The CARTO Workspace is the user interface for our next generation cloud-native Location Intelligence platform. It allows you to create stunning maps and perform spatial analytics at scale, with everything running directly on top of your cloud data warehouse(s). Learn how to make the most out of our Builder tool, Analytics Toolbox, Data Observatory, and other new features.

Check out the following pages for setting up your organization, getting acclimated to the workspace, and creating your first map:

• CARTO Workspace overview

Legends and layer lists are essential for geospatial data visualization, providing context, enhancing map interpretation, and enabling quick actions such as toggling visibility and zooming.

In the Legend tab within Builder, you can control how layers and their legends appear in the map layer list:

• Layer visibility: Toggle whether a layer is included in the map layer list for users to interact with.

• Legend visibility: Independently toggle whether a layer’s legend is displayed in the map layer list.

• Custom labels: Edit legend labels to provide clear and meaningful descriptions for each layer.

The basemap selector, located below the zoom control, allows users to switch between available basemaps within their organization. This functionality enhances the visual context of maps, making them more adaptable to specific use cases and improving overall data exploration.

As an Editor, you have the flexibility to decide whether the basemap selector will be available in the public or shared versions of the map. This can be configured through the "Map settings for viewers," located at the top-right corner of the Builder interface.

Once enabled, Viewers can switch between basemaps to modify the map’s context according to their specific needs.

Can I license premium data with a trial, or student account?

Builder now enables you to modify the location or connection of your data sources easily using the 'Change data source’ option available in the source card. This functionality ensures that map configurations remain consistent as long as the updated data sources maintain the same field names and types. For any components where a property cannot be identified, the map component will revert to its default settings.

How to change the source location and/or connection

Pre-generated tilesets are sources with tiles that have been previously generated using either the or . Both the creation and storage of these tilesets occur in the data warehouse. This type of data source is ideal for managing very large, static datasets. They are efficient, cost-effective, and provide high-performance visualization.

Visualizing pre-generated tilesets

Builder supports the visualization of the four types of pre-generated tilesets:

Heatmap point aggregation allows you to dynamically display your point data as a heatmap visualization, even when working with large-scale data. This type of visualization is ideal for simplifying complex datasets, identify hotspot patterns and gain insights from your data.

Visualization

In the Visualization section you can specify the Opacity setting at layer source. Additionally, within the Advanced visualization options , you can access Zoom Visibility to define the range at which your layer should be visualized.

When you add a source, Builder attempts to recognize if there is a spatial definition to render its associated layer. The spatial definition of your source depends on the column storing your spatial data and its specific type. Builder will automatically recognize the spatial data definition when possible. If not, you can manually define your data using the layer panel UI in the data section.

Automatic definition of spatial data

For Builder to automatically recognize the spatial data definition, regardless of whether the source is a table or an SQL query, your source must contain at least one valid spatial column with its related type as follows:

The Range Widget enables precise data filtering, allowing you to define specific numerical ranges.

Widget Data

In the Data section, select a numeric field from your source dataset that you want to analyze.

This guide describes how to switch between different map view modes in Builder. There are two different map view modes, normal (flat) and 3D. The mode selected by default is the Normal map view.

To switch to 3D map view, click on 3D view from the “Map view” options.

Also, another cool functionality of CARTO Builder is the ability to have a dual map configuration to allow comparisons. We can switch to this mode by selecting Switch a dual map view from the “Map view” options.

You can always back to the single map configuration by clicking on

As an Editor user, you have the flexibility to determine wether SQL Parameters controls will be accessible in the public or shared version of the map. You can manage this from the "Map settings for viewers" section located at the top right of Builder interface.

Viewer users can then specify parameter values using the Parameters control interface found on the right panel. This enables them to adjust the underlying data according to their unique needs.

The CARTO Workspace includes functionalities for creating and publishing maps in a simple manner, using the CARTO map tool: Builder.

Builder is designed to allow technical and non-technical audiences to visualize, explore, and filter large amount of location data in your browser.

This guide will teach you how to create a map in the CARTO Builder, and perform data analysis by adding data to a map, adding filters, and more.

In the Maps section of the Workspace, you will see the list of your current maps. If you haven’t created a map yet, you will see the following page:

To create a new map, click Create your first map. This will open the CARTO map tool: Builder.

Formula Widget allows you to derive Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and metrics by performing operations directly from your source data.

Widget Data

When configuring the Formula Widget calculations, you have the flexibility to choose in the Data section from a provided aggregation list or to set a custom aggregation.

The Table Widget offers a clear, structured view of your dataset, enabling easy data exploration. You can search, highlight features by hovering, and zoom to specific features by clicking, all while seamlessly connecting the table to the map.

Widget Data

In the Data section, you can specify which properties to display in the Table view, allowing you to set labels and customizing the format as needed.

Text parameters are replaced by an array of strings in your query. They are ideal for filtering data by category names or text-based identifiers—such as product types or admin regions.

Text Parameter Settings

When creating a text parameter, you'll configure:

A Category Widget summarize and compare categorical data using proportional bar lengths to represent values. The longer the horizontal bar, the greater the value it represents.

Widget Data

When configuring the Category Widget, you can either perform a simple COUNT operation over your define category field or you can perform an aggregated operation using AVG

In CARTO Builder, the Point layer visualization option allows you to render and style point features on your map. This layer type offers various advanced styling options to enhance the visual representation of your data such as creating heatmap or grid visualizations dynamically from your original source.

Visualization

Within the Advanced visualization options , you can access Zoom Visibility to define the range at which your layer should be visualized. This ensures that your lines are displayed at appropriate zoom levels, improving the clarity and relevance of your map.

What frameworks and libraries can I use for developing custom apps with CARTO?

You can use any framework or visualization library because CARTO is based on industry-standards. If there is not a hard requirement, we recommend using deck.gl for visualization and CARTO for React for creating apps that extend the platform functionality.

You can find a step-by-step in the CARTO for Developers documentation:

Here you will learn the basic concepts required to create a public web application using CARTO, compatible with any Javascript Development Framework. With CARTO you don't need to be a geospatial expert to develop a geospatial application, so if you're a web developer you shouldn't have any issues following this guide.

After completing this guide you will be familiar with the following concepts:

• Scaffolding your application.

The Histogram Widget visually summarize the distribution of a continuous numeric variable by measuring the frequency at which certain values appear in the dataset.

The x-axis of the Histogram Widget has been split into buckets. For each bucket, a bar is drawn where the width of the bar represents the range of the bucket, and the height of the bar represents the number of features that fall into that range.

Widget Data

A Pie Widget offers a visual representation of categorical data as a circular chart, where each category is depicted as a slice of the pie. The size of each slice corresponds to its relative value within the whole dataset, making it a valuable tool for illustrating proportions and comparisons within the total data set.

Widget Data

When configuring the Pie Widget, you can either perform a simple COUNT operation over your define category field or you can perform an aggregated operation using

Using Builder you can calculate point-to-point distances using the Measure tool. This tool is ideal to determine the direct distance between two locations on the map.

To use the Measure tool, complete the following steps:

• Open a Builder map.

• Locate the Measure tool icon located at the top of the map interface .

Date Parameters define a default data range to be used in your query, with the start date and end date as placeholders. These parameters are always used in pairs, representing the start and end of a selected time period.

Date Parameter Settings

When creating a Date Parameter, you'll need to configure:

What methods can I use to create a map layer?

How can I run spatial analyses in Builder?

How does the export mechanism from Builder works?

What methods can I use to create a map layer?

To add a data source to a map as a new layer you can either:

• Pick a table or tileset from one of your active connections to cloud data warehouses

• Add data resulting from applying a custom SQL Query. You can also leverage the SQL functions available in CARTO’s .

• Importing data from a local or remote file. Right now we currently support GeoJSON, Shapefile (in a zip package), and CSV files. We’re working to support more formats in the future.

How can I run spatial analyses in Builder?

To run spatial analysis in Builder, you can use the SQL Editor, which is accessible when adding a data source as a custom query. The SQL Editor allows you to execute SQL commands directly in your cloud data warehouse (e.g., BigQuery, Snowflake, etc.), taking advantage of the full capabilities of the platform, including functions and operations available there. Additionally, you can leverage UDFs from the Analytics Toolbxo for enhanced spatial analysis. While the SQL Editor is ideal for performing simple analysis or utilizing SQL Parameters, for more complex or multi-step analysis, we recommend using Workflows. Workflows enable you to perform detailed, step-by-step analysis and save the results as a materialized table, which can then be used as a source in Builder. This approach provides greater flexibility and scalability for more advanced spatial analysis tasks.

How does the export mechanism from Builder works?

The export mechanism in Builder leverages the built-in export functionality of the connected cloud data warehouse to handle and process data. This ensures efficient export of datasets, aligning with the performance optimization strategies of the underlying platform.

When using BigQuery specifically, the export process stores data in a Google Cloud Storage (GCS) bucket. For performance and scalability, BigQuery splits the exported data into multiple smaller files rather than a single large file. This behavior is expected and is a result of BigQuery's internal strategies to parallelize the export jobs for optimal performance.

Does Builder support GEOMETRYCOLLECTION geometry type?

No, Builder does not support GEOMETRYCOLLECTION geometry types. If your data contains geometry collections, you'll need to convert them to individual geometry components (Point, LineString, or Polygon) using SQL transformations before visualization. See the for workaround examples using ST_Dump.

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My screen is stuck on the "Creating an Organization" page.

How can I join an existing organization on CARTO?

Can I be a member of multiple CARTO organizations?

I have previously used CARTO (including signing up for a free trial). Can I create a new organization or user with the same email?

Can I extend my free trial to longer than 14 days?

Can I start multiple free trials with CARTO?

My screen is stuck on the "Creating an Organization" page.

If you have never signed up for CARTO before, this can normally be fixed by clearing your browser’s cache. If you have previously used CARTO or created another CARTO organization - including a free trial - please see the FAQs below.

How can I join an existing organization on CARTO?

A CARTO user with an admin role from your organization will be able to add you to their organization through the CARTO Workspace via Settings > Users and Groups.

If you have a previous or existing CARTO login (including free trials) which are not attached to this organization, you will not be able to immediately join. In this instance, you should contact your customer success manager or [email protected] who can help you.

Can I be a member of multiple CARTO organizations?

You cannot join multiple CARTO organizations with the same email address. If you have a requirement like this, you should contact your customer success manager or [email protected] who can help you.

I have previously used CARTO (including signing up for a free trial). Can I create a new organization or user with the same email?

CARTO accounts are currently limited to one account per email, including historic accounts. If you have specific requirements around this, please contact your customer success manager or who can help you.

If you are attending a CARTO event where a free trial is a requirement, please contact the event organizers who will be able to coordinate this for you.

Can I extend my free trial to longer than 14 days?

In most cases free trials are limited to 14 days. Please fill in our form to discuss your requirements if you weren’t able to evaluate the platform within 14 days.

Can I start multiple free trials with CARTO?

Free trials are limited to one per user. Please fill in our form to discuss your requirements if you weren’t able to evaluate the platform with a single trial.

If you are attending a CARTO event where a free trial is a requirement, please contact the event organizers who will be able to coordinate this for you.

The CARTO platform natively supports spatial indexes, enabling you to leverage their capabilities when working with large-scale data directly in your data warehouse. Spatial indexes are excellent for large-scale analytics and visualization. Using Builder, you can create stunning and powerful visualizations by connecting directly to these types of sources. The supported spatial index formats are quadbins and H3.

Based on Discrete Global Grid (DGG) systems, spatial indexes reference each cell of the grid. Think of a spatial index as an id that always makes reference to the same portion of the surface on Earth.

• This portion of the Earth is called a cell.

• The shape of the cell depends on the type of index. For example, H3 uses hexagons; while Quadbin uses square.

• The size of the cell depends on the resolution. The higher the resolution, the smaller the size of the cell.

DGG systems are hierarchical, which means that every cell contains a constant number of smaller cells at a higher resolution:

Advantages of working with spatial indexes

One of the advantages of working with spatial indexes is that operating with them in data warehouses is way more efficient and cost-effective than computing geometries. They are also smaller in size and help saving storage and reducing the volume of transferred data.

When working with spatial indexes, Builder will dynamically aggregate your data into cells at a meaningful resolution depending on the current map zoom level. See the animation below for an example:

Visualizing spatial index sources

Your spatial index source must contain a column storing the spatial index identifier. Below is an example table containing h3 indexes, with some additional columns that contain aggregated socio-demographic data for each hexagon:

The h3 column contains the indexes for H3 cells at level 10. That’s what we call the native resolution of the data.

When you load a source in Builder, data is aggregated dynamically as you zoom in an out. This aggregation will be generated on the fly, using SQL queries that are pushed from CARTO into the data warehouse.

When visualizing a spatial index source in Builder, you can control the aggregation size, to define how granular you'd like the aggregation to be when navigating through the map as part of the layer styling configuration. Learn more in this section.

To understand more about performance and processing cost optimizations that should be applied to this specific source type, check .

In this guide, we'll walk through the process of creating your first CARTO organization. This will be the first step to start creating stunning maps and perform spatial analytics at scale, with everything running directly on top of your cloud data warehouse.

1. Account sign up

   • Go to the CARTO Sign up page.

   • Enter your email address and password. You can also sign up with your existing Google account by clicking Continue with Google.

   • Follow the steps to verify your email and continue with your new organization setup.

1. Organization setup

If your email domain is already associated with an existing CARTO organization, you will be able to join (or request to join) any of the existing organizations associated with that domain. Alternatively, you will be able to create a brand new organization.

For new organizations, you will need to choose an organization name (e.g. CARTO) and a deployment region. As a rule of thumb, you should choose the region closest to your data warehouse. For more information, check our article on .

After finishing the form, click "Let's get started with CARTO!" to complete the sign up process and get access to the CARTO Workspace. By signing up you accept the and the .

You are ready to start using CARTO!

What are the different deployment options for the CARTO platform?

Where can I find information about the requirements for deploying CARTO as Self-hosted?

How are updates and product releases managed in a Self-hosted deployment?

Where can I find information about deploying CARTO with Snowflake Container Services?

What are the different deployment options for the CARTO platform?

There are two different deployment options for the CARTO platform:

• CARTO Cloud: A fully managed deployment that CARTO hosts on our own cloud. When you use CARTO in our cloud, we manage configuration, updates, and versioning. This option is available in different regions that you can select when .

• Self-Hosted: With this option, you host your own CARTO tenant. That means it can be deployed in your virtual private cloud (VPC) or behind your virtual private network (VPN).

• (BETA) Snowflake Container Services: Fully deploy CARTO inside Snowflake by leveraging Snowflake Native Apps and Container Services.

Where can I find information about the requirements for deploying CARTO as Self-hosted?

Find links to the documentation and technical requirements .

How are updates and product releases managed in a Self-hosted deployment?

While in CARTO Cloud updates and product releases are continously added to the platform, if you’re self-hosting your own CARTO tenant, it will need to be updated periodically to enjoy the latest version of the platform.

The CARTO team publishes versioned releases on the public Self-hosted repositories that can be used to upgrade your deployment. Find the latest releases for and

Where can I find information about deploying CARTO with Snowflake Container Services?

Find links to the documentation .

Data sources with a spatial column storing H3 identifiers and a spatial type of H3 are rendered as an H3 layer type in CARTO Builder. H3 layers leverage the H3 cell ids to efficiently render features on the map in an aggregated format, enabling seamless visualization of large-scale spatial datasets.

Visualization

In the Visualization section, you can easily identify the type of layer your visualizing. Additionally, within the Advanced visualization options , you can access Zoom Visibility to define the range at which your layer should be visualized. This ensures that your lines are displayed at appropriate zoom levels, improving the clarity and relevance of your map.

Cell

When using Grid layer visualization type in Builder, data is aggregated as you zoom in and out on the map. In the Cell section, you can define the aggregation size to determine the level of granularity you prefer for your data aggregation.

Fill

In this section you can define Color that will be used to fill your point symbol. You can set a simple color or use a based on a given property to add depth and meaning to your lines. Additionally, you can adjust the fill opacity to your desired percentage for better visual effects.

When configuring either the color based on a property, you can access Advanced fill options to set the . This allows for a more granular and informative visualization.

Stroke

The stroke of your line layer can be customized in various ways to suit your visualization needs:

• Stroke Color: Set a simple color or use a color schema based on a given property to add depth and meaning to your lines. Additionally, you can adjust the stroke opacity to your desired percentage for better visual effects.

• Stroke Weight: Define the stroke weight as either a fixed value or based on a given property. You can modify the stroke weight using a simple slider when set to fixed, or by defining a weight range when configured by a property.

When configuring either the stroke color or stroke weight based on a property, you can access Advanced stroke options to set the color scale or weight scale. This allows for a more granular and informative visualization.

Height

You can enable height visualization to extrude the height of your grid layer. When this is enabled, make sure to change the map view to 3D so you can see the features on this view mode.

Set a fixed height or set the height value based on a given property. You use the slider to multiple the height value according to your need.

When configuring the height based on a property, you can access Advanced height options to set the height scale. Additionally, you can enable the Show wireframe option to visualize the stroke of the 3D objects.

Maintaining accurate analytics in your map visualizations depends greatly on the freshness of your data. This section will delve into how Builder ensures your data remains current and will detail the options you have for refreshing your data sources.

Caching and data freshness

Builder makes it straightforward to manage data freshness right from the initial map load. Data caching is enabled by default, varying by data type and warehouse provider, but you have the liberty to set specific freshness intervals for your map's data sources.

Default freshness settings

• SQL Query sources: By default, data is cached for one year across all connections. If your data remains unchanged, it will be automatically refreshed after a year.

• Table sources: The duration of data caching varies depending on your data warehouse provider:

  • BigQuery and Snowflake: Requests are cached for a minimum of 5 minutes. CARTO continues to serve cached results if the table data hasn't been updated.

Customizing data freshness

Choose from predefined freshness periods for your data sources to ensure maps load with the most current data, providing reliable analytics.

How caching works

Caching plays a crucial role in optimizing the performance and responsiveness of your map. Each component, such as a map layer, leverages its own cache to store data essential for its visualization. Here's how it functions:

• Data Storage: When you view a layer within a specific map extent, the system caches the data retrieved by that particular query. This means that if you or another user views the same layer with the same map extent again, the system can quickly display the data from the cache without needing to re-fetch it from the data source.

• Handling Changes: Any modifications to the viewport extent, adjustments to widget filters, or changes in SQL parameter inputs trigger a new query to the data warehouse for data that hasn't been cached yet. Once this query is executed, its results are stored in the cache for future use.

This caching mechanism ensures efficient data retrieval and visualization, significantly enhancing the user experience by reducing load times and improving the map's overall performance.

Refresh data manually

Refreshing your data sources couldn't be simpler. Whether you need to update all sources or just specific ones, Builder's "Refresh" options are designed for efficiency. Initiating a refresh reloads your data sources and their associated layers, clearing any previous cache and sending a new request to your data warehouse. This process guarantees you're always working with the latest data.

These guides will help you get started with CARTO. They're easy to follow with detailed steps, and will help you kickstart your project with your own connections, maps, workflows, and applications.

What is CARTO’s Analytics Toolbox?

How can I use the functions available in the Analytics Toolbox?

Can I use the Analytics Toolbox from the CARTO Data Warehouse connection?

In the Analytics Toolbox for BigQuery, are there differences when using it from different GCP regions?

What is CARTO’s Analytics Toolbox?

CARTO’s Analytics Toolbox is a set of UDFs and Store Procedures to unlock Spatial Analytics directly on top of your cloud data warehouse platform. It is organized in a set of modules based on the functionality they offer.

How can I use the functions available in the Analytics Toolbox?

You can use the functions in the Analytics Toolbox via CARTO Builder, SQL Notebooks, and directly in the console of your cloud data warehouse platform.

To learn how to get access to the toolbox please visit the Documentation page for the:

• (also valid for the CARTO Data Warehouse)

In CARTO Builder, you can use the Analytics Toolbox functions in your custom SQL queries when to your map.

Can I use the Analytics Toolbox from the CARTO Data Warehouse connection?

Yes, you can. CARTO Data Warehouse connection works under the hood as a connection to Google BigQuery in the same region in which you have provisioned your CARTO organization account. Follow the same guides and reference for the to use this functionality from your CARTO Data Warehouse connection.

In the Analytics Toolbox for BigQuery, are there differences when using it from different GCP regions?

Yes, there are. The projects in which we install the Analytics Toolbox functions vary depending on the . In this you can find the BigQuery Project name for the Analytics Toolbox depending on the cloud region to which you have created a connection between CARTO and BigQuery.

For BigQuery connections in US and EU regions, we recommend to use the Analytics Toolbox we have enabled in US multi-region (project name: carto-un) and EU multi-region (project name: carto-un-eu)

Note that this also applies if you want to leverage the Analytics Toolbox from your CARTO Data Warehouse connection.

Raster data is composed of grids of pixels, where each pixel contains a value representing specific information, such as temperature, elevation, or vegetation indices. These datasets can represent continuous surfaces or sparse data with defined no-data regions. The CARTO platform provides seamless tools for importing, analyzing and visualizing raster sources directly in your data warehouse.

Visualizing rasters

To visualize raster sources, they must first be stored in your data warehouse using the CARTO raster loader. This tool ensures your raster files are properly uploaded and formatted for seamless integration with the CARTO platform. Learn more about preparing and uploading your raster data.

To optimize performance, raster sources should include overviews—lower-resolution versions of the raster data—enabling efficient visualization at different zoom levels. Additionally, if your raster source contains a color interpreter (e.g., palette, grayscale, or RGB), CARTO will automatically apply default styling based on the metadata, making it easier to quickly render the raster on your map.

The map description feature enriches your map by adding contextual details. This makes it easier for all viewers, even those unfamiliar with the subject, to understand and utilize the map's information effectively.

This feature supports Markdown syntax, enabling you to incorporate headers, text formatting, links, images, and more. This added layer of customization enhances clarity and provides better insights into the displayed data, assumptions, and even guidelines for interpretation.

To add a description to your map, complete the following steps:

1. Find the map description icon located at the top-right corner of the header .

2. After clicking, Edit mode will activate, revealing a designated input area in the right panel. You can use Markdown syntax for advanced formatting options, including links and images.

3. Use the Preview mode to see how your description will appear to viewers.

Once you've added the description and updated the map, it becomes immediately available for all viewers upon publication.

You can use the Zoom to layer functionality in Builder to zoom your map to display all the features of a layer. This helps you quickly locate your layer, speeding up your exploration journey.

Accessing zoom to layer

The Zoom to Layer feature can be accessed from the Layer Card and Layer Panel for Editors, and from the legend for both Editors and Viewers.

If your layer features have been filtered by Widgets or SQL Parameters, the zoom will always account for this filtering, allowing you to easily focus on the selected features.

Switching layer visibility

The eye icon in the Layer Card, Layer Panel, and Legend allows users to easily toggle layers on or off. For maps with many layers, the "Show only this/Show all layers" functionality is particularly useful. It enables you to switch off all other layers or make them all visible if only one layer is currently displayed.

Builder supports simple features stored as geometry or geography in cloud data warehouses. These simple features are defined as a standard which specifies digital storage of geographical data, usually point, line or polygon, storing both spatial and non-spatial features.

This table shows the current type of simple features (geometry or geography) supported on each data warehouse:

Visualizing simple features

Builder ensures performance experience when rendering simple features on a map as data is loaded progressively via vector tiles. The data for these tiles is extracted by pushing down SQL queries to the data warehouse, and they are requested as you zoom in and out or pan the map.

Note these queries in Builder are cached. To understand more how caching works and different methods to keep your data fleshed, check this link in our .

Find more information about performance consideration for this data source type in .

Data sources using spatial column storing quadbin identifiers and spatial type quadbin will be rendered as a Grid layer type. Grid layers uses quadbin to natively render features on the map in an aggregated manner.

Visualization

In the Visualization section, you can easily identify the type of layer your visualizing. Additionally, within the Advanced visualization options , you can access Zoom Visibility to define the range at which your layer should be visualized. This ensures that your lines are displayed at appropriate zoom levels, improving the clarity and relevance of your map.

Cell

When using Grid layer visualization type in Builder, data is aggregated as you zoom in and out on the map. In the Cell section, you can define the aggregation size to determine the level of granularity you prefer for your data aggregation.

Fill

In this section you can define Color that will be used to fill your point symbol. You can set a simple color or use a based on a given property to add depth and meaning to your lines. Additionally, you can adjust the fill opacity to your desired percentage for better visual effects.

When configuring either the color based on a property, you can access Advanced fill options to set the . This allows for a more granular and informative visualization.

Stroke

The stroke of your line layer can be customized in various ways to suit your visualization needs:

• Stroke Color: Set a simple color or use a color schema based on a given property to add depth and meaning to your lines. Additionally, you can adjust the stroke opacity to your desired percentage for better visual effects.

• Stroke Weight: Define the stroke weight as either a fixed value or based on a given property. You can modify the stroke weight using a simple slider when set to fixed, or by defining a weight range when configured by a property.

When configuring either the stroke color or stroke weight based on a property, you can access Advanced stroke options to set the color scale or weight scale. This allows for a more granular and informative visualization.

Height

You can enable height visualization to extrude the height of your grid layer. When this is enabled, make sure to change the map view to 3D so you can see the features on this view mode.

Set a fixed height or set the height value based on a given property. You use the slider to multiple the height value according to your need.

When configuring the height based on a property, you can access Advanced height options to set the height scale. Additionally, you can enable the Show wireframe option to visualize the stroke of the 3D objects.

In CARTO Builder, the Point layer visualization option allows you to render and style point features on your map. This layer type offers various advanced styling options to enhance the visual representation of your data such as creating heatmap or grid visualizations dynamically from your original source.

Visualization

Within the Advanced visualization options , you can access Zoom Visibility to define the range at which your layer should be visualized. This ensures that your lines are displayed at appropriate zoom levels, improving the clarity and relevance of your map.

If your data source contains identical geometries with varying attributes (e.g., weather stations or buildings), you can use the Aggregate by geometry functionality to aggregate your layer based on a distinct spatial column. .

Fill

In this section you can define Color that will be used to fill your point symbol. You can set a simple color or use a based on a given property to add depth and meaning to your lines. Additionally, you can adjust the fill opacity to your desired percentage for better visual effects.

When configuring either the color based on a property, you can access Advanced fill options to set the . This allows for a more granular and informative visualization.

Stroke

The stroke of your line layer can be customized in various ways to suit your visualization needs:

• Stroke Color: Set a simple color or use a color schema based on a given property to add depth and meaning to your lines. Additionally, you can adjust the stroke opacity to your desired percentage for better visual effects.

• Stroke Weight: Define the stroke weight as either a fixed value or based on a given property. You can modify the stroke weight using a simple slider when set to fixed, or by defining a weight range when configured by a property.

When configuring either the stroke color or stroke weight based on a property, you can access Advanced stroke options to set the color scale or weight scale. This allows for a more granular and informative visualization.

Height

You can enable height visualization to extrude the height of your grid layer. When this is enabled, make sure to change the map view to 3D so you can see the features on this view mode.

Set a fixed height or set the height value based on a given property. You use the slider to multiple the height value according to your need.

When configuring the height based on a property, you can access Advanced height options to set the height scale. Additionally, you can enable the Show wireframe option to visualize the stroke of the 3D objects.

H3 point aggregation allows you to dynamically visualize your point data as an aggregated hexagonal bins, leveraging CARTO's native support for H3 spatial indexes. This type of visualization is ideal for simplifying large datasets, improving performance by reducing rendering complexity, and identifying patterns and trends within the data.

Visualization

In the Visualization section, you can easily identify the type of layer your visualizing. Additionally, within the Advanced visualization options , you can access Zoom Visibility to define the range at which your layer should be visualized. This ensures that your lines are displayed at appropriate zoom levels, improving the clarity and relevance of your map.

Cell

When using Grid layer visualization type in Builder, data is aggregated as you zoom in and out on the map. In the Cell section, you can define the aggregation size to determine the level of granularity you prefer for your data aggregation.

Fill

In this section you can define the Color that will be used to fill your cell. You can set a simple color or use a based on a given property to add depth and meaning to your lines. Additionally, you can adjust the fill opacity to your desired percentage for better visual effects.

When configuring either the color based on a property, you can access Advanced fill options to set the . This allows for a more granular and informative visualization.

Stroke

The stroke of your line layer can be customized in various ways to suit your visualization needs:

• Stroke Color: Set a simple color or use a color schema based on a given property to add depth and meaning to your lines. Additionally, you can adjust the stroke opacity to your desired percentage for better visual effects.

• Stroke Weight: Define the stroke weight as either a fixed value or based on a given property. You can modify the stroke weight using a simple slider when set to fixed, or by defining a weight range when configured by a property.

When configuring either the stroke color or stroke weight based on a property, you can access Advanced stroke options to set the color scale or weight scale. This allows for a more granular and informative visualization.

Height

You can enable height visualization to extrude the height of your grid layer. When this is enabled, make sure to change the map view to 3D so you can see the features on this view mode.

Set a fixed height or set the height value based on a given property. You use the slider to multiple the height value according to your need.

When configuring the height based on a property, you can access Advanced height options to set the height scale. Additionally, you can enable the Show wireframe option to visualize the stroke of the 3D objects.

Cluster point aggregation allows you to dynamically group and display your point data as clusters, even when working with large-scale datasets. This type of visualization is ideal for simplifying complex data, identifying concentration patterns, and gaining insights by visualizing data density in a more digestible format.

Visualization

In the Visualization section you can specify the Opacity setting at layer source. Additionally, within the Advanced visualization options , you can access Zoom Visibility to define the range at which your layer should be visualized.

Symbol

In this section, you can define the cluster radius range and adjust the symbol’s aggregation size. This allows you to control the level of detail in the clustering—lower values result in more detailed, granular clusters.

Fill

Define the Color that will be used to fill your cluster. You can set a simple color or use a based on a given property to add depth and meaning to your lines. Additionally, you can adjust the fill opacity to your desired percentage for better visual effects.

When configuring either the color based on a property, you can access Advanced fill options to set the . This allows for a more granular and informative visualization.

Stroke

In the Stroke section, you can customize the stroke color and adjust its opacity. Additionally, you can set the stroke weight to match your visualization needs.

Label

Labels for cluster layers allow you to display the number of aggregated points within each cluster. You can customize both the text color and the halo (outline) color to fit your visualization needs.

What cloud data warehouses can I use with CARTO?

What are the device/web browser requirements for CARTO?

When I connect to a data warehouse, do you copy or store any data?

What happens if I do not have any cloud data warehouse platform to connect?

Can I import geospatial files into CARTO’s new platform?

What are the Location Data Services (LDS) providers configured by default in a CARTO organization?

What cloud data warehouses can I use with CARTO?

CARTO's new platform is designed to give you a fully cloud native experience, allowing you to run CARTO on top of your leading cloud data warehouse platform of choice (i.e. Google BigQuery, Snowflake, AWS Redshift, Oracle, Databricks, and any PostgreSQL-based data warehouse platform).

What are the device/web browser requirements for CARTO?

CARTO is designed to work in all modern browsers that meet the following criteria:

• Complete support, including hardware acceleration, for

• A browser version not older than 2 years

This includes the latest stable versions of Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Opera, but other browsers using standard technology and meeting the criteria above should be compatible as well.

While CARTO should work in all browsers meeting the criteria above, the best performance and compatibility are expected with Chromium-based browsers.

Please note that the user's device must also have hardware that supports these features. A desktop device with a dedicated GPU and at least 8 GB of RAM is recommended.

When I connect to a data warehouse, do you copy or store any data?

No, your connection allow us to perform queries against your data on your behalf, and the results are either stored again in your data warehouse or rendered in the client, as visible maps. CARTO being fully cloud native means no storage needs, less security concerns and no need for data replication or complex ETL processing.

What happens if I do not have any cloud data warehouse platform to connect?

For users who do not have any cloud data warehouse platform to which they want to connect CARTO, we are offering cloud storage and computing resources in what we call the CARTO Data Warehouse. A CARTO Data Warehouse connection is offered by default with your CARTO subscription.

Can I import geospatial files into CARTO’s new platform?

Yes, at the moment you can import both local or remote (via URL) Shapefiles, CSV or GeoJSON files. You have more details available in the corresponding section of our .

What are the Location Data Services (LDS) providers configured by default in a CARTO organization?

CARTO offers access to Location Data Services (LDS) such as geocoding, isolines and routing by leveraging the APIs of 3rd party service providers. Since December 2023, by default, CARTO uses APIs for geocoding and routing, and for isolines.

CARTO retains the right to adjust the default configuration of these services at its sole discretion when deemed necessary. Other options to the default can be made available under special commercial and usage terms.

For new CARTO , users can choose between four different regions. These correspond to four separate CARTO tenants, each located in a different geographical location:

• United States East

• Europe West (located in the EU)

The Feature Selection tool allows you to apply a mask to the map, filtering out the features that lie outside of it. This filtering also affects the data showed in widgets, which turns the Feature Selection tool into a powerful device to quickly find insights in your geospatial data.

This guide describes how to start using this fantastic tool and get the most out of your maps.

You can explore this new tool by clicking on the button on the upper right corner of the map.

There are different selection modes supporting different kinds of shape. The mode selected by default is Polygon.

When managing Builder maps, you have two primary pathways: directly through the Builder interface or via the map card in the Maps section of your workspace.

Within these options, users may encounter two distinct actions, which may be available or restricted based on their assigned roles: and

Duplicating maps

To duplicate an existing map from the Workspace:

Does CARTO provide a basemap service?

Numeric parameters are replaced by a single or a pair of numeric values in your query. They are a good choice if you need to filter your data by specific range or calculate analysis based on numeric values.

Numeric Parameter Settings

When creating a numeric parameter, there are a few settings to be defined:

Save a snapshot of your interactive Builder dashboard by downloading it as a PDF. This feature lets you export a screenshot of your map along with any necessary legends, the map description, widgets, and parameters. Once saved as a PDF, you can easily share the file offline, email it, or use it in any other way you utilize PDF files.

Grid point aggregation allows you to dynamically visualize your point data as an aggregated grid, leveraging CARTO's native support for spatial indexes. This type of visualization is ideal for simplifying large datasets, improving performance by reducing rendering complexity, and identifying patterns and trends within the data.

Visualization

In the Visualization section, you can easily identify the type of layer your visualizing. Additionally, within the Advanced visualization options , you can access Zoom Visibility to define the range at which your layer should be visualized. This ensures that your lines are displayed at appropriate zoom levels, improving the clarity and relevance of your map.

In CARTO Builder, the Raster layer visualization option allows you to render and style raster data such as such as deforestation patterns, land classifications, or flood risk models, directly on your map.

Visualization

Within the Advanced Visualization Options , you can control the opacity of your raster layer, allowing you to blend it seamlessly with other layers on your map for improved visual clarity.

When you log in to your CARTO user account, you will be presented with your Workspace. The Workspace allows you to access all components of the CARTO platform via a single interface. It will allow you to manage connections to your data warehouse(s), explore your data, subscribe to Data Observatory datasets, develop spatial applications, and run visualizations and spatial analysis through our tools Builder and Workflows.

Homepage

The first time that you access the Workspace, you will see a Welcome banner with links providing quick access to different actions to get you started with CARTO, like creating your first connection or your first map and workflow, or starting with your spatial analysis in an easy guided way from our editable pre-built demo maps and demo workflows.

From the “Connect your data warehouse” banner, you can easily connect your data warehouse(s) to start using CARTO by clicking on Create new connection button. Check the quick guides to and to get started.

After creating your connection, you can also upload local files right from the homepage by clicking on Import your data button. Check this to start importing your data into your data warehouse.

From the “What's new” section, you will find announcements of new features, interesting articles, and the latest news related to CARTO from our blog. Stay tuned and don’t miss out on the latest news!

Getting started

In this section you have a checklist with five quick steps to guide you to the different content pieces to help you get started with CARTO. Once you have completed all the steps, it will be marked as completed and you can close the panel by clicking on Close. If you want to skip the steps, just click on I´m ready, skip onboarding to close the panel.

Help sidebar

The help sidebar is always available, including when you're creating Maps and Workflows. It contains:

• An AI-powered search bar, similar to the one you can use in this documentation. Ask anything about CARTO and get quick answers, pointing in the right direction and including a link to this documentation.

• Relevant links to our section, the , and the team.

Recent maps

View your latest content. This module displays the latest maps that you have been working on, so that you can quickly access and continue working on them.

If you are the owner of the map, you will have access to the quick actions menu to manage your map by clicking on the three dot icon of the map card. There are 4 options available: Edit map properties, , and .

Recent workflows

View your latest accessed workflows. This module displays the latest workflows that you have been working on, so that you can quickly access and continue working on them.

Recent datasets

View your latest datasets for easy access. This module displays the latest datasets that you have been working on, so that you can quickly access and continue working on them.

Navigation Menu

In the left panel, you can find the Navigation Menu with all the available options to access the CARTO components: Home, Maps, Data Explorer, Data Observatory, Connections, Settings, and Developers. In the bottom part of the menu, you have additional options to join the “CARTO Users” Slack channel, send us direct product feedback, or access the Documentation portal.

In CARTO Builder, the Point layer visualization option allows you to render and style point features on your map. This layer type offers various advanced styling options to enhance the visual representation of your data such as creating heatmap or grid visualizations dynamically from your original source.

Visualization

You have different visualization options when it comes to point data. Using this functionality, we allow users to dynamically aggregate the original source to:

• : Aggregated geometry into grid cells.

• : Aggregated geometry into hexagonal bins.

• : Aggregated geometry by density.

• : Aggregated geometry into circles.

Within the Advanced visualization options , you can access Zoom Visibility to define the range at which your layer should be visualized. This ensures that your lines are displayed at appropriate zoom levels, improving the clarity and relevance of your map.

If your data source contains identical geometries with varying attributes (e.g., weather stations or buildings), you can use the Aggregate by geometry functionality to aggregate your layer based on a distinct spatial column. .

Symbol

When configuring your point layer symbol, you either use a simple point shape to render your point layer or you can use a custom marker .

Custom markers allows you to set an icon or an image as a marker in your map, either a single marker or use multiple markers by property. Out-of-the-box options from is readily available. Additionally, you can upload your own .png or .svg file to be used as marker in the map.

You can modify the Radius/Size of your symbol using a simple slider when set to fixed, or by defining a radius range when configured by a property.

Fill

In this section you can define Color that will be used to fill your point symbol. You can set a simple color or use a based on a given property to add depth and meaning to your lines. Additionally, you can adjust the fill opacity to your desired percentage for better visual effects.

When configuring either the color based on a property, you can access Advanced fill options to set the . This allows for a more granular and informative visualization.

Stroke

The stroke of your line layer can be customized in various ways to suit your visualization needs:

• Stroke Color: Set a simple color or use a color schema based on a given property to add depth and meaning to your lines. Additionally, you can adjust the stroke opacity to your desired percentage for better visual effects.

• Stroke Weight: Define the stroke weight as either a fixed value or based on a given property. You can modify the stroke weight using a simple slider when set to fixed, or by defining a weight range when configured by a property.

When configuring either the stroke color or stroke weight based on a property, you can access Advanced stroke options to set the color scale or weight scale. This allows for a more granular and informative visualization.

Labels

You can add labels for your point layer visualization. It can be either single label or double label. You can style and set the label size as well as configuring the placement of the label.

Using _carto_point_density attribute

When working with point dynamic tiling sources in Builder, points are automatically aggregated for optimal visualization. The closer you zoom into the map, the more granular the view becomes, showing individual points.

In Builder, you can now leverage the automatically added _carto_point_density property to style the radius, fill and stroke of your layer based on the number of points aggregated at each visible point.

Time Series Widget allows you to identify insights and patterns from your data over a period of time. To use it, ensure your data source includes a valid timestamp.

Widget data

When configuring a Time Series Widget, you have the flexibility to choose from a provided aggregation list that includes COUNT, AVG, MAX, MIN, and SUM to define the metric to be displayed in the widget.

For more complex and custom calculations, you can select the custom aggregation option to create your own SQL Expression. With this option, you can use a wide range of SQL functions, operators and syntax using single or multiple columns from your data source.

Multiple series can be visualized in the widget to compare trends. You can create multiple series using one of the following options: "Split by" and "Add metrics"

• Split by: To split a single series into multiple segments, simply specify a "Split by" category field. For instance, in a dataset tracking traffic accidents, you define your primary metric as the "COUNT" of records and use the "Split by" category column as "accident_severity". The widget will then present the "COUNT" of each unique accident severity category as separate series.

• Add metrics: If you want to incorporate more data dimensions into your visualization, utilize the "Add metrics" option. For example, in a traffic accident dataset, you can define your initial metric as the "SUM" of cycles affected at accident spots. Subsequently, you can add another metric to calculate the "SUM" of motorcycles affected. The resultant widget will display two distinct series: one representing the sum of cycles and the other representing the sum of motorcycles for each specified time interval.

Widget display

Temporal data is organized into discrete time intervals along the x-axis of the widget. By default, an interval size is automatically selected, but you have the flexibility to manually adjust it as needed.

You can empower users to animate moving geometry features by adding animation controls. You can click the clock icon to adjust speeds: 0.5x, 1x, 2x, or 3x.

In the display section, you can also use formatting to choose the unit of metrics displayed on the y-axis. Additionally, you can add notes that support .

Widget behavior

Within the "Behavior" section, you can define how your widget operates: choose between "Viewport" or "Global" modes. Additionally, you can make your widgets collapsible, allowing you to hide them when needed.

You can also enable or disable the widget’s filtering capability using the cross-filtering toggle icon. When enabled, the widget can filter itself and other components connected to the same data source or across multiple sources if they share the same property.

Learn more about widget behavior .

Best practices to work with temporal data

When dealing with temporal data sources, we advocate the following best practices:

• Large temporal data: When working with large temporal data, consider aggregating your data to a higher temporal granularity and using Time Series Widget in combination with Date SQL Parameter. These recommendations can help reduce the volume of data and enhance performance

• Static geometries: If you are working with static geometry whose attributes change over time, we recommend you aggregate your source grouping by geometry to avoid displaying duplicated geometries on the map. You can also leverage the "Date" type of SQL Parameter to dynamically define the date range of your source.

A basemap is a crucial component of any map, providing essential context, spatial features, and the visual foundation for your creations. CARTO Builder supports three different type of basemaps: CARTO, Google Maps and Custom.

CARTO basemaps

Select CARTO in the menu to see different basemap options. They include:

• Voyager: Basemap with colors to clearly differentiate natural and cultural features.

• Positron: Light basemap with dark-colored text.

• Dark Matter: Dark basemap with light-colored text.

You can manage the CARTO basemap layers to hide and show water, buildings, roads, and more.

Google Maps basemaps

Select Google Maps in the menu to see different basemap options. They include:

• Roadmap: Displays the default road map view.

• Satellite: Displays Google Earth satellite images.

• Hybrid: Displays satellite imagery with overlays of road names, city names, and other labels.

Custom basemaps

CARTO supports custom basemaps set up at the organization level by Admin users. When custom basemaps are available, they will be displayed under the Custom tab section of basemaps.

To learn more about how you can upload custom basemaps to the CARTO platform and the supported formats, check . For a step-by-step guide on custom basemaps, check out in the Academy.

Is the CARTO Platform SOC 2 Type II-certified?

Does it comply with GDPR, CCPA and other data privacy laws?

What are the password and login management controls in CARTO?

When we create a connection to CARTO, does it make any copies of our data?

How does CARTO manage our data?

Where is my data stored?

How does CARTO manage security when a map, a workflow or an application are shared?

Is the CARTO Platform SOC 2 Type II-certified?

Yes. As part of its SOC 2 Type II certification, CARTO undergoes annual auditing of its system and organization controls, performed by an independent, third-party certified auditor.

CARTO’s latest SOC 2 Type II report is available upon request for customers and prospects. Please note that prospects must have signed an NDA (Non-disclosure agreement) with CARTO before receiving the SOC 2 Type II report.

Visit to request the latest report.

Does it comply with GDPR, CCPA and other data privacy laws?

Yes. CARTO complies with GDPR, CCPA and other data privacy laws where applicable. You can read more about it in our

What are the password and login management controls in CARTO?

There are three ways for users to access their CARTO accounts:

• Single Sign-On (SSO): In this case, your organization will define the password requirements and will leverage all security policies such as rotation, MFA, etc.

• Sign in with Google: The password requirements and policies are defined in your Google account preferences, which may be managed by your organization.

• Username/Password: CARTO uses Auth0 to securely process the data and enforces sufficient length and complexity standards.

If you're looking for password rotation, expiration or history controls we recommend you integrate , so that you can set up and leverage your existing company policies.

When we create a connection to CARTO, does it make any copies of our data?

No, CARTO does not make any copies of the data available through your .

CARTO is cloud-native by design, and we have no need to replicate your data — never. Maps, Workflows, and Applications built with CARTO will launch queries against live data in your own data warehouse (BigQuery, Snowflake, Redshift, Databricks, PostgreSQL, etc) and the result of these queries is not stored for further uses, with the exception of a temporal cache layer for performance and cost optimization, that is encrypted and distributed securely. This applies to all kinds of deployments.

How does CARTO manage our data?

To understand how CARTO processes your data we first need to describe the three categories of data that CARTO processes:

• Connected Data: This is the data in your data warehouse (BigQuery, Snowflake, Redshift, Databricks, PostgreSQL, etc) that you'll be using in CARTO. As seen above, CARTO does not make any copies of your data. This data is encrypted in transit, and the credentials are never exposed in the frontend.

• User-generated Content: These are the map details, workflows, credentials and configurations created by the users in a CARTO organization. User-generated Content is managed by CARTO. We carry out daily backups and encryption, except for self-hosted deployments. It is encrypted at rest and in transit.

• Personal Data: This is the additional data needed by the platform to identify and provide service to the user such as settings, contact information, name, etc; User Data is managed by CARTO. We carry out daily backups and encryption, except for self-hosted deployments. It is encrypted at rest and in transit.

Where is my data stored?

• Connected Data: Stored in your connected cloud data warehouse, including the result of all analysis done in CARTO.

  • If you are using the , then it will be stored in the .

• User-generated Content: This data is stored in the for SaaS deployments. For Self-Hosted deployments this is stored in your Self-Hosted resources.

How does CARTO manage security when a map, workflow or an application are shared?

CARTO provides several controls to make sure viewers and editors don't gain unauthorized access to the underlying data of a map, workflow or application.

• Editors can create connections to their data by providing credentials that are stored, encrypted, and never exposed in the browser in any case. These connections can then be shared with all editors in the organization (or with specific groups).

  • Editors can also for added security.

• Maps, workflows and applications relying on a connection will stop working as soon as the credentials used are revoked.

Builder interactions allow you to configure various UI options to display the attributes associated with a layer. Interactions are disabled by default but can be enabled for each individual layer using the toggle button. Once enabled, you can choose from the following options:

• Click: Users can extract insights by clicking on a feature rendered on the map.

• Hover: Users can extract insights by hovering over a feature on the map.

Highlighting

For vector sources, features that are clicked or hovered over will be highlighted in a distinct style, provided the source includes a column named geoid (serving as a unique identifier) or is of a spatial index type.

Interaction styles

Interactions can be displayed in two formats:

• Pop-up windows: Click and hoover-type interactions can be styled in various themes, such as light, dark ,etc.

• Info panel: Click-type interactions can also appears in the right-side panel with a default style.

Configuring properties

Interactions can be customized either manually or through custom HTML code, with support for properties in vector layers and both properties and custom expressions in raster layers:

• Adding Properties Manually: For vector layers, users can set labels and customize formats for their properties. For raster layers, users can configure bands (properties) and also define custom expressions to enhance data visualization and analysis.

• Using HTML Custom Code: This method offers flexibility for both vector and raster layers. While vector layers allow users to design tailored interaction layouts using properties, raster layers support both properties and custom expressions for advanced configurations.

Interactions make it easy to explore and understand your map data by showing details about features. You can use pop-ups, which appear next to a selected or hovered feature, or info panels, which display detailed information on the right side of the map.

Types of Interactions

There are two primary types of interactions available:

1. Click Interactions: Retrieve information when you click on a feature in the map.

2. Hover Interactions: Display information when you hover over a feature in the map.

Click-type interactions

Non-aggregated layers

• How it works: Information is retrieved directly from the server when you click on points, lines, or polygons.

• Highlighting: Features are automatically highlighted when clicked.

Aggregated layers

• How it works: Information is calculated on your computer for aggregated data (e.g., spatial indexes, cluster, etc.).

• Aggregation operation: You’ll need to specify how data is aggregated (e.g., totals, averages).

Hover-type Interactions

Non-aggregated layers

• How it works: Information is retrieved on your computer for individual points, lines, or polygons when you hover over them.

• Highlighting: Requires a unique identifier column named geoidto enable highlighting.

• Limitations:

Aggregated layers

• How it works: Information is calculated on your computer for grouped data when you hover over it.

• Aggregation operation: You’ll need to specify how data is aggregated (e.g., totals, averages).

Customizing interaction interface

You can use the menu to choose between a pop-up window (displayed next to the feature on the map) or an info panel (added to the right-side panel).

You can add attributes by including them as a list or customize pop-ups to meet your specific requirements using HTML. With HTML customization, you can add images, modify styles, and more to create tailored user experiences.

One way to find a location on a map is to search for it. For that, you can pan and zoom until you find what you want, but using specific tools for this purpose is often faster and more precise.

Search for locations

The Search Location bar present in the map offers a convenient method to search for locations using latitude longitude coordinates (lat,lon) or addresses and visualize them on the map.

To use the Search Location bar, complete the following steps:

1. Open a Builder map.

2. Locate the Search Location bar positioned at the top left corner of the map .

3. Click on the Search Location bar and type the complete address or coordinates (lat,lon) you want to search for.

The map display zooms to the location of the search result and a blue marker at the specific location appears.

Focus map on user's device location

Focus on User's Device Location allows the map to automatically zoom in and center the view on your current location, providing you with a convenient and immediate view of your surroundings.

To find your location on the map, complete the following steps:

1. Open the Builder Map application you want to view.

2. Locate the Focus on User's Device Location button positioned in the lower left corner of the map .

3. Click the Focus on User's Device Location button.

The map will use your device's location services to determine your current position. Once your location is determined, the map view will automatically zoom in and center on your current position. You will see a blue icon indicating your location on the map.

You can follow the below steps to activate location settings for the most popular web browsers:

• Google Chrome: In Chrome, users can enable or disable location services by going to Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings > Location. From there, users can turn location services on or off for all websites or specific websites.

• Firefox: In Firefox, users can control location services by going to Preferences > Privacy & Security > Permissions > Location. From there, users can choose to block or allow location services for all websites or specific websites.

• Safari: In Safari, users can control location services by going to Safari > Preferences > Websites > Location. From there, users can choose to allow or deny location services for all websites or specific websites.

Getting specific coordinates

To get the coordinates of a specific point on the map, simply right-click on the desired location. A menu will appear, allowing you to copy the coordinates of the point you clicked.

Version history allows you to track and manage different versions of your maps in Builder. CARTO periodically saves versions as you work, and you can also manually save named versions to mark important milestones. This gives you a complete audit trail and the ability to restore previous states.

Accessing version history

To access version history:

1. Open your map in Builder

2. Click the three-dot menu in the top header.

3. Select version history.

The Version History panel will open on the right side of the screen, showing a chronological list of all saved versions.

Version list

The version list displays all versions of your map, with the most recent at the top. Each entry shows:

• Title (for named versions) or "Automatic version" (for auto-saved versions)

• Author who made the changes

• Current version badge for the active version

Searching and filtering versions

Use the search bar at the top of the panel to find specific versions by keyword. You can also filter the list using the filter button:

• All: Shows all versions.

• Named versions: Shows only versions with custom titles.

• Published versions: Shows only versions that were published.

Click Show older... at the bottom of the list to load more versions.

Viewing version details

Click on any versions in the list to view its details. The version details popup shows:

• Title and description (if provided)

• Version changes: A summary of what changed in this version compared to the previous one.

The version changes section provides a clear summary of modifications, such as:

• "2 layers were added"

• "1 widget was updated"

• "The basemap was updated"

Saving a named version

While CARTO periodically saves versions automatically, you can manually save a named version to mark important milestones:

1. Click the Save new version button at the top of the Version History panel.

2. Enter a title for this version.

3. Optionally add a description to explain what changed or why this version is significant.

Editing version descriptions

You can add or edit descriptions for any version:

1. Click on a version to open its details

2. Click the Edit button (in the top right corner).

3. Update the title or description.

4. Click Save.

Alternatively, hoover over a version in the list and click Edit description or Add description from the context menu.

Restoring a previous version

To restore your map to a previous state:

1. Click on the version you want to restore.

2. Click Restore this version from the version actions menu.

3. A confirmation dialog will appear warning you that unsaved changes to the current version may be lost.

Previewing versions

When viewing version details, you can see a preview of how the map looked at that point in time. This allows you to compare different versions visually before deciding whether to restore.

Duplicating a map from a version

You can create a new map based on any historical version:

1. Click on a version in the history.

2. Select Duplicate map from the version actions menu.

3. A new map will be created with the state from that version.

This is useful when you want to create a variation of your map based on a previous state without affecting the current version.

Version history and collaboration

Version history works seamlessly with collaborative maps:

• All collaborators can view the complete version history.

• Changes made by any collaborator are tracked with their name and timestamp.

• This provides a complete audit trail of who made what changes and when.

Version history and publishing

When you publish a map, the published version is marked in the version history with a "Published version" badge. This helps you track which version is currently visible to viewers.

In Builder, widgets empower users to dynamically explore data, leading to rich visualizations. They also serve to filter data based on the map viewport and interconnected widgets.

Below are the current type of Widgets available to customize your visualization and enable a richer interaction with your data:

• : Shows aggregated numerical data as a single metric.

SQL Parameters are dynamic placeholders that can be used in any SQL Query data source in Builder. They let users interactively adjust inputs—like filters, buffer sizes, or index scores—so that maps respond to specific questions and uncover tailored insights.

Once created, parameters must be manually linked to one or more SQL sources. Users then interact with them through the Parameters tab in the right-side panel. These inputs dynamically update the SQL query behind the map.

With Builder, you can easily export your map data as CSV file(s). This functionality respects all the filters you set using the feature selection tool, widgets, or SQL parameters. The resulting CSV file includes detailed attributes and, if applicable, a geometry column.

Exporting data as an Editor

The export viewport data button is located as a quick action next to the Share button, at the right top corner. It should be enabled as long as there are exportable data sources in Builder.

You can collaborate with other users and work on the same maps. This is useful for publicly embedded maps where any teammate could fix or improve an issue, and also for joint research projects with other analysts.

To allow collaboration in your maps, open the Shared map settings and enable the Collaboration setting: "Allow other editors to edit this map"

After you enable this setting, all editors with access to this map will also be able to edit it. For example:

The Map Preview feature is designed to provide an interactive experience of viewing and adjusting the map during the editing process. This ensures that all modifications are precisely reflected, allowing for a thorough review before making the map accessible to viewers.

Accessing map preview

1. Open the map you're currently editing or wish to review.