OS Maps API and FME Background map

Hi ​@ingalla! Did you happen to run into any particular issues trying to use the basemap? 
I haven't tested this myself but looking into their OS Maps API documentation, you should be able to use this service. 

Looks like OS has OGS WMTS and ZXY versions available, which in FME, may fall under OGC WMS (Web Tile Service) and Tiled Web Map XYZ.

FME Options>Background maps> “+”

Depending on the API version, the configuration may be a little different. 

Let me know how it goes though! Happy to figure this out with you and the community

I’ve followed these steps and unfortunately it just says “unable to display background map...”. My data is in 27700 

Hi ​@ingalla! Did you happen to run into any particular issues trying to use the basemap? 
I haven't tested this myself but looking into their OS Maps API documentation, you should be able to use this service. 

Looks like OS has OGS WMTS and ZXY versions available, which in FME, may fall under OGC WMS (Web Tile Service) and Tiled Web Map XYZ.

 

FME Options>Background maps> “+”

 

Depending on the API version, the configuration may be a little different. 

Let me know how it goes though! Happy to figure this out with you and the community

Hi ​@hannahwh05. Would you mind sharing your setup? 

You might also want to test out calling the API outside of FME, like Postman or CURL. Customers tend to find this particularly useful when testing and isolating potential issues!

As a friendly reminder, the API key might be visible, so you’d want to censor that!

I have also had problems adding the OS Maps Web Service as a background. No problems testing the API with QGIS, ArcGIS or AGOL using the below parameters.

Error is 

FME Objects Worker [27672] > Failed to read features from dataset 'https://api.os.uk/maps/raster/v1/wmts?key=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx' using the 'WMTS' reader

Also tried the XYZ and got similar message

FME Objects Worker [37664] > Failed to read features using the 'TWM_XYZ' reader

I have a similar issue with the LINZ NZ Basemaps service and get the same error (URL works with QGIS, ArcGIS or AGOL)

Hello,

I haven’t managed to successfully configure the OS Basemap into the FME data inspector either. Would be good to know the solution once identified. 

Thank you

I managed to get this working! Here's what I found helped with the Tiled Web Map XYZ setup:

Getting the right settings from OS Maps API:

• Layer name: Road_3857
• Projection: EPSG:3857
• Zoom Levels: 7-16 (for Open data)
• URL: https://api.os.uk/maps/raster/v1/zxy/Road_3857/{z}/{x}/{y}.png?key=[YOUR_KEY]
  • You can grab this from OS Data Hub under APIs > API Projects > [Your Project]
• Attribution Text: Available on the OS website

Cross-reference the OS Maps API doc Layers and Styles to confirm these details match what you need.

Configuring the Base Map in FME Options:

• Tile URL Template: The URL from above
• Min Zoom Level: 7
• Max Zoom Level: 16

Testing: I tested with a point at coordinates (-421856, 6642103) in EPSG:3857, and it displayed correctly once everything was configured.

One gotcha I ran into: Initially I was testing with a point outside of Great Britain, which just showed an empty map. Is that what you folks were seeing, or is something else going on? Happy to help troubleshoot further if you're still stuck!

Great that works - it seems that you do need to have the correct zoom parameters for the XYZ service. 

I am still strugling with the WMTS service - I am not sure of the Tile Matrix Resolution values?

Hi ​@mapmonkeythe2nd, I really appreciate you writing back! I must have missed this in the thread, but I also couldn’t get it to work! This might be an issue, so I filed a case for development to look into it

[INTERNAL: FMEENGINE-89093]

Good news - this has been fixed in 2025.2.1 Build 25815, which is available now on the downloads page. I'd encourage you to test it out with your workflows.

​@mapmonkeythe2nd As for the Tile Matrix Resolution value, it's being removed for background maps in newer builds. As I understand it, this parameter helped FME calculate zoom (resolution), but FME will handle this automatically going forward. In the meantime, you can safely set this to any value, if it appears. Hope this helps! 🙂

Perfect - all working as expected. Thanks for resolving.