> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://ploti.ai/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Show results on a map > How an assistant makes a Ploti map, saves the records it found as snapshots and live views as filters, runs analysis in the map's worker, and hands you a link to open or share When an AI assistant connected to Ploti finds the parcels that answer your question, it can show them on a Ploti map instead of in a long table. The map holds the records it found beside the layers the answer rests on, behind a link that opens in Ploti. It stays in your workspace (your team's Ploti account), a teammate can open it, and it does not expire. The assistant does all of this for you. This page explains what it is doing, for when you want to steer it or build an agent that does the same. A connected chat assistant calls these steps as tools, named below. An assistant that uses only Ploti's command-line tool, such as Muse, runs the same steps as `ploti maps ...` commands, shown in the CLI tab on the right. Every step needs a key or connection with the Maps permission. Reading data never needs a map. ## Make a map * `maps_create` takes a title and, optionally, a place to center on. It returns the map's id and a link to open it. * `maps_list` lists your maps, most recently used first, and `maps_get` returns one, so another conversation can keep working on the same map tomorrow. * `maps_navigate` moves the view you see to a place. It never limits what the assistant can read. * `maps_datasets` lists what the map offers at its current view. A workspace may make 20 maps an hour. ## Snapshots A **snapshot** is a saved set of records from one layer, such as the 40 parcels that passed a screen. You can review it on the map or as a table. `maps_snapshots_create` picks its records in one of four ways: by their ids (up to 100,000), by conditions such as acreage over 5 in a place, from a table in the map's worker, or as shapes no layer holds, such as a drawn study area. A snapshot can carry columns to show with each record, a legend and colors. `maps_snapshots_delete` removes one, unless a filter uses it. ## Filters A **filter** is a saved, live view of up to 12 entries. Each entry is a snapshot or a layer with conditions, with a title and a color. A layer entry is a rule, so it shows whatever matches each time it is opened. `maps_filters_create` saves one. `maps_filters_update` replaces its entries and saves a new version. ## Show and share * `maps_outputs_list` lists what a map holds: snapshots, filters and files. * `maps_outputs_show` returns a short preview and a link to open a snapshot or filter in Ploti. Some assistants, such as Claude Desktop, also show it as an interactive map or table in the chat. * `maps_outputs_share` makes a public, view-only link that lasts 7 days, for someone outside your workspace. * `maps_files_export` saves a dataset's rows as a CSV, GeoJSON or Parquet file on the map. It returns a download link that lasts 15 minutes and a lasting link to open the file in Ploti. It takes the same conditions as `datasets_rows`, plus the map's `map_id`: exporting always needs a map. ## Analysis in the map's worker Joins across datasets, statistics, distances to the nearest feature and scoring need the rows together in one place. For that, each map has a **worker**: a private database on Ploti's servers, running DuckDB, a fast analytics database. Only assistants connected over MCP can use it. * `maps_tables_load` copies rows from a dataset into a worker table, with no row limit, and `maps_tables_documents_load` copies up to 20 documents into tables of their passages. * `maps_tables_compute` runs one read-only SQL `SELECT` over the worker's tables and can save the result as a new table. * `maps_tables_analyze` runs a statistical or spatial method, such as a nearest-feature match or a spatial join; `maps_tables_methods` lists them. * `maps_tables_list`, `maps_tables_drop` and `maps_tables_export` (a file of up to 500 MB) manage the tables, and `jobs_get` waits for a long step. A worker stops after 15 minutes idle and starts again with its tables when next used. After an hour unused, it is removed with its tables. Snapshots, filters and files stay. An assistant that uses only the CLI has no worker. It [downloads the datasets](https://ploti.ai/docs/developers/download.md) and runs the same SQL in its own DuckDB. ```json MCP theme={null} { "tool": "maps_snapshots_create", "arguments": { "map_id": "", "name": "Over 5 acres", "dataset": "orange-parcels", "where": { "op": ">", "args": [{ "property": "acreage" }, 5] }, "place": "Orange County, FL" } } ``` ```bash CLI theme={null} ploti maps create "Sites over 5 acres" --place "Orange County, FL" ploti maps snapshots create --map-id --name "Over 5 acres" \ --dataset orange-parcels --place "Orange County, FL" \ --where '{"op": ">", "args": [{"property": "acreage"}, 5]}' ploti maps outputs show --map-id snapshot ``` This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.