Data Model

Editable layers work with GeoJSON FeatureCollection data. The layer reads and writes standard GeoJSON — no proprietary format.

FeatureCollection

The data prop on EditableGeoJsonLayer expects a GeoJSON FeatureCollection:

const data = {
  type: 'FeatureCollection',
  features: [
    {
      type: 'Feature',
      geometry: {type: 'Point', coordinates: [-122.43, 37.77]},
      properties: {name: 'My Point'}
    },
    {
      type: 'Feature',
      geometry: {
        type: 'Polygon',
        coordinates: [[[-122.45, 37.78], [-122.47, 37.76], [-122.43, 37.75], [-122.45, 37.78]]]
      },
      properties: {name: 'My Polygon'}
    }
  ]
};

Geometry Types

All standard GeoJSON geometry types are supported:

Type	Description	Draw Mode
Point	Single coordinate	DrawPointMode
LineString	Ordered list of coordinates	DrawLineStringMode
Polygon	Closed ring(s) of coordinates	DrawPolygonMode, DrawRectangleMode, DrawCircleFromCenterMode, etc.
MultiPoint	Collection of points	—
MultiLineString	Collection of line strings	—
MultiPolygon	Collection of polygons	Created automatically via boolean operations

GeometryCollection is not supported. If you import GeoJSON containing GeometryCollection features, convert them to Multi* types first.

Properties

The properties object on each feature stores arbitrary metadata. Editable layers do not modify or depend on user-defined properties — they are passed through untouched during edits.

{
  type: 'Feature',
  geometry: { ... },
  properties: {
    name: 'Building A',
    category: 'commercial',
    area_sqm: 1250
  }
}

Edit Properties

The editable-layers framework adds shape-specific metadata under properties.editProperties. This is populated automatically by draw modes that create circles, ellipses, and rectangles.

properties.editProperties

An object containing information about how the feature was drawn:

{
  type: 'Feature',
  geometry: {type: 'Polygon', coordinates: [/* ... circle approximation */]},
  properties: {
    editProperties: {
      shape: 'Circle',
      center: [-122.43, 37.77],
      radius: 500
    }
  }
}

Fields vary by shape:

Shape	Fields
Circle	center, radius
Rectangle	center, width, height
Ellipse	center, semiMajorAxis, semiMinorAxis, angle

properties.shape (deprecated)

In versions prior to v9.1, the shape type was stored directly in properties.shape. This is deprecated — use properties.editProperties.shape instead.

Immutable Updates

When the onEdit callback fires, updatedData is a new FeatureCollection object. The layer uses ImmutableFeatureCollection internally to produce efficient structural-sharing updates — only the modified features are new objects; unmodified features retain their original references.

onEdit: ({updatedData, editType}) => {
  // updatedData is a new FeatureCollection
  // Unmodified features are the same object references
  setFeatures(updatedData);
}

This means you can use reference equality checks (e.g., React.memo, useMemo) to avoid unnecessary re-renders on unmodified features.

ImmutableFeatureCollection

ImmutableFeatureCollection is the utility class that edit modes use internally to produce structurally-shared updates. You can also use it directly if you need to build custom edit logic:

import {ImmutableFeatureCollection} from '@deck.gl-community/editable-layers';

const ifc = new ImmutableFeatureCollection(featureCollection);

// Replace a position within a feature's geometry
const updated = ifc
  .replacePosition(featureIndex, positionIndexes, newPosition)
  .getObject();

// Add a new feature
const withNew = ifc
  .addFeature(newFeature)
  .getObject();

// Remove a feature
const without = ifc
  .deleteFeature(featureIndex)
  .getObject();

Key methods:

Method	Description
replacePosition(featureIndex, positionIndexes, position)	Replace a coordinate within a feature's geometry
removePosition(featureIndex, positionIndexes)	Remove a coordinate from a feature's geometry
addPosition(featureIndex, positionIndexes, position)	Insert a coordinate into a feature's geometry
replaceGeometry(featureIndex, geometry)	Replace a feature's entire geometry
addFeature(feature)	Append a feature to the collection
deleteFeature(featureIndex)	Remove a feature from the collection
getObject()	Return the plain GeoJSON FeatureCollection

Each mutation method returns a new ImmutableFeatureCollection — the original is never modified.