tippecanoe
raw JSON → 2.72.0 verified Fri May 01 auth: no python
tippecanoe is a tool for building vector tilesets from large collections of GeoJSON, FlatGeobuf, or CSV features. It is a C++ command-line tool, not a Python library; the Python package on PyPI is a stub that downloads and installs the native binary for the platform. Current version is 2.72.0 (as per PyPI), but the latest actual release is 2.79.0 (GitHub). Release cadence is irregular.
pip install tippecanoe Common errors
error ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'tippecanoe' ↓
cause The package might not be installed correctly or the environment is missing the native binary.
fix
Reinstall: pip install --upgrade tippecanoe. If persists, verify the platform is supported (Linux, macOS, Windows).
error 'tippecanoe' is not recognized as an internal or external command ↓
cause The tippecanoe binary is not in the PATH or the pip package did not install it properly.
fix
Check installation: pip show tippecanoe; then find the binary location (e.g., scripts folder) and add it to PATH, or reinstall.
Warnings
gotcha The Python package is a thin wrapper that downloads a native binary; it does not provide a Python API. You must use subprocess to call the tippecanoe command-line tool. ↓
fix Use subprocess.run(['tippecanoe', ...]) instead of expecting Python functions.
gotcha The PyPI version (2.72.0) lags behind the GitHub releases (2.79.0). If you need the latest features, install from GitHub release binaries or compile from source. ↓
fix Download the latest binary from https://github.com/felt/tippecanoe/releases or use a package manager like conda (if available).
breaking tippecanoe requires Python >=3.7. On older Python versions, pip install may fail or install an incompatible binary. ↓
fix Upgrade Python to 3.7 or later.
Imports
- tippecanoe
import tippecanoe
Quickstart
import os
import subprocess
# Check if tippecanoe is installed
result = subprocess.run(['tippecanoe', '--version'], capture_output=True, text=True)
print(result.stdout.strip())