# Introduction

## Mapeo is a free, easy-to-use, open source set of tools for collecting and mapping information.

Mapeo was built by [Digital Democracy](https://www.digital-democracy.org) with and for earth defenders to easily document environmental & human rights information and to collect data about their land. It was designed to work in entirely offline environments, is highly customizable, and built on a decentralized peer-to-peer database that allows communities to own their own data.

![Mapeo used to document illegal activities in Northern Ecuador, supported by Alianza Ceibo and Amazon Frontlines.](https://3796244665-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-MYBEBKX0wx5_bwmCf0q%2F-MgHvqLht2m0PsCSiV-h%2F-MgI33JiiL_PizPTogjD%2FAC-Siona2-1024x683.jpg?alt=media\&token=62d5274a-6c06-4496-87c7-05a1ce1a2680)

## About this Guide

This site provides an introduction to the Mapeo tools and a collection of training & technical resources to support Mapeo users.

The site is divided into the following sections:

* **Overview**\
  Basic information about the Mapeo tools
* **Quick Start Guide**\
  Instructions for installing and testing Mapeo's default functionality
* **Complete Reference Guide**\
  A complete collection of resources on planning & implementing projects using Mapeo and customization of the tools

### Use of this guide

Digital Democracy would like both Mapeo and the Mapeo reference materials we develop to help communities find ways to support **autonomy**, **accesibility** and **collaboration** in their projects. We know that people accessing this online resource will have diverse interests, goals, needs, and technical literacy. For this reason, there are a variety of paths to access information and levels of details users may be looking for. All pages in this guide can also be [saved in PDF format and printed for use offline](https://docs.mapeo.app/complete-reference-guide/troubleshooting/saving-and-printing-mapeo-reference-materials).

*Feel free to make use of these resources under the creative commons license terms:* [Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

**Translation**\
We strive to make our tools & resources accessible and available to communities in their local languages. If you'd like to contribute to translating this guide, please see the section on [Translating Mapeo](https://docs.mapeo.app/complete-reference-guide/customization-options/translating) to learn how to get started.

#### Open Source Development

Mapeo and all of Digital Democracy's technical development is open source. Visit the [FOR DEVELOPERS](https://docs.mapeo.app/for-developers/mapeo-repositories) section for more information.

*Mapeo is a project of Digital Democracy, a non-profit organization that partners with earth defenders to co-develop technology for social justice. For more information on Digital Democracy, and how to support our user-centered co-development process visit* [*our website*](https://www.digital-democracy.org)*.*


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.mapeo.app/readme.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.