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WorldWideView is a real-time geospatial engine visualizing live global data on an interactive 3D globe. Utilizing a dynamic "All-Bundle" plugin architecture, independent data sources—like live aircraft, maritime vessels, or conflict events—are ingested and rendered decoupled from the core 3D viewer.

Key Features

• "All-Bundle" Plugin Architecture: Ingest any data source dynamically without touching the core platform.
• High-Fidelity 3D Rendering: Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles and LOD modeling powered by CesiumJS.
• Real-Time Data Pipeline: High-frequency WebSocket updates managed by a custom DataBus.
• Advanced Entity Management: Automatic horizon culling, chunked primitive rendering, and 3D stacking/spiderification.
• Marketplace Integration: Download and sync new plugins directly from the UI.
• Agent Bus (opt-in): HTTP+SSE control surface that lets an external tool — typically an MCP server fronting an LLM — fly the globe, toggle layers, and select entities in the running browser session. Default off; see Agent Bus docs.

Core Technologies

• Frontend: Next.js 16 (App Router), React 19, TypeScript 5
• 3D Engine: CesiumJS + Resium (Google Photorealistic 3D Tiles)
• State Management: Zustand
• Event Bus: Custom typed DataBus for high-frequency WebSocket updates
• Database: PostgreSQL via Prisma 7
• Deployment: Docker multi-stage build, Coolify

Project Architecture

WorldWideView separates the data acquisition layer from the frontend rendering loop, using a real-time event bus to bridge them.

flowchart TD
    subgraph Data Sources
    A[Public APIs] -->|Poll| B[Data Engine Seeders]
    C[Microservices] -->|Stream| B
    end

    subgraph Frontend Pipeline
    B -->|WebSocket /stream| D[DataBus & WsClient]
    D -->|Hydrate| E[Zustand Store]
    E -->|Memoized Entities| F[Entity Renderer]
    F -->|Primitives| G[CesiumJS Globe]
    end

    subgraph Plugins
    H[Plugin Registry] -->|Load| I[Dynamic Import CDNs]
    end
    
    H -.-> D

Prerequisites

Before running the application, ensure you have the following installed:

• Node.js (v20+)
• pnpm (v9+)
• Docker (for self-hosting or full local dev)
• PostgreSQL (or rely on the coolify-db / local compose container)

Quick Start (Self-Hosting)

WorldWideView uses a multi-stage Dockerfile designed for standalone output. To deploy instantly on your own server:

Mac/Linux:

mkdir worldwideview && cd worldwideview
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/silvertakana/worldwideview/main/self-host/setup.sh | bash

Windows (PowerShell):

mkdir worldwideview; cd worldwideview
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://raw.githubusercontent.com/silvertakana/worldwideview/main/self-host/setup.ps1 -UseBasicParsing | Invoke-Expression

[!NOTE] Ensure you connect a PostgreSQL database via the DATABASE_URL environment variable for production deployments.

Run on your own domain

The self-hosted globe runs on any domain, LAN IP, or hostname you choose - localhost, a private network address, a custom domain, or behind a reverse proxy. There is no allowlist to update and nothing restricts which origin you open the instance on: the local edition automatically trusts the incoming origin, so login and CSRF cookie handling work on any address. Behind a reverse proxy, set BETTER_AUTH_TRUSTED_ORIGINS (comma-separated) to the public origins your users will access. For local dev servers, set ALLOWED_DEV_ORIGIN (comma-separated) to the dev origin(s) you browse from.

Quick Start (Local Development)

To run the source code locally for contributing or developing:

git clone https://github.com/silvertakana/worldwideview.git
cd worldwideview
pnpm install
pnpm run setup   # generates .env.local with BETTER_AUTH_SECRET + ENCRYPTION_MASTER_KEY
pnpm run dev:all # boots the UI, cache layers, and the data engine

Visit http://localhost:3000 to see the live globe.

Project Structure

The codebase utilizes a pnpm monorepo configuration:

worldwideview/
├── src/                  # Core frontend app
│   ├── app/              # Next.js App Router (pages, API routes)
│   ├── components/       # Shared UI, Globe panels, and 3D layouts
│   ├── core/             # DataBus, Polling, PluginManager, Store
│   └── plugins/          # Built-in plugins and registry logic
├── packages/             # Monorepo packages
│   ├── wwv-plugin-sdk/   # SDK interfaces and manifest schemas
│   └── wwv-plugin-*/     # Individual plugins & their backends
├── prisma/               # Database schemas & migrations
└── .agents/              # Agent rules, workflows, and documentation

Plugin Ecosystem

WorldWideView operates on an open-core philosophy. The platform itself is data-agnostic; all data sources are dynamically imported as plugins at runtime.

• Plugin Quickstart Guide: Learn how to scaffold and link your first plugin using the @worldwideview/wwv-cli.
• Advanced Plugin Guide: Deep dive into microservice data seeders, WebSockets, complex 3D rendering, and Marketplace publishing.

Repository Ecosystem

WorldWideView is distributed across several specialized repositories:

1. worldwideview (This Repo): Main frontend, CesiumJS rendering engine, and core plugin framework.
2. wwv-data-engine: Open-source community data backend for polling public APIs.
3. worldwideview-plugins: First-party maintained plugins.
4. worldwideview-marketplace: The web application driving the plugin directory.
5. worldwideview-web: Marketing and landing site.
6. szski/wwv-mcp: Reference MCP server for driving the globe from an LLM agent (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, …) via the Agent Bus. Contributor-hosted today; may move under the project org.

MCP (Model Context Protocol)

WorldWideView exposes a built-in MCP endpoint at /api/mcp. Any MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, etc.) can connect to it directly without a separate sidecar server.

Authentication

Generate an API key from the /setup page (Settings > API Keys). Pass it as a Bearer token in every request.

Client config

Add the following block to your MCP client configuration. Replace https://your-host with the actual origin where WorldWideView is running (e.g. http://localhost:3000 for local development).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "worldwideview": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://your-host/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <your-api-key>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Plugin tools and tools/list

Plugin tools (tools contributed by loaded plugins) appear in tools/list only after the browser tab that is running WorldWideView has loaded the relevant plugin and published its catalog. The server snapshots the catalog at the moment each request arrives.

Because the server is stateless and per-request, it cannot push list_changed notifications proactively. If you load a new plugin in the browser after your MCP client has already called tools/list, call tools/list again to pick up the new tools.

Development & Workflow

• Branching & Commits: We strictly enforce Conventional Commits (feat:, fix:, refactor:). Every commit should utilize our semantic versioning [/commit] workflow.
• Coding Standards: We emphasize vanilla CSS (no Tailwind), strict TypeScript 5, and file modularity (max 150 lines per file).
• Testing: We use Vitest with jsdom. All new core logic should be accompanied by tests, running via pnpm test.

See Docs: Development and Docs: Testing for more details.

Contributing

We welcome community contributions! Please review our coding standards and PR processes before submitting code. For detailed instructions on local development and setting up your environment, see our CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

This project is licensed under the Elastic License 2.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

Documentation Index

Explore our comprehensive documentation suite for detailed engineering insights:

• Project Overview: High-level value proposition and technology stack.
• Architecture: Plugin system, state management, data pipeline, and Cesium rendering deep-dive.
• Build System: Monorepo structure, Next.js standalone output, and Docker builds.
• Development: Coding conventions and common implementation patterns.
• Testing: Vitest setup and coverage targets.
• Deployment: Coolify integration and persistent volumes.
• Agent Bus: Wiring an MCP server (or any external tool) to drive the running globe.
• Files Catalog: Comprehensive mapping of core source files.

[!IMPORTANT] Fair-Use Notice: This application may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available for educational purposes, situational awareness, and to advance understanding of global events under "fair use" (Section 107 of the US Copyright Law).