MTL Explorer

Self-hosted GPS track and trail log for your own PC, NAS, home lab, or server.

Start here

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What it is

MTL Explorer imports Garmin, GPX, and FIT tracks, shows them on a map, analyzes track statistics, replays activities with a cinematic 3D camera, and can plan routes with BRouter. It is designed for self-hosting with Docker Compose. Location search runs in a separate GeoNames SQLite sidecar.

See the feature overview for the current capability list.

Why I built MTL Explorer: the project started from the need to see thousands of Garmin tracks on one map, then grew into a personal exploration, planning, and statistics tool.

Note: MTL Explorer is a long-running personal project. This GitHub repository is a recently published public mirror; primary development happens in a private repository, so the public commit history may look younger than the project itself and may not include all intermediate steps. AI tools helped polish parts of the user experience, but MTL Explorer is not an automatically generated project. Even with the most advanced AI tools available today, that is not (yet?) possible.

Repository layout:

• mtl-server/ - Spring Boot backend.
• mtl-client/ - Vue 3 and TypeScript PWA.
• mtl-api/ - OpenAPI schema and generated TypeScript clients.
• docker-brouter/ - BRouter sidecar.
• docker-maps/ - optional local vector map sidecar.
• docker-location-search/ - GeoNames SQLite location-search sidecar.
• docker/ - import and demo-data helpers.

Quick start

Prerequisite: Docker Engine and the Docker Compose plugin must be installed and support docker compose.

1. Start the stack:

   • macOS, Linux, WSL, or Git Bash:

     mkdir mtl-explorer && cd mtl-explorer
     curl -fsSL -o docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mindalyze-com/mtl-explorer/main/docker-compose.yml
     docker compose up -d
     

   • Windows PowerShell:

     mkdir mtl-explorer; cd mtl-explorer
     Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mindalyze-com/mtl-explorer/main/docker-compose.yml" -OutFile "docker-compose.yml"
     docker compose up -d
     

   (Note: The server takes about 10-15 seconds to boot up and initialize the database on first run.)

2. Open http://localhost:18080/mtl/ and log in:

   • User: mtl
   • Password: change-me

To import your tracks, copy GPX/FIT files into the ./data/gpx/ folder.

Change the default login before exposing MTL Explorer outside your home network. For custom logins, directories, offline maps, and reverse proxy setup, see the home install guide.

Documentation

• Feature catalog - current user-facing capabilities.
• Photo and media handling - activity matching, map and timeline navigation, viewer, corrections, and media trends.
• Home install - data folders, maps, updates, and logs.
• Container build - build local Docker images from a source checkout.
• Legal documents
• Contributing

License

License summary

MTL Explorer is available under AGPL-3.0-or-later, with a separate commercial license for users who do not want to comply with the AGPL terms.

• AGPL license
• Commercial license
• Trademark
• Third-party licenses

Disclaimer

Disclaimer summary

MTL Explorer is not a safety-critical navigation system. See the full disclaimer.

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Copyright (C) 2020-2026 Patrick Heusser and MTL Explorer contributors.