ProPilot

Natural language command interface for ArcGIS Pro

Type commands. See previews. Execute with confidence.

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ProPilot brings a natural language command bar to ArcGIS Pro. Type plain English like "zoom to all streams in Boyd County" or "buffer the selected permits by 500 meters" — ProPilot parses your intent with a bundled local AI model, shows you a structured preview of what it understood, and executes on your confirmation. No cloud. No API keys. No cost. Works offline.

Why ProPilot?

ArcGIS Pro is powerful but complex. Common operations require navigating ribbon tabs, opening tool dialogs, remembering parameter names, and clicking through multi-step workflows — all for tasks you could describe in a single sentence.

ProPilot changes that. It understands what you mean, confirms what it'll do, and executes when you're ready.

• 30 curated commands covering navigation, layer management, selection, symbology, queries, and geoprocessing
• Always-preview execution — every command shows a structured preview before it fires. You verify, then it acts.
• Full map awareness — knows your layer names, field names, current selections, visible extent, and symbology
• Fuzzy matching — type "streams" and it resolves to Streams_KY. Type "population" and it finds POP_TOTAL.
• Zero dependencies — the AI model is bundled and runs locally inside the add-in. No Ollama, no cloud, no API keys.
• Government-safe — designed for compliance with Kentucky CIO-126. No data leaves your machine. Ever.

Quick Start

1. Download and install

Download the latest .esriAddInX from Releases and double-click to install. No admin rights needed.

2. Choose your model (first run only)

The first time you open ProPilot, you'll choose an AI model tier. This is a one-time download.

Tier	Model	Download	RAM	Best For
Light	Phi-3 Mini 3.8B	~1.5 GB	8 GB+	Faster responses, most commands
Standard	Mistral 7B Instruct	~4 GB	16 GB+	Best accuracy, complex commands

ProPilot detects your system RAM and recommends the right tier. You can also browse for a local .gguf file if your network is restricted.

3. Start commanding

Click ProPilot on the Add-In ribbon tab (or press Ctrl+Shift+P) and type a command:

zoom to Permitted_Boundaries
turn off all layers except Streams and County_Boundary
select features in Wells where DEPTH > 100
buffer the selected features by 500 meters
change the roads layer color to red
how many features in Permitted_Boundaries?
set scale to 24000
filter Permits where STATUS = 'Active'
clip Streams by Study_Area
dissolve Parcels on COUNTY_NAME

How It Works

You type a command
       │
       ▼
Map context captured ─── layer names, fields, selections, extent
       │
       ▼
Local AI model parses intent ─── runs in-process, never leaves your machine
       │
       ▼
Preview displayed ─── "Select By Location: Streams within 1 mile of Active Permits"
       │
       ▼
You click Execute ─── standard Pro SDK operation runs

Every command goes through the preview step. ProPilot never modifies your map without your explicit confirmation.

Command Reference

ProPilot understands 30 commands across 6 categories:

Category	Commands	Examples
Navigation	Zoom, pan, scale, bookmarks	"zoom to streams", "set scale to 24000"
Layer Management	Visibility, transparency, reorder, add/remove	"turn off everything except roads"
Selection	By attribute, by location, clear, invert	"select where STATUS = 'Active'"
Symbology	Color, line width, point size, renderer, labels	"change roads to red", "label by NAME"
Query	Definition query, feature count, field list	"how many features in Wells?"
Geoprocessing	Buffer, clip, dissolve, merge, export	"buffer permits by 500 meters"

Full command vocabulary with natural language patterns: ai-dev/specs/commands.md

LLM Providers

ProPilot supports three inference providers. The bundled local model is the default — the others are opt-in for power users.

Provider	Setup	Cost	Network	Best For
LLamaSharp (default)	Nothing — bundled in add-in	Free	Offline after model download	Everyone
Ollama	Install Ollama + pull model	Free	Localhost only	Power users, model experimentation
OpenAI	API key in environment variable	Pay-per-token	Internet required	Cloud model quality comparison

Switch providers in Settings. The bundled provider is recommended for government and air-gapped environments.

Requirements

Component	Version
ArcGIS Pro	3.6
.NET	8.0 (included with Pro 3.6)
RAM	8 GB minimum (16 GB recommended)
Disk	1.5–4 GB for model file

No admin rights required. No external software to install.

Deployment

ProPilot is designed for easy deployment across different environments:

Environment	Method	Details
Personal / open-source	Download .esriAddInX from Releases	Self-service, zero IT involvement
Government (standard)	Same as above	CIO-126 compliant, all processing local
Government (restricted)	IT deploys Ollama, users install add-in	For environments blocking native DLLs
Air-gapped	Transfer .esriAddInX + .gguf via approved media	Zero network access required

Full deployment guide: DEPLOYMENT.md

Architecture

ProPilot is built with the ArcGIS Pro SDK 3.6 for .NET, following MVVM patterns with CommunityToolkit.Mvvm.

src/ProPilot/ProPilot/
├── UI/                  # ProWindow views (XAML)
├── ViewModels/          # All logic — command flow, settings, setup
├── Models/              # ProPilotCommand, MapContext, Settings
├── Services/            # LLM clients, map context builder, model manager
├── Commands/            # 30 IMapCommand implementations
│   ├── Navigation/          (6)
│   ├── LayerManagement/     (6)
│   ├── Selection/           (5)
│   ├── Symbology/           (5)
│   ├── Query/               (4)
│   └── Geoprocessing/       (5)
└── Prompts/             # System prompt builder + JSON schema

Full architecture: ai-dev/architecture.md

Development

git clone https://github.com/chrislyonsKY/ProPilot.git
cd ProPilot/src/ProPilot
# Open ProPilot.sln in Visual Studio 2022
# Requires ArcGIS Pro SDK 3.6 extension installed

NuGet Packages

CommunityToolkit.Mvvm
LLamaSharp
LLamaSharp.Backend.Cpu

Build Order

The project follows a phased implementation plan — start with a vertical slice (text in → JSON out → preview displayed), then layer in map context, commands, and the bundled LLM. Full build guide in .github/copilot-instructions.md.

Government Compliance

ProPilot is designed for use in state and federal government environments:

• Kentucky CIO-126 compliant — no data leaves the machine, human review before every action, low-risk classification
• No cloud dependency — bundled AI model runs entirely in-process
• No PII exposure — map context contains only layer names and field names, never attribute values
• Audit-ready — architecture documents the data flow, risk classification, and model provenance
• Open-weight models — Phi-3 (Microsoft, MIT license) and Mistral 7B (Mistral AI, Apache 2.0) are publicly auditable

Full compliance mapping: ai-dev/guardrails/compliance.md

Roadmap

• Architecture and scaffolding
• v1.0 — 30 commands with bundled LLamaSharp
• v1.x — Ollama/OpenAI fallback providers, audit logging, command history
• v2.0 — Layout commands, custom command mappings, voice input

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please read the architecture docs in ai-dev/ before submitting PRs. The project follows a documentation-first approach — specs and architecture before code.

License

Apache 2.0 — same license as Esri's Pro SDK samples.

Author

Chris Lyons — GIS Analyst III, Kentucky Energy & Environment Cabinet

• GitHub: @chrislyonsKY
• Newsletter: Null Island Dispatch — Weekly GeoAI insights
• Portfolio: chrislyonsKY.github.io

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_{Built with the ArcGIS Pro SDK and LLamaSharp. Powered by open-weight AI models.}