What an asset is

An asset is a stored file attached to a project. Assets are the concrete outputs the platform can download, inspect, import into the Editor, or use while exporting.

Most source assets come from successful DTM, OSM, or imagery processing. The Editor can also create assets for manual or empty layers, saved versions can create backup archives, and completed exports expose output artifacts as assets.

Asset kinds

Project source assets use three main kinds: dtm, vector, and raster. The kind tells the Editor how the file can be used.

• DTM assets represent terrain elevation and normally become terrain layers.
• Vector assets contain processed geographic features and normally become vector layers.
• Raster assets contain positioned images such as imagery, masks, paint layers, or other image-backed editor data.

Metadata and traceability

Assets store metadata such as provider code, provider name, original file name, source task, file format, size, checksum, and processing details when those values are available.

This metadata is why the project detail page can show where a terrain, vector, or imagery file came from, whether it was provider-backed or uploaded, and which task created it.

Using assets in the Editor

The Editor imports source assets as layers. A terrain asset can become a terrain layer, a vector asset can become one or more vector layers using a vector mapping collection, and a raster asset can become a visual image layer.

Editing does not rewrite the original provider download directly. The project stores editor state, layer metadata, vector feature changes, raster edits, modifiers, and created assets separately so the source remains traceable.

Project selected vs used in editor

A project can have multiple processed DTM, vector, and raster/imagery assets after retries, uploads, and reprocessing. The project setup stores which processed asset is currently selected for each source family: one DTM, one vector asset, and one imagery asset when those families exist.

The Editor uses layers, not the project selection directly. When a source asset is imported, saved layers remember the asset ID they came from. If you later reprocess imagery or vectors and select the new asset on the project detail page, existing editor layers can still reference the older asset until you import or reimport.

Vector projects can also have editor-managed files such as manual-vectors.json. Those files are not source choices in the project setup selector, but they are protected as Used in editor because the Editor relies on them for manually created vector geometry.

This is why the dashboard shows two separate badges. Project selected means the project setup currently points at that asset. Used in editor means saved layers or vector feature data still reference that asset.

• Project selected + Used in editor: the current project source is also what the Editor has imported.
• Project selected only: a new or switched source is selected, but the Editor has not imported it yet.
• Used in editor only: the Editor still uses this asset, but the project setup has moved on to another source.
• No badge: the asset is not selected and no saved editor data references it.

Switching selected source assets

On the project detail page, the DTM, Vector, and Imagery setup cards show an asset selector when more than one compatible processed asset exists for that source family. Use it to choose which asset the project should treat as current.

Switching the selected source asset is a metadata change. It does not delete the old asset, does not mutate existing layers, and does not automatically reimport the Editor. Open the Editor and import or reimport when you want the selected asset to become the new layer baseline.

When you queue replacement processing, the old asset is kept and the new task produces another asset. Once the new processed asset exists, it can become the selected source for that family while the old one remains available for comparison, download, or existing editor layers.

Assets page and deletion

The Assets page lists project source assets and version backup archives for the active workspace. Export artifacts stay on the Exports page, even though completed exports can still expose artifact download links through the same asset download system.

Project assets can be deleted from the Assets page only when they are no longer selected by the project and no saved editor data references them. Protected assets show why they are protected with Project selected and Used in editor badges.

Version backup archives are listed because they count toward storage, but they are managed from the project Versions panel rather than deleted as ordinary source assets. Raw and processed source assets remain downloadable while they exist.

• You can delete an asset with no Project selected badge and no Used in editor badge.
• You cannot delete the selected DTM, vector, or imagery asset for a project.
• You cannot delete an asset that existing editor layers or vector features still use.
• Deleting an unused asset removes the stored file and cannot be undone.

Storage

Asset files count toward team storage limits. This includes processed source files, uploaded files that are retained, editor-created files, version backup archives, and export artifacts while they are still stored.

Deleting a project removes its linked project assets and storage objects. Deleting a team or workspace cascades through project deletion, but running task protection can block deletion until processing finishes.