MapDrawr — Location Detector

About

MapDrawr turns any webpage into an interactive map. Click the extension icon and MapDrawr instantly scans the page for geographic references — cities, countries, regions, landmarks, and addresses — highlights them in the text, and plots them on a map panel that slides in from the right.

HOW IT WORKS

1. Click the MapDrawr icon on any webpage.
2. The extension scans visible text for geographic locations.
3. Detected locations are highlighted directly in the page — sky blue for points (cities, landmarks), emerald green for areas (countries, regions).
4. An interactive map panel opens on the right, showing every detected location as a marker or boundary.
5. Click any highlighted text to fly to that location on the map. Click any map marker to flash the corresponding text on the page.

TWO DETECTION MODES

Heuristic Detection (default, no setup required):
A built-in gazetteer of countries, cities, states, and geographic suffixes combined with pattern matching. Works instantly with no API key and no network calls beyond geocoding.

AI-Powered Detection (optional, bring your own key):
For improved accuracy, you can provide your own API key for OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude), or Google Gemini. The AI understands context — it knows that "Jordan" on a sports page means a person, not a country, and that "Bath" in a travel article means the city, not a bathroom fixture. AI detection is entirely optional and off by default.

MAPPING

Six free basemaps are included out of the box: OpenStreetMap, CartoDB Positron, CartoDB Dark, CartoDB Voyager, Esri Satellite, and Esri Topographic. For additional premium styles (Mapbox Streets, Satellite, Outdoors, Light, Dark), you can add your own Mapbox access token in settings.

Areas like countries and regions can be displayed as polygon boundaries or as simple point markers — your choice in settings.

PRIVACY FIRST

MapDrawr has no server. All detection and processing happens locally in your browser. API keys are stored on your device only and are never transmitted to any MapDrawr service. When AI detection is enabled, page text is sent directly from your browser to your chosen AI provider using your own key — MapDrawr never sees it. Geocoding uses the free OpenStreetMap Nominatim service with location names only (no personal data, no page URLs, no browsing history). There are no analytics, no tracking, and no user accounts.

USE CASES

- Reading a news article with multiple locations mentioned — see them all on a map instantly.
- Planning a trip from a travel blog — visualise every destination.
- Researching a topic that references cities and countries — understand the geographic context.
- Studying a Wikipedia article about a historical event — map the places involved.

SETTINGS

Click the extension icon to toggle the map panel. Access settings via the gear icon in the panel to configure your AI provider, API key, display preferences, and optional Mapbox token.