developmentseed/titiler
Dimensions
Interface surface 3 solid A contract covers its transport: an HTTP contract covers at least 80% of declared routes (generated contracts do), or the application layer over a standard protocol (commands, topics, payloads) is specified in a protocol document or AsyncAPI.
Can another program use it through a documented, machine-readable surface?
- next: L4 A second surface: another transport (HTTP and a protocol, two protocols), an MCP server, a CLI with JSON output, or an SDK. (only one programmatic surface)
service ladder · level 3
- ✓ L1 A network surface exists: HTTP routes, an MCP server, or a standard protocol listener. src/titiler/application/titiler/application/main.py fastapi/flask: 6 route declarations
- ✓ L2 A contract exists: a checked-in OpenAPI/GraphQL/protobuf/AsyncAPI spec, a framework-generated spec, MCP tool schemas, or a standard application protocol that off-the-shelf clients speak (RESP, MQTT, gRPC, PostgreSQL wire, …). src/titiler/application/titiler/application/main.py FastAPI (auto OpenAPI)
- ✓ L3 A contract covers its transport: an HTTP contract covers at least 80% of declared routes (generated contracts do), or the application layer over a standard protocol (commands, topics, payloads) is specified in a protocol document or AsyncAPI. src/titiler/application/titiler/application/main.py generated from code: FastAPI (auto OpenAPI)
- ✗ L4 A second surface: another transport (HTTP and a protocol, two protocols), an MCP server, a CLI with JSON output, or an SDK. only one programmatic surface
Contract stability 4 exemplary Across tagged releases, no OpenAPI operation, CLI option or __all__ symbol was removed without first being deprecated.
Can integrators rely on it not changing under them?
all ladder · level 4
- ✓ L1 Releases are versioned (semver tags or versioned changelog sections). 141 semver tags, latest 2.4.0
- ✓ L2 A changelog exists and marks breaking changes. CHANGES.md marks breaking changes
- ✓ L3 A deprecation mechanism is used in code (warnings, @deprecated, Deprecation/Sunset headers) or the API is versioned. src/titiler/extensions/titiler/extensions/wmts.py 4 matchessrc/titiler/mosaic/titiler/mosaic/extensions/wmts.py 4 matches
- ✓ L4 Across tagged releases, no OpenAPI operation, CLI option or __all__ symbol was removed without first being deprecated. 20 tagged releases compared
Events 0 absent Not yet: Internal events exist (signals, queues, an outbox, emitters).
Can others react to state changes without polling?
- next: L1 Internal events exist (signals, queues, an outbox, emitters). (no internal events)
service ladder · level 0
- ✗ L1 Internal events exist (signals, queues, an outbox, emitters). no internal events
- ✗ L2 Webhooks sent by this system, or a streaming endpoint (SSE, WebSocket). no outbound webhooks or streams
- ✗ L3 Signed webhooks registrable through the API, or two mechanisms (webhooks, streams, a broker). one delivery mechanism, or webhooks that are unsigned or not registrable through the API
- ✗ L4 Events are described by AsyncAPI or CloudEvents. no AsyncAPI or CloudEvents contract
Identity 0 absent Not yet: Programmatic authentication (bearer tokens, API keys).
Can a machine act with its own revocable, least-privilege identity?
- next: L1 Programmatic authentication (bearer tokens, API keys). (no token auth)
service ladder · level 0
- ✗ L1 Programmatic authentication (bearer tokens, API keys). no token auth
- ✗ L2 Per-client, revocable credentials (managed API keys, service accounts) or OAuth2. no managed keys or OAuth
- ✓ L3 Credentials carry scopes or permissions. src/titiler/core/titiler/core/middleware.py 15 matchessrc/titiler/core/titiler/core/factory.py 3 matches
- ✗ L4 Standard provisioning or federation (OIDC client credentials, SCIM). no OIDC client credentials or SCIM
Data portability 1 ad hoc The data schema is explicit (migrations, DDL, schema files).
Can its data get in and out, in bulk, in open formats, with an explicit schema?
- next: L2 An export exists (endpoint or command, not only the UI). (no export)
all ladder · level 1
- ✓ L1 The data schema is explicit (migrations, DDL, schema files). docs/src/migrations/v1_migration.mddocs/src/migrations/v2_migration.md
- ✗ L2 An export exists (endpoint or command, not only the UI). no export
- ✗ L3 A bulk export in an open format, and a bulk import. no import
- ✗ L4 The export format is documented and the round trip is tested. the export format isn't documented
Agent ergonomics 1 ad hoc Errors are machine-readable: consistent JSON over HTTP, or a standard protocol's native error replies (RESP errors, MQTT reason codes, gRPC status, SQLSTATE).
Can an automated caller use it without guessing, and recover from failure?
- next: L2 Field-level validation errors, and paginated lists. (no pagination)
service ladder · level 1
- ✓ L1 Errors are machine-readable: consistent JSON over HTTP, or a standard protocol's native error replies (RESP errors, MQTT reason codes, gRPC status, SQLSTATE). src/titiler/extensions/titiler/extensions/wms.py 15 matchessrc/titiler/application/titiler/application/main.py 7 matches
- ✗ L2 Field-level validation errors, and paginated lists. no pagination
- ✗ L3 Typed errors (RFC 9457 over HTTP, or a standard protocol's typed error codes), idempotent writes (Idempotency-Key), and rate-limit signals. no typed errors
- ✗ L4 Dry-run or validate-only, conditional requests, and agent docs. no dry-run
Embeddability 4 exemplary Composition artifacts (compose, Helm, IaC).
Can another system run and compose it without a human?
service ladder · level 4
- ✓ L1 Runnable from source with documented steps (a README with commands). README.md
- ✓ L2 Configured through environment variables, documented: a .env example, a config schema, or docs naming at least half of the variables the code reads. src/titiler/core/titiler/core/factory.py 3 matchessrc/titiler/mosaic/titiler/mosaic/factory.py 3 matches
- ✓ L3 A container image. deployment/aws/lambda/Dockerfiledockerfiles/Dockerfile
- ✓ L4 Composition artifacts (compose, Helm, IaC). deployment/k8s/charts/Chart.yamldocker-compose.yml
Extensibility 0 absent Not yet: Internal seams: a registry, registration function or plugin manager.
Can behaviour be added without modifying the code?
- next: L1 Internal seams: a registry, registration function or plugin manager. (no registry or registration function)
all ladder · level 0
- ✗ L1 Internal seams: a registry, registration function or plugin manager. no registry or registration function
- ✗ L2 The docs show how to add behaviour through those seams (even in-tree). no registration functions to document
- ✗ L3 Out-of-tree extensions are discovered (entry points, a plugin directory, configuration) without editing the package. extensions must be added inside the package
- ✗ L4 The extension API is versioned, has lifecycle hooks, and has example extensions. the extension API isn't versioned
Observability 1 ad hoc A health or readiness endpoint, or a container healthcheck.
Can an operator, or an orchestrating agent, tell whether it works and why not?
- next: L2 Structured logs. (no structured logging)
service ladder · level 1
- ✓ L1 A health or readiness endpoint, or a container healthcheck. src/titiler/application/titiler/application/main.py 1 matchsrc/titiler/xarray/titiler/xarray/main.py 1 match
- ✗ L2 Structured logs. no structured logging
- ✗ L3 Metrics. no metrics
- ✓ L4 Distributed tracing (OpenTelemetry). src/titiler/application/titiler/application/main.py 7 matchessrc/titiler/xarray/titiler/xarray/main.py 7 matches
Change legibility 2 partial CI runs the tests; applications pin dependencies (libraries and zero-dependency projects are exempt).
Can an agent change it safely with limited context?
- next: L3 At least 90% of modules fit 32k tokens and no file exceeds 12k; test/source token ratio at least 0.3; at least 70% of the code is typed. (93% of modules fit 32k tokens; 2 files over 12k; 68% of code is typed (< 70%))
all ladder · level 2
- ✓ L1 A README and some tests. README.mdsrc/titiler/application/tests/conftest.py 43 test files
- ✓ L2 CI runs the tests; applications pin dependencies (libraries and zero-dependency projects are exempt). .github/workflows/benchmark.yml.github/workflows/check_charts.yaml
- ✗ L3 At least 90% of modules fit 32k tokens and no file exceeds 12k; test/source token ratio at least 0.3; at least 70% of the code is typed. 93% of modules fit 32k tokens; 2 files over 12k; 68% of code is typed (< 70%)
- ✗ L4 No import cycles, and agent docs (AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, llms.txt). 1 import cycles (largest: src/titiler/core/titiler/core/__init__.py, src/titiler/core/titiler/core/factory.py, src/titiler/core/titiler/core/telemetry.py)
Make or buy
Make with agents
521,242 output + 13,031,050 input tokens
on anthropic:claude-opus-5-5 ≈ $20.
5.8 agent-hours · 14.4 human days (3.9 steering + 10.5 rediscovering history).
$11,216 over 3 years
Buy (adopt as is)
5 min to running (via service) + 10 min to first use (via service).
5 min/year of upgrades; price $0/year.
$34 over 3 years
Buying wins below $3,728 per year. How this is estimated.
Classic COCOMO vs neosloc value
Classic COCOMO (sloccount)
9.48 KSLOC → 25.5 person-months over 8.6 months.
$287k
The effort to write it by hand, as COCOMO priced it in 1981.
neosloc value (neoCOCOMO)
Reproduce with agents: 3.2 PM (×0.13 of classic; 94% of behaviour captured by tests, contract and docs).
Rediscover uncaptured history: 0.5 PM (153 fixes in 1041 commits by 97 authors).
× leverage 0.95 (integrability) × obsolescence 0.95.
$38k (3.4 PM)
What survives
13% of the classic figure
13% of the replacement cost lives only in code and history.
History
| Evaluated | Commit | neosloc | Index | Make or buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-07 | ce7753e12a82 | 0.8.0 | 1.60 | buy |
| 2026-10-07 | ce7753e12a82 | 0.7.4 | 1.60 | buy |
| 2026-10-07 | ce7753e12a82 | 0.7.3 | 1.60 | buy |
| 2026-10-07 | ce7753e12a82 | 0.7.2 | 1.60 | buy |