Validate your OpenStreetMap feature tags against standard tagging schemas. Check for deprecated tags, missing values, and formatting errors with this free web tool.
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Technical Specification: OpenStreetMap Tagging Schema Validator
Overview
A high-performance, browser-based, single-file utility designed to validate OpenStreetMap (OSM) key-value tags. This tool enables mappers and GIS developers to audit tagging schemas against community standards to ensure data integrity and map quality.
Core Features
- Dynamic Tag Editor: An interactive input interface to add, remove, and modify tag-value pairs.
- Schema Validation Engine: A logic engine that compares inputs against a standardized list of recognized OSM keys and values, flagging deprecated, non-standard, or potentially problematic tags.
- Error Reporting: A real-time results panel that provides human-readable warnings and suggestions for improvements (e.g., suggesting a correct key or identifying an invalid value format).
- Import/Export: Support for importing tagging data from JSON/OSM-like structures and exporting validated results to plain text or clipboard.
- Preset Templates: Built-in support for common feature types (e.g., 'Amenity', 'Highway', 'Building') to quickly bootstrap a tagging session.
UI/UX Design
- Aesthetic: Strictly light-mode, modern SaaS aesthetic. Use a clean color palette (cool grays, whites, and vibrant accent colors like safety-orange or primary-blue for validation states).
- Layout:
- Header: Simple title and a brief 'Clear All' action.
- Main Area: Split-pane layout. Left side: Tag editing input (dynamic list). Right side: Results summary, error feedback, and suggestions.
- Responsiveness: The split-pane stacks vertically on mobile devices for seamless interaction.
- Animations: Subtle, smooth transitions when adding or removing tag rows (using CSS transitions). Validation results should fade in and out to prevent jarring layout shifts.
Color Palette
- Background: #FFFFFF (Primary), #F8FAFC (Subtle Sections)
- Text: #1E293B (Primary), #64748B (Secondary)
- Accents: #3B82F6 (Primary Action), #EF4444 (Errors), #22C55E (Validation Success)
- Borders/Dividers: #E2E8F0
Development Directives (Strict Compliance)
- Single File: All CSS and JS must be embedded within the
index.html. External assets (Tailwind CSS, Icons) must be pulled via CDN. - State Management: Zero persistence. State must exist only in memory variables. Do not use
localStorageorsessionStorage. - Iframe Compatibility: Ensure no
alert(),confirm(), orprompt()calls. Use custom-built HTML/CSS modal components for interaction. - External Content: All external links must have
target="_blank"andrel="noopener noreferrer". - Responsiveness: Fluid layout using CSS Flexbox or Grid. Ensure tap targets are sized for touch devices.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about using this application.
What is the purpose of this OpenStreetMap tagging schema validator?
This tool serves as a real-time validation utility for OpenStreetMap contributors and GIS professionals. It allows users to verify that their feature tags—such as highway types, building classifications, or amenity details—conform to the standardized OSM tagging ecosystem and community-accepted practices. By running your tagging schema through this validator, you can identify deprecated keys, invalid value formats, or logically inconsistent tag combinations before uploading your data to the OpenStreetMap platform. This helps ensure high data quality and reduces the risk of map errors.
Is my data stored on your servers or in my browser?
Privacy and security are prioritized in this application. This tool is designed to run entirely client-side, meaning no data is ever transmitted to a remote server for processing, and no persistent storage mechanisms like localStorage or cookies are utilized. Because the application does not utilize browser storage, your input data is cleared immediately upon refreshing the page or closing the tab. We recommend users copy and save their validated tagging schemas to a local text file or JSON document to ensure their work is preserved for future use.
How does this validator handle custom tagging schemas?
The validator utilizes a flexible schema-matching engine that evaluates your entered tags against common OSM tagging patterns. While the system supports standard presets for common geographic features, it is designed to be extensible, allowing you to define specific key-value pairs that are checked for syntax compliance. Advanced users can input raw JSON-formatted tagging structures or manually add tag pairs to be evaluated against industry standards. The tool provides clear, actionable feedback regarding which tags match current recommendations and which may be considered obsolete or unsupported.
Can this tool replace JOSM or iD editor validation?
This application is intended as a supplementary utility for quick validation, checking, or prototype creation. It is not designed to replace robust, full-featured editors like JOSM or iD, which perform deep integration with the OpenStreetMap API, history tracking, and complex geometric relation editing. Instead, this utility excels at providing a clean, distraction-free environment for testing tagging logic or preparing bulk tag updates. It is the perfect tool for developers building scripts or map styling rules who need a lightweight way to verify tag validity without opening a full map editor interface.
