4. Route A: with an AI assistant

The assistant operates freemapper for you. For this freemapper is an "MCP server", a tool that AI assistants can use.

Set it up once

• Claude Desktop:

  1. Open Settings › Developer › Edit Config.

  2. Add this to the file claude_desktop_config.json (adjust the path; on Windows use double backslashes \\):

     {
       "mcpServers": {
         "freemapper": { "command": "/Users/anna/Documents/freemapper/freemapper", "args": ["mcp"] }
       }
     }
     

  3. Restart Claude Desktop.

• Claude Code: in a terminal, enter claude mcp add freemapper -- /path/to/freemapper mcp.
• Other assistants: any MCP-capable assistant takes the same entry: the program with the argument mcp.

Let the assistant set it up: an assistant that can run commands on your computer (such as Claude Code or Codex) can also do the installation of chapter 3 and the registration. Tell it:

Read AGENTS.md from github.com/HenryJobst/freemapper and set up freemapper.

The file tells the assistant which archive to download for your system, how to check and unpack it and how to register freemapper. On a Mac it removes the block on unsigned programs and tells you so. Depending on its settings it asks before each command. Claude Desktop runs no commands; there you set freemapper up as described above.

Order a map

Simply tell the assistant what you need, for example:

Use freemapper to make a schoolyard map of the Evangelisches Kreuzgymnasium in Dresden. Save the project in Documents/O-maps/kreuzgymnasium.

Make me a sprint map of Strausberg's old town, with an OCAD file and a PDF.

The assistant then goes through these steps:

1. It searches the place and shows you the results.
2. It creates the project.
3. It tells you how much will be downloaded and whether it fits on the disk.
4. It starts downloading and computing. The first time this takes a few minutes, later usually less than a minute.
5. It shows you previews of the templates.

If no search result fits, for example because the school grounds are two separate parts in OSM, ask the assistant to open the area selection in the browser. There you draw the area yourself (chapter 6).