Talk to your maps. Let AI do the heavy lifting.
GAIA-alpha is a plugin for QGIS that gives you an AI assistant right inside your mapping software. Instead of clicking through menus and writing code, you just type what you want in plain English — and the assistant does it for you.
"Show me all the rivers within 5km of this city" "Style this vegetation layer with a green gradient" "Detect all the trees in the satellite image"
Whether you're a researcher, urban planner, environmental scientist, or student — GAIA-alpha turns complex GIS tasks into simple conversations.
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Ask questions, give instructions, and let the AI interact with your map project for you. It understands your layers, your data, and what you're trying to achieve. |
24 ready-to-use tools for hydrology, geometry, terrain analysis, land-use change, kriging, flood simulation, and more — no coding required. |
Run AI models that can detect trees, segment buildings, identify water bodies, and more — directly on your map canvas with one click. |
The assistant isn't just a chatbot — it can take real actions on your GIS project:
| Capability | Examples |
|---|---|
| 🗺️ Manage your layers | Create, rename, delete, filter, and join layers |
| 📐 Run spatial analysis | Buffer, intersect, calculate distances, clip regions |
| 🎨 Style & visualize | Apply color ramps, categorize features, create heatmaps |
| 🌍 Fetch real-world data | Download elevation, satellite imagery, weather, and census data |
| 🗂️ Query OpenStreetMap | Pull roads, buildings, parks, and points of interest |
| ⚡ Automate workflows | Chain multiple operations together in a single request |
No need to search for the right algorithm. These are all accessible from a single menu:
📏 Geometry & Coordinates — 9 tools
- Calculate Point Coordinates
- Calculate Line Geometry
- Calculate Polygon Geometry
- Calculate Angles
- Extract Ordered Points from Polygons
- Lines to Ordered Points
- Azimuth and Distance Calculator
- Export to CSV (Excel compatible)
- Tree Planting Pattern Generator
💧 Hydrology — 5 tools
- Stream Network with Order
- Watershed Basin Delineation
- Watershed Morphometric Analysis
- Multiple Basin Delineation by Points
- Global Curve Number
🏔️ Land & Terrain Analysis — 7 tools
- Land Use Change Detection
- Weighted Sum
- Least Cost Path Finder
- Dam Flood Simulation
- Kriging Analysis
- Satellite Index Calculator
- Enhanced Image Classification
🛠️ Utilities & Visualization — 3 tools
- Topographic Profile
- Export Contours to 3D CAD
- Optimized Parcel Division
Run state-of-the-art AI models without writing a single line of code:
| Model | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Segment Anything (SAM) | Select and segment any object on your map |
| DeepForest | Automatically detect and count trees |
| Moondream VLM | Describe what's visible in satellite imagery |
| Semantic Segmentation | Classify land cover types across a region |
| Instance Segmentation | Identify individual objects (buildings, cars, etc.) |
| OmniWaterMask | Detect water bodies from any imagery |
💡 No setup hassle — all deep learning dependencies are automatically installed in an isolated environment. Your existing QGIS installation stays untouched.
GAIA-alpha works with the AI service you prefer:
| Provider | Notes |
|---|---|
| OpenAI (GPT-4, etc.) | Most widely used |
| Google Gemini | Great for large context windows |
| Anthropic Claude | Built-in prompt caching saves up to 90% on token costs |
| Any OpenAI-compatible API | Use local models, proxies, or Azure OpenAI |
Copy the kewgis_ai_assistant folder into your QGIS plugins directory:
~/.local/share/QGIS/QGIS3/profiles/default/python/plugins/
💡 No extra software needed. The plugin works with QGIS's built-in Python environment. No
pip install, no terminal commands.
Go to Plugins → Manage and Install Plugins, find GAIA-alpha, and check the box to enable it.
Open the GAIA Settings dialog and enter your API key for your preferred AI provider (OpenAI, Gemini, or Claude).
Open the GAIA-alpha panel from the toolbar and start typing your requests in plain English.
- All AI-generated code is reviewed by a multi-layer security system before it runs.
- Simple Mode disables code execution entirely for extra peace of mind.
- Your API keys are stored locally and never leave your machine.
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| QGIS version | 3.22 – 4.99 |
| Operating system | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| AI API key | From OpenAI, Google, or Anthropic (free tiers available) |
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