COG, GeoParquet and PMTiles layers

← What's new12 August 2026data sourcesfor administrators

Groundwork now reads three cloud-native formats directly into a layer. It reads a GeoParquet or COG file from a cloud folder or a QGIS project, and all three formats from a collection in an external STAC catalogue.

Your team can search, filter, sort and inspect every feature of a GeoParquet layer, as on any other layer. The layer is read-only, and shows a padlock.

A COG is an image of its data, such as aerial imagery, elevation or a scanned map. It draws in natural colour if the file has three or more bands. A PMTiles layer draws as an image made from tiles, so the whole dataset shows at once, however large it is. Neither has individual features, so neither has a feature list.

How to try it

1. Save a .parquet or .tif file beside your QGIS project or in a cloud folder. Or add a collection from a STAC catalogue.
2. Publish the folder, or connect the catalogue, as you do for any other source.
3. Open the map. Each file or collection shows as a layer.

Connect a data source in the Administrator Guide covers this in full.