v0.5.1: one-click sign-in and a step-by-step guide

Signing in is now one click, and there is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.

What is new since 0.5.0

• Simpler sign-in. storymap-gen login opens your browser on ArcGIS's own page; you click Allow, the page says "Signed in", and you are back in the terminal. Nothing to copy or paste. It uses the authorization-code flow with PKCE and a one-shot listener on your own computer (bound to 127.0.0.1, one request path, a random state, no log, three-minute limit). It was checked against the real ArcGIS service: sign-in, silent renewal and publishing a draft.
• Stay signed in (optional). storymap-gen login --stay-signed-in renews the sign-in for about two weeks; logout revokes it. It is opt-in because it keeps a renewal token on your computer. Without it, the sign-in lasts about half an hour.
• login --manual keeps the paste-the-address sign-in for a computer with no browser.
• Step-by-step guide with screenshots: docs/step-by-step.md. From installing Python to a private draft in ArcGIS, eight steps, each ending with what you should see. It includes the one-time ArcGIS setup (one OAuth credential item in your own account, about three minutes), with the exact redirect URL to type.
• Clearer messages when a sign-in is left unfinished.

One thing to do if you set up sign-in before this release

Add http://localhost:8765/storymap-gen-callback to the redirect URLs of your OAuth credential item (the earlier https://localhost:8765/... URL only works with login --manual). New users get this from the guide.

Where it stops

It checks that numbers are true; it does not check that a true number belongs to its sentence, nor captions, and it does not write vividly for you. Neighbourhoods and districts only (up to 150 km² per download). More.

Tell us how it went

A short form, no code needed: open the feedback form.

Full list of changes: CHANGELOG.

v0.5.0

storymap-gen turns a place and a topic (and optionally an outline) into an ArcGIS StoryMap with maps built from real data, where every number in the text is checked against that data before anything is built. It creates a private draft in your own ArcGIS account; you review and publish it yourself.

Try it

• Two minutes, offline, no account: Get started
• Your own place with Claude Code: python -m pip install -e ".[mcp]" then python scripts/install_skill.py, and ask for a StoryMap.
• Full guide, sign-in to ArcGIS, and what to do about each error message: docs/getting-started.md

What it does

• Looks at the data first: describe, explore (a map of the data in your browser), findings (what is notable: gaps, which half of the area holds what, how layers relate, each with a claim that already passes).
• Quality gate: a wrong claim, a number nobody measured, unfinished text, or a map that shows more than the text counts stops the build and says how to fix it.
• Stories with subsections, lists, key figures, swipe maps, graduated-colour maps (your own table of numbers via join, or per-district measures), pictures with credits, and sources.
• Works on any neighbourhood or district; tried on Gràcia (Barcelona) and six districts of Tianjin as one study area.
• context for Wikipedia background and reusable Wikimedia Commons pictures with their credits.
• Verified in the real ArcGIS StoryMaps Builder, not only in tests: validation log (13 defects found by using the real services, and how each was fixed).

Where it stops

• It checks that numbers are true; it does not check that a true number belongs to the sentence it sits in, nor captions or qualitative statements. Read the story once as a reader.
• It does not write vividly for you. Pictures, names, history, interviews and your own observations do, and they come from you.
• The free map data (OpenStreetMap) is uneven: bike lanes and small clinics are often missing, and there is no population or income unless you bring a table.
• Neighbourhoods and districts (up to 150 km² per download), one theme, three layouts. No charts, timelines or galleries yet.

Tell us how it went

A short form, no code needed: open the feedback form.

Safety and privacy

No password or key is stored. Sign-in happens on ArcGIS's own page and you paste the result into a hidden prompt in your own terminal; the token lasts about an hour. Only OpenStreetMap services, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and your own ArcGIS organisation are contacted. The repository is checked on every push for private identifiers, tokens and personal addresses (security notes).

Full list of changes: CHANGELOG.