats the running process can produce:

kml and kmz are accepted as short aliases. GeoTIFF and PDF use the same process-wide Go/GDAL capability registry as WFS binary exports; a missing driver removes the format from capabilities and makes direct requests fail rather than advertising a broken encoder. The other formats do not depend on an optional GDAL output driver.

UTFGrid uses a four-pixel grid resolution, applies the normal feature/vertex/query ceilings, rejects coverage/group/multi-layer requests and rendering transformations, and is deliberately not cached. KML, MapML, and UTFGrid responses are also marked no-store; KMZ is cacheable because its image is embedded. Image exception modes are limited to raster formats that can safely carry them.

WMS.MaxOutputBytes is enforced for every encoder, including archive and document formats. WMS 1.3.0 follows the CRS axis order; EPSG:4326 uses latitude,longitude BBOX order, while CRS:84 uses longitude,latitude.

Published WCS coverages are also WMS layers. They can be mixed with feature layers in LAYERS, reprojected to any EPSG CRS available to GDAL/PROJ, queried with GetFeatureInfo for raw band values, and portrayed with RasterSymbolizer. WCS responses remain raw and unstyled.

Global controls cover width, height, total pixels, maximum rendered features and vertices, concurrency, queue time, and optional geometry simplification.

DescribeLayer

REQUEST=DescribeLayer&LAYERS=buildings,elevation returns an SLD DescribeLayer response. Feature layers reference the workspace WFS endpoint and published feature type; coverages reference WCS. Invisible resources are reported as undefined rather than disclosed.

GetFeatureInfo

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  "http://localhost:9000/workspaces/acme/wms?SERVICE=WMS&VERSION=1.3.0&REQUEST=GetFeatureInfo&LAYERS=buildings&QUERY_LAYERS=buildings&CRS=EPSG:4326&BBOX=52.3,13.0,52.7,13.8&WIDTH=800&HEIGHT=600&I=400&J=300&INFO_FORMAT=application/json"

Feature info supports advertised XML, JSON, HTML, and text formats. The requested layer must be queryable and visible to the caller.

Styles and SLD

Built-in styles can be defined in TOML under WMS.Styles. Workspace styles are created through the management API or console in SLD/SE, CSS, YSLD, or Mapbox form. All formats compile to one typed, painter-ordered portrayal model; alternative formats require the dynamic-style extension at server and workspace scope.

Alternative style subsets

These are bounded server portrayal codecs, not complete GeoServer CSS/YSLD/MBStyle or client-side Mapbox implementations. Revalidate existing styles before migration.

• CSS supports the implemented flat mark, stroke, fill, text and raster-opacity properties and simple selectors/filters. It is not a browser CSS engine.
• YSLD uses feature-styles → rules → symbolizers, with mark, line, fill, text and raster entries and their supported flat property mappings.
• Mapbox supports circle, line, fill, symbol/text and raster-opacity layers, supported min/max zoom and comparison filters. Literal paint values are typed and range-checked. Colors are #RGB, #RRGGBB or the renderer’s supported named colors. Property-driven vector/text values use ["get", "property"]; radius is converted to diameter for both literal and property-driven circles. line-dasharray accepts a nonempty non-negative numeric array with at least one positive entry. Raster opacity is literal. interpolate, step, zoom, arithmetic expression arrays and other unsupported constructs fail validation with a property path. They are never flattened into a default style.

The console provides point/line/polygon/raster starters for all six persisted format identifiers. Save alternative styles before named WMS preview; unsaved draft preview remains SLD/SE-only. Creating a style does not enable its rendering extension or bind it to a publication automatically.

Layers and coverages may bind a default_style and advertised alternate styles. Raster styles support opacity, gray/RGB channel selection, ramp/interval/value color maps, normalize and histogram contrast enhancement, configurable normalization algorithms, gamma, and NoData transparency. Multiple symbolizers are rendered in document order. Unsupported constructs are rejected when a style is created or updated.

The optional portrayal extensions add:

• request-safe raster expressions through env functions and the URL-encoded ENV=key:value;... parameter;
• priority-based label collision handling, line following/repetition, displacement, wrapping, groups, partial-label control, and related TextSymbolizer vendor options;
• Heatmap, Contour, Rasterize, PointStacker, GroupCandidateSelection, Barnes, RasterAsPointCollections, and bounded RasterAlgebra transformations;
• Porter-Duff composition and multiply, screen, overlay, darken, lighten, color-dodge/burn, hard/soft-light, difference, and exclusion blending with opacity and composite-base isolation;
• stable feature z-order using a FeatureTypeStyle sortBy or z-order vendor option.

Point ExternalGraphic, line/polygon GraphicStroke, and polygon GraphicFill are supported. Use asset:name for a workspace-managed graphic. Remote URLs are HTTPS-only and require the remote-graphics two-level gate plus an exact configured origin; redirects are checked again. Raster graphics support PNG/JPEG/GIF, and the bounded SVG mark renderer accepts basic geometric SVG elements. Invalid or unsupported graphics are rejected or omitted without granting arbitrary filesystem/network access.

Numeric, color, font, label, rotation, opacity, and width properties can use bounded env, property, arithmetic, string case/concatenation, and common numeric functions. Dynamic feature expressions require dynamic-style; normal <PropertyName> labels remain part of the standards path. Label placement also honors obstacle geometries, priority/collision settings, line following/repetition, displacement, grouping, wrapping, partial-label control, and polygon alignment options.

ENV names and values are bounded by the configured limits, are included in map cache keys, and are evaluated only as numeric/string portrayal expressions. They are never expanded into XML or SQL.

Use the style name in STYLES or request a legend:

curl -o legend.png -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  "http://localhost:9000/workspaces/acme/wms?SERVICE=WMS&VERSION=1.3.0&REQUEST=GetLegendGraphic&LAYER=buildings&STYLE=blue-polygons&FORMAT=image/png"

GetMap and GetLegendGraphic accept inline SLD XML through SLD_BODY. Remote SLD= URL retrieval is not implemented and is rejected with InvalidParameterValue; use SLD_BODY or a stored workspace style.

Dimensions

Published feature layers may bind time and elevation dimensions to source_property and an optional interval end_property. GetMap and GetFeatureInfo apply exact values, comma-separated values when enabled, intervals, defaults, and current as parameterized backend filters. Metadata-only dimensions created before these bindings remain advertised, but an explicit request is rejected until a source property is configured.

Published raster mosaics use coverage dimensions to select granules by TIME or ELEVATION. WMTS and OGC API map-tile requests use the same selection and cache each selection independently.

Layer groups

/api/v1/workspaces/{workspace}/layer-groups manages ordered, reusable map compositions. A member references a feature layer, coverage, or another group and may select a style, opacity, and blend mode. Creation/update rejects missing members, cycles, excessive nesting, and resource/style references outside the workspace. Groups are advertised as WMS and WMTS layers and as OGC API map-tile collections. They never advertise vector tiles. See Layer groups.

Caching and errors

Capabilities and rendered map responses use the configured capabilities/tile caches. Relevant service, layer, style, and settings updates invalidate cached results.

WMS errors use service exception XML or the requested image exception format. Resource ceilings produce request errors instead of unbounded rendering.

Related: Management API · Performance · Authentication

Adapted from neoserver’s source documentation . Maintained independently for this website.