Roadmap

Where GIS Workbench is heading.

The goal is simple to state: close the remaining gaps with ArcGIS Pro without giving up what makes this different, a free single file that runs anywhere and keeps your data on your machine.

Plan as of November 2026. This shows direction, not a commitment: order and content can change, and we give no dates.

Direction

What guides the work.

The file stays whole

One HTML file, free, with nothing to install. Everything below is optional on top of it, and it keeps working without any of it.

Climb only as high as needed

Each function sits on the lowest runtime that can deliver it. It moves up the ladder only when the file cannot do the job.

Your data stays with you

Files are processed on your machine. New work keeps that promise, and AI still never computes an analytic result.

Open interfaces for the rest

What we leave to others, they can build on published, stable interfaces, not on a closed connector.

An honest chart

A capability turns Full only when it passes on real data. Shipping the code is not enough, so some rows stay Partial after release.

Two editions, on purpose

Full keeps every feature with a desktop interface. Lite is the mobile edition. Every new function is declared Full only or also Lite.

Timeline

From shipped to planned.

Releases run in this order. For everything that has shipped, the changelog has the detail.

v2.6.0The sidecar wave
NextFull only
Work that only native code can do well: long jobs, closed codecs and full disk access. The sidecar stays optional, and the file keeps working without it.
First in the sidecar
- MrSID and ECW conversion on Linux, and viewing both without converting first
- More open GDAL plugins: HDF4, FITS, KEA, PostGIS raster and TileDB
- A Python client, so your own scripts can drive the app
Then in the sidecar
- UAV structure from motion: oriented frames, dense cloud, DSM and orthomosaic
- OSSIM rigorous models, and a sandboxed host for CSM plug-ins
- Multipatch, FBX and IFC export, and a PDFium-based PDF driver
- View and cursor sync with ArcGIS Pro, and a native viewer for active-shutter stereo
- Native routes for very large scenes: pan-sharpening and reprojection with the full grid set
In the file
- The three missing ICAO Annex 14 surfaces, plus the Amendment 18 changes to the current tables
- A second independent reference for SAR stereo terrain, over mountains
Anything that opens the sidecar to a network or runs third-party plug-ins ships only after the sidecar is code-signed and has passed an external security review.
v2.7.0Hosted and installed
Planned
What a hosted copy and an installed web app can do that the plain file cannot.
- Small-block structure from motion on WebGPU in the hosted copy
- Local-first sync of review queues and observations between hosted copies
- An Isolated Web App build, with a signed identity and a strict security policy
- Live MPEG-TS capture over UDP and multicast
- The new ICAO Annex 14 obstacle free and obstacle evaluation surfaces, well ahead of their application date of 21 November 2030
v2.8.0AI in the sidecar
PlannedFull only
AI work too heavy for a browser, on your own GPU. AI still never computes analytic results.
- Training and fine-tuning AI models on your GPU
- Running models too large for a browser
- Importing .dlpk model packages where the licence allows

Scoped, with no release number yet

Right-to-left and complex scripts

Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Urdu, Hindi and Thai, which need a mirrored interface and text shaping.

The website in other languages

This site, in the languages the app already speaks.

The sidecar on macOS

Deferred after Windows and Linux. The browser app already runs on macOS.

Hardware items

Vendor stereo mice.

Architecture

The runtime ladder.

Every planned function sits on one rung. Each rung adds something the one below cannot do, and every rung keeps the file working. The idea: and Get started covers the sidecar you can install today.

T0
The file
One HTML file. No install, any channel, works air-gapped.
In use
T1
Hosted copy
Threads, persistent storage, caching and PWA install over HTTPS.
In use, more in 2.7
T2
Installed web app
A signed identity and direct network sockets, starting with managed Chrome.
Planned for 2.7
T3
Local sidecar
Native tools, closed codecs, full disk and memory, background jobs and big GPU models.
In use, more in 2.6
T4
Remote service
Shared multi-user state, central data and elastic compute.
Left to others

By capability

What comes next, area by area.

On the comparison chart today, 82 capabilities stand at 59 Full, 23 Partial and 0 not supported. Each area below links to what it does now.

Sensor models & photogrammetry

OSSIM models, CSM vendor plug-ins and UAV structure from motion. DIMAP V2, KOMPSAT and ALOS PRISM models are still to build.

SAR

SAR stereo terrain tested over mountains.

Stereo & 3D

A native active-shutter stereo viewer, and multipatch, FBX and IFC export.

Terrain & airfield surfaces

The full set of ICAO Annex 14 surfaces, both as they stand today and as Amendment 18 replaces them.

Motion imagery

Live capture over UDP and multicast, and MPEG-2 transcoding on the Linux sidecar.

AI

Training and fine-tuning on your GPU, and models too large for a browser, planned for 2.8. AI still never computes analytic results.

Formats

More open GDAL plugins, MrSID and ECW on Linux, and viewing both without converting first.

Services & automation

A Python client, a relay for services without CORS, ArcGIS Pro sync, and review sync between hosted copies.

Languages

Six right-to-left and complex-script languages, and this website in other languages.

Validation

Finishing what has already shipped.

Many Partial rows need proof, not code. The function exists, but it has not yet been tested on the real data or equipment that would let us call it Full. Each release records what was measured and what is still open.

If you can share non-sensitive samples or test against real equipment, you can move a row directly. Tell us what you have.

What would close the most rows

NITF samples with full RSM, wide-area motion imagery, and aerial and film blocks with surveyed control
Real phones and tablets for Lite, which so far has been tested on emulated devices
Real broadcast encoders for HLS video with KLV
Live identity providers, smart cards and ArcGIS portals, where sign-in and writes have so far run against mocks
Independent test suites, such as the OGC conformance tests, and independent oracles for SAR and sensor models

Scope

What we're not building.

Saying no keeps the file small and the product serverless. Some of these are simply someone else's better job.

Left to others

Catalogue, imagery streaming, workflow and notification servers
Multi-user review services
Connectors to vendor catalogues

Through the interfaces we keep open

STAC and the OGC APIs
Automation API and MCP tools
Sidecar API and job profiles
Sensor-model C ABI and CSM plug-in host

Not planned

Python inside the browser: It would need dynamic code, which every build forbids. Python runs through the sidecar instead.
The sidecar as a network server: It stays on your machine. Publish to existing services instead.
Military functions: GIS Workbench is a civilian-use application. Military functions are not planned.
Writing MrSID or ECW: The vendor licences do not allow it. Reading and converting stay.
Certification claims: We follow public standards, but claim no conformance or accreditation.

Ideas

Recorded, not scheduled.

Good ideas from past plans. None has a release or a design behind it yet, so treat this as a list, not a promise. Telling us one matters to you is what moves it up.

Whole-earth globe
Offline world basemap pack
Drive and OneDrive through their APIs
Google Earth Engine connector
FlatGeobuf spatial index
HTJ2K encoding
Very large MBTiles and GeoPackages without loading them whole
Streaming country-scale vectors
Dense matching and orthomosaics on native code
OS folder watching in the sidecar
Copy as Python or Jupyter
Deep links and shareable view state
Outbound webhooks
QR push to a mobile viewer
Multiplayer and Follow My View
Living Markdown canvas

Your turn

Feedback shapes this page.

Tell us what is missing, or which of these should come first.

Send feedback See the comparison