Arcgis Advanced Layers

ArcGIS Advanced Layers

Use this skill for working with OGC services (WMS, WFS, WMTS, OGC API Features), KML/KMZ files, MapImageLayer, CatalogLayer, MediaLayer, and dynamic data layers.

> Related skills: See arcgis-layers for common layer types (FeatureLayer, GraphicsLayer, GeoJSONLayer, etc.).

Import Patterns

Direct ESM Imports

import WMSLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/WMSLayer.js";
import WFSLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/WFSLayer.js";
import WMTSLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/WMTSLayer.js";
import OGCFeatureLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/OGCFeatureLayer.js";
import KMLLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/KMLLayer.js";
import MapImageLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/MapImageLayer.js";
import CatalogLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/CatalogLayer.js";
import MediaLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/MediaLayer.js";

Dynamic Imports (CDN)

const WMSLayer = await $arcgis.import("@arcgis/core/layers/WMSLayer.js");
const [WFSLayer, wfsUtils] = await $arcgis.import([
  "@arcgis/core/layers/WFSLayer.js",
  "@arcgis/core/layers/ogc/wfsUtils.js",
]);
const MapImageLayer = await $arcgis.import(
  "@arcgis/core/layers/MapImageLayer.js",
);

Layer Type Comparison

| Layer Type | Use Case | Data Source | | --------------- | --------------------------------- | ---------------------- | | WMSLayer | Raster imagery from OGC WMS | WMS 1.1.1 / 1.3.0 | | WFSLayer | Vector features from OGC WFS | WFS 2.0.0 | | WMTSLayer | Cached tiles from OGC WMTS | WMTS 1.0.0 | | OGCFeatureLayer | Vector from OGC API - Features | OGC API | | KMLLayer | KML/KMZ geographic data | KML files | | MapImageLayer | Server-rendered imagery | ArcGIS MapServer | | CatalogLayer | Collection of layers | ArcGIS Catalog Service | | MediaLayer | Georeferenced images, video, GIFs | Local/remote media | | VideoLayer | Live video feeds | ArcGIS Video Server |

WMSLayer (Web Map Service)

Basic WMSLayer

import WMSLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/WMSLayer.js";

const layer = new WMSLayer({
  url: "https://ows.terrestris.de/osm/service",
});

await layer.load();

// Find and use a specific sublayer
const sublayer = layer.findSublayerByName("OSM-WMS");
if (sublayer) {
  layer.sublayers = [sublayer];
}

map.add(layer);

WMSLayer as Basemap (Map Component)

  

  import WMSLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/WMSLayer.js";

  const viewElement = document.querySelector("arcgis-scene");

  const layer = new WMSLayer({
    url: "https://ows.terrestris.de/osm/service",
  });

  await layer.load();
  const sublayer = layer.findSublayerByName("OSM-WMS");
  if (sublayer) {
    layer.sublayers = [sublayer];
  }

  viewElement.map = {
    basemap: {
      baseLayers: [layer],
      title: "WMS Basemap",
    },
  };

WMSLayer with Custom Parameters

const layer = new WMSLayer({
  url: "https://example.com/wms",
  sublayers: [
    {
      name: "LayerName",
      visible: true,
    },
  ],
  customParameters: {
    TRANSPARENT: "TRUE",
    FORMAT: "image/png",
  },
  imageFormat: "png",
  version: "1.3.0",
});

WFSLayer (Web Feature Service)

Basic WFSLayer

import WFSLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/WFSLayer.js";

const layer = new WFSLayer({
  url: "https://geobretagne.fr/geoserver/ows",
  name: "fma:bvme_zhp_vs_culture",
  copyright: "GeoBretagne",
});

map.add(layer);

WFS Capabilities Discovery

import WFSLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/WFSLayer.js";
import wfsUtils from "@arcgis/core/layers/ogc/wfsUtils.js";

// Get capabilities from WFS endpoint
const capabilities = await wfsUtils.getCapabilities(
  "https://geobretagne.fr/geoserver/ows",
);

// List available feature types
capabilities.featureTypes.forEach((featureType) => {
  console.log(featureType.title, featureType.name);
});

// Create layer from specific feature type
const layerInfo = await wfsUtils.getWFSLayerInfo(
  capabilities,
  "featureTypeName",
);
const layer = WFSLayer.fromWFSLayerInfo(layerInfo);
map.add(layer);

WFSLayer with Renderer

const layer = new WFSLayer({
  url: "https://geobretagne.fr/geoserver/ows",
  name: "fma:bvme_zhp_vs_culture",
  renderer: {
    type: "simple",
    symbol: {
      type: "simple-fill",
      color: [76, 129, 64, 0.6],
      outline: { color: "white", width: 1 },
    },
  },
  popupTemplate: {
    title: "{nom}",
    content: "Type: {type_cultu}",
  },
});

WMTSLayer (Web Map Tile Service)

Basic WMTSLayer

import WMTSLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/WMTSLayer.js";

const layer = new WMTSLayer({
  url: "https://www.ign.es/wmts/ign-base",
  activeLayer: {
    id: "IGNBase-gris",
    tileMatrixSetId: "GoogleMapsCompatible",
  },
  serviceMode: "KVP",
  copyright: "Instituto Geografico Nacional",
});

map.add(layer);

WMTSLayer as Basemap

import Basemap from "@arcgis/core/Basemap.js";
import WMTSLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/WMTSLayer.js";

const wmtsBasemap = new Basemap({
  baseLayers: [
    new WMTSLayer({
      url: "https://www.ign.es/wmts/ign-base",
      activeLayer: {
        id: "IGNBase-gris",
        tileMatrixSetId: "GoogleMapsCompatible",
      },
      serviceMode: "KVP",
    }),
  ],
});

const map = new Map({ basemap: wmtsBasemap });

OGCFeatureLayer (OGC API - Features)

Basic OGCFeatureLayer

import OGCFeatureLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/OGCFeatureLayer.js";

const layer = new OGCFeatureLayer({
  url: "https://demo.ldproxy.net/vineyards",
  collectionId: "vineyards",
  minScale: 5000000,
  renderer: {
    type: "simple",
    symbol: {
      type: "simple-fill",
      color: [76, 129, 64, 0.6],
    },
  },
  popupTemplate: {
    title: "{name}",
    content: "Area: {area_ha} hectares",
  },
});

map.add(layer);

OGCFeatureLayer with Labeling

const layer = new OGCFeatureLayer({
  url: "https://demo.ldproxy.net/vineyards",
  collectionId: "vineyards",
  labelingInfo: [
    {
      labelExpressionInfo: {
        expression: "$feature.NAME",
      },
      symbol: {
        type: "text",
        color: "#4a6741",
        haloSize: 1,
        haloColor: "white",
        font: {
          family: "Arial",
          style: "italic",
        },
      },
      minScale: 100000,
    },
  ],
});

KMLLayer

Basic KMLLayer

import KMLLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/KMLLayer.js";

const layer = new KMLLayer({
  url: "https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/feed/v1.0/summary/2.5_month_age_animated.kml",
});

map.add(layer);

KMLLayer with Sublayers

const layer = new KMLLayer({
  url: "https://example.com/data.kml",
});

await layer.load();

// Access KML sublayers
layer.sublayers.forEach((sublayer) => {
  console.log(sublayer.title, sublayer.visible);
});

// Toggle sublayer visibility
const sublayer = layer.sublayers.getItemAt(0);
sublayer.visible = false;

KMLLayer from Local File

const layer = new KMLLayer({
  url: "/data/places.kml",
  title: "Places of Interest",
});

map.add(layer);

MapImageLayer

Basic MapImageLayer

import MapImageLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/MapImageLayer.js";

// From URL
const layer = new MapImageLayer({
  url: "https://sampleserver6.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/USA/MapServer",
});

// From portal item
const portalLayer = new MapImageLayer({
  portalItem: {
    id: "d7892b3c13b44391992ecd42bfa92d01",
  },
});

map.add(layer);

MapImageLayer with Sublayers

const layer = new MapImageLayer({
  url: "https://sampleserver6.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/USA/MapServer",
  sublayers: [
    { id: 2, visible: true },
    { id: 1, visible: true },
    { id: 0, visible: true },
  ],
});

// Toggle sublayer visibility
layer.when(() => {
  const sublayer = layer.findSublayerById(1);
  sublayer.visible = !sublayer.visible;
});

MapImageLayer with Definition Expression

const layer = new MapImageLayer({
  url: "https://sampleserver6.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/USA/MapServer",
  sublayers: [
    {
      id: 0,
      definitionExpression: "pop2000 > 100000",
    },
  ],
});

MapImageLayer with Custom Renderer

const layer = new MapImageLayer({
  url: "https://sampleserver6.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/USA/MapServer",
  sublayers: [
    {
      id: 2,
      renderer: {
        type: "simple",
        symbol: {
          type: "simple-fill",
          color: [0, 100, 200, 0.5],
          outline: { color: "white", width: 1 },
        },
      },
    },
  ],
});

Dynamic Data Layers

Data Layer from Table

const layer = new MapImageLayer({
  url: "https://sampleserver6.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/USA/MapServer",
  sublayers: [
    {
      id: 4,
      title: "Railroads",
      renderer: {
        type: "simple",
        symbol: {
          type: "simple-line",
          color: [255, 255, 255, 0.5],
          width: 0.75,
          style: "long-dash-dot-dot",
        },
      },
      source: {
        type: "data-layer",
        dataSource: {
          type: "table",
          workspaceId: "MyDatabaseWorkspaceIDSSR2",
          dataSourceName: "ss6.gdb.Railroads",
        },
      },
    },
  ],
});

Data Layer with Table Join

const layer = new MapImageLayer({
  url: "https://sampleserver6.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/rest/services/Census/MapServer",
  sublayers: [
    {
      id: 0,
      opacity: 0.75,
      source: {
        type: "data-layer",
        dataSource: {
          type: "join-table",
          leftTableSource: {
            type: "map-layer",
            mapLayerId: 3,
          },
          rightTableSource: {
            type: "data-layer",
            dataSource: {
              type: "table",
              workspaceId: "CensusFileGDBWorkspaceID",
              dataSourceName: "ancestry",
            },
          },
          leftTableKey: "STATE_NAME",
          rightTableKey: "State",
          joinType: "left-outer-join",
        },
      },
      renderer: {
        type: "class-breaks",
        field: "ancestry.Norwegian",
        normalizationField: "states.POP2007",
        classBreakInfos: [
          {
            minValue: 0,
            maxValue: 0.01,
            symbol: { type: "simple-fill", color: "#f8e3c2" },
          },
          {
            minValue: 0.01,
            maxValue: 0.05,
            symbol: { type: "simple-fill", color: "#d86868" },
          },
        ],
      },
    },
  ],
});

CatalogLayer

Basic CatalogLayer

import CatalogLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/CatalogLayer.js";

const layer = new CatalogLayer({
  portalItem: {
    id: "487cc66d305145d3b67fed383456af48",
    portal: {
      url: "https://jsapi.maps.arcgis.com/",
    },
  },
});

map.add(layer);

Working with CatalogLayer Footprints

import CatalogLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/CatalogLayer.js";

const layer = new CatalogLayer({
  portalItem: { id: "YOUR_CATALOG_ITEM_ID" },
});

map.add(layer);

const layerView = await view.whenLayerView(layer);

// Query all footprints
const result = await layer.queryFeatures({
  where: "1=1",
  returnGeometry: true,
  outFields: ["*"],
  orderByFields: [layer.itemNameField],
});

// Add labels to footprint layer
layer.footprintLayer.labelingInfo = [
  {
    labelExpressionInfo: {
      expression: "$feature." + layer.itemNameField,
    },
    symbol: {
      type: "text",
      color: "white",
      font: { size: 10 },
    },
  },
];

// Highlight a footprint
const highlight = layerView.footprintLayerView.highlight(feature);

// Create layer from footprint
const footprint = layer.createFootprintFromLayer(selectedLayer);
const newLayer = await layer.createLayerFromFootprint(footprint);
map.add(newLayer);

CatalogLayer with LayerList

  

  import CatalogLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/CatalogLayer.js";
  import catalogUtils from "@arcgis/core/layers/catalog/catalogUtils.js";

  const viewElement = document.querySelector("arcgis-map");
  const layerList = document.querySelector("arcgis-layer-list");

  const catalogLayer = new CatalogLayer({
    portalItem: { id: "YOUR_CATALOG_ITEM_ID" },
  });

  viewElement.map.add(catalogLayer);

  layerList.catalogOptions = {
    selectionMode: "single",
  };

  layerList.listItemCreatedFunction = (event) => {
    if (catalogUtils.isLayerFromCatalog(event.item.layer)) {
      event.item.actionsSections = [
        [
          {
            title: "Add layer to map",
            icon: "add-layer",
            id: "add-layer",
          },
        ],
      ];
    }
  };

MediaLayer

MediaLayer with Images

import MediaLayer from "@arcgis/core/layers/MediaLayer.js";
import ImageElement from "@arcgis/core/layers/support/ImageElement.js";
import ExtentAndRotationGeoreference from "@arcgis/core/layers/support/ExtentAndRotationGeoreference.js";
import Extent from "@arcgis/core/geometry/Extent.js";

const imageElement = new ImageElement({
  image: "https://example.com/historical-map.png",
  georeference: new ExtentAndRotationGeoreference({
    extent: new Extent({
      xmin: -10047456,
      ymin: 3486722,
      xmax: -10006982,
      ymax: 3514468,
      spatialReference: { wkid: 102100 },
    }),
  }),
});

const mediaLayer = new MediaLayer({
  source: [imageElement],
  title: "Historical Map",
});

map.add(mediaLayer);

MediaLayer with Multiple Images

const imageInfos = [
  { url: "image1.png", extent: { xmin: -100, ymin: 30, xmax: -90, ymax: 40 } },
  { url: "image2.png", extent: { xmin: -95, ymin: 35, xmax: -85, ymax: 45 } },
];

const imageElements = imageInfos.map(
  (info) =>
    new ImageElement({
      image: info.url,
      georeference: new ExtentAndRotationGeoreference({
        extent: new Extent({
          ...info.extent,
          spatialReference: { wkid: 4326 },
        }),
      }),
    }),
);

const mediaLayer = new MediaLayer({
  source: imageElements,
  title: "Image Collection",
});

Georeferencing with Rotation

const georeference = new ExtentAndRotationGeoreference({
  extent: new Extent({
    xmin: -122.5,
    ymin: 37.5,
    xmax: -122.0,
    ymax: 38.0,
    spatialReference: { wkid: 4326 },
  }),
  rotation: 15, // Degrees clockwise
});

Georeferencing with Control Points

import ControlPointsGeoreference from "@arcgis/core/layers/support/ControlPointsGeoreference.js";

const georeference = new ControlPointsGeoreference({
  controlPoints: [
    {
      sourcePoint: { x: 0, y: 0 }, // Top-left of image (pixels)
      mapPoint: { x: -122.5, y: 38.0 }, // Map coordinates
    },
    {
      sourcePoint: { x: 1000, y: 0 }, // Top-right
      mapPoint: { x: -122.0, y: 38.0 },
    },
    {
      sourcePoint: { x: 1000, y: 800 }, // Bottom-right
      mapPoint: { x: -122.0, y: 37.5 },
    },
    {
      sourcePoint: { x: 0, y: 800 }, // Bottom-left
      mapPoint: { x: -122.5, y: 37.5 },
    },
  ],
  width: 1000,
  height: 800,
});

MediaLayer with Video

import VideoElement from "@arcgis/core/layers/support/VideoElement.js";

const videoElement = new VideoElement({
  video: "https://example.com/timelapse.mp4",
  georeference: new ExtentAndRotationGeoreference({
    extent: new Extent({
      xmin: -122.5,
      ymin: 37.5,
      xmax: -122.0,
      ymax: 38.0,
      spatialReference: { wkid: 4326 },
    }),
  }),
});

const mediaLayer = new MediaLayer({
  source: [videoElement],
});

// Control video playback
videoElement.content.play();
videoElement.content.pause();
videoElement.content.currentTime = 30;

MediaLayer wit

…

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: SaschaBrunnerCH
• Source: SaschaBrunnerCH/arcgis-maps-sdk-js-ai-context
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.