MapInfo Pro

What if you could ask your data inside MapInfo Pro a question in plain English and get a spatial answer?

In an article published a month ago, I discussed how you can control MapInfo Pro from Claude Desktop using the MCP server that comes with MapInfo AI.

I have been asked to show what type of questions you can ask MapInfo Pro from Claude Desktop. This is the first article to cover this question - more may follow.

Happy #MapInfoMonday

Initial setup

I have started MapInfo Pro with MapInfo AI. MapInfo AI needs to be loaded because it starts the MCP server that Claude Desktop requires to control MapInfo Pro.

The MCP server (Model Context Protocol) is a lightweight bridge that allows Claude Desktop to communicate directly with MapInfo Pro. In practical terms, it means you can type a plain-English question in Claude Desktop and have it translated into a spatial query that runs against your live MapInfo Pro data, without writing any SQL or pushing any buttons in MapInfo Pro yourself.

I have also loaded some data into MapInfo Pro, as you can see.

Getting an overview of the data

Claude lists the tables and gives you a nice summary of each.

Running Queries from Claude

You can also start asking Claude about relationships between the tables, such as spatial relations: How many addresses, buildings, and parcels are within my project area?

Again, it gives you a nice summary of the result.

You can also be more specific in order to control how Claude performs the task. In this example, I specify that Claude should use a subselect query: How many addresses are within 100 meters of my planned fibers? You can use the subselect the buffers the planned fibers

This one I had to redo a few times before Claude found the right approach. You will sometimes see this happening when Claude doesn't find the right approach. Sometimes, Claude finds a longer workaround to solve the query, and sometimes Claude gives up. You can steer Claude in the initial prompt or in later prompts.

Once Claude has found the right approach, Claude can reuse it for other values without the prompt needing to be very specific: "And within 200 meters?"

And Claude is quite good at figuring out the context: 300 meters?

And Claude doesn't just show you the last result. You also see it related to the previous similar queries.

The great thing about using the MapInfo Pro MCP server is that it's not just a black box. You can actually verify that the query used is correct:

Visualizing Results in MapInfo Pro

You have now seen how to use Claude to send queries to MapInfo Pro. You can also use Claude to visualize the results on a map.

Again, you don't have to be very precise. You can leave it to Claude to figure that out: Visualize them on the map

But the risk is that Claude misunderstands what you wanted and does something different. In this case, I had hoped Claude would show the addresses within 100, 200, and 300 meters from the planned fiber lines on the map. In this case, Claude decided to show the buffers.

This mostly helps.

Adding MapInfo Pro Skills and Agents

When using Claude Desktop to control MapInfo Pro, it's advised to use some of the skills or agents that come with the MapInfo Pro MCP server to make Claude better understand how to perform certain tasks in MapInfo Pro.

Out of the box, Claude is a general-purpose assistant. It knows how to reason and use the tools the MCP server exposes, but it lacks specific knowledge of MapInfo Pro conventions, workflows, or best practices.

Skills and agents change that. They are pre-built instructions that give Claude more targeted guidance. For example, how to structure a spatial query correctly, how to apply a theme, or how to handle coordinate systems. Adding the right skill before starting a task is a bit like briefing a capable colleague before handing them a job: they could probably figure it out on their own, but the briefing gets you to the right answer faster and with fewer wrong turns.

You can find these in the chat via the +. Click on the + and then on Connectors.

Here you can see the connectors that you have configured in Claude. You can see the mapinfo-pro MCP server connection, and under it, Add from mapinfo-pro, which lets you add specific agents or skills from the server.

What I find most compelling about this workflow is that it significantly lowers the barrier to spatial analysis. Questions that would previously require you to know the right query syntax, the right tools, or the right sequence of steps can now be asked in plain English and answered in seconds.

That changes who can get value from MapInfo Pro and the data loaded, not just how quickly experienced users can work.

This is the first article on this topic, and there is plenty more to explore, both using Claude Desktop and using the built-in chat window in MapInfo Pro. But rather than guessing what would be most useful, I'd love to hear from you: what would you want to ask MapInfo Pro if you could phrase it as a plain-English question?

Drop your ideas in the comments. Your suggestions will shape the next articles in this series.

Happy #MapInfoMonday!

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Peter Horsbøll Møller
Principal Presales Consultant | Distinguished Engineer
Precisely | Trust in Data
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