Sightline is an OSINT search engine built in TypeScript that enables users to discover and analyze real-world infrastructure by querying OpenStreetMap data. The platform provides geospatial intelligence capabilities for identifying physical-world assets across more than 30 categories, encompassing over 200 searchable infrastructure types. These range from telecommunications towers and data centers to power plants, airports, ports, military installations, hospitals, and surveillance systems. The application is deployed at sightline-maps.vercel.app and serves as a comprehensive tool for infrastructure reconnaissance and monitoring.
The platform's architecture relies on three primary data sources. OpenStreetMap provides the foundational infrastructure data through its collaborative mapping project, though users should note that OSM data is crowd-sourced and may contain inaccuracies or gaps. Geographic resolution and place-name-to-coordinate conversion is handled by the Nominatim geocoding service. Infrastructure queries execute against the Overpass API, which offers read-only access to OpenStreetMap data and enables the real-time querying of specific asset types and locations.
Sightline supports both natural language and structured query syntax, allowing users to search with varying levels of specificity. The structured query system includes parameters such as type for specifying asset categories, operator for filtering by owner or operator, region and country for geographic scoping, near for proximity-based searches, and radius for defining search areas in kilometers. This flexible query interface enables users to construct precise searches combining multiple parameters to narrow results.
The supported asset types span critical infrastructure domains. Energy and power infrastructure includes power plants of various types, substations, transformers, power lines, solar and wind farms, nuclear facilities, and battery storage systems. Telecommunications assets encompass towers, antennas, masts, cell towers, broadcast towers, satellite dishes, and data centers. Oil, gas, and mining categories cover refineries, pipelines, wells, storage tanks, and quarries. Water and utilities include water towers, treatment plants, dams, and reservoirs. Aviation assets range from airports and helipads to runways, taxiways, and air traffic control towers. Maritime infrastructure covers ports, harbours, shipyards, docks, lighthouses, and piers. Rail and transit categories include train stations, rail yards, metro stations, bus stations, and toll booths. Additional categories address structures like bridges and tunnels, industrial and commercial facilities, military and defense installations, government and public safety infrastructure, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, cultural venues, tourism sites, religious buildings, historic monuments, and agricultural operations.
The repository is classified within the geo-osint and geoint domains, reflecting its purpose as an open-source intelligence tool focused on geospatial analysis. By aggregating OpenStreetMap data through the Overpass API and presenting it through an accessible search interface, Sightline democratizes access to infrastructure intelligence that would otherwise require specialized tools or manual research. The platform's breadth of searchable asset types and flexible query parameters make it applicable to security research, infrastructure analysis, urban planning studies, and other geospatial intelligence applications.
