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The Vertex Tool active with a polygon's vertices revealed as handles on the map

Vertex Tool

The Vertex Tool reshapes existing polygons vertex-by-vertex — across every feature on the floor, with no select-a-feature step. Hover any structure outline or custom style polygon and grab: move a vertex, add one on an edge, delete a few, box-select a group and move or align them together. To edit one feature at a time through its properties panel instead, use Direct Select.

Open the Vertex Tool

Hover a polygon — its vertices appear as handles and the shape dims with a wash.
Hover a polygon — its vertices appear as handles and the shape dims with a wash.

Click the Vertex Tool button (polygon-outline icon) in the bottom toolbar.

  1. Move the cursor over any polygon — its vertices appear as handles, the shape gets a dimming wash and an outline, and its touching neighbors reveal their handles too. Once you select a vertex, every vertex on the floor stays visible until you leave the tool.
  2. Edit any handle you can see. There is no “open for editing” step — every eligible polygon on the visible floor is editable directly.
  3. Esc steps back one layer at a time: it cancels a drag in progress, then releases a pin and clears the selection, and only leaves the tool once nothing is selected. Hold Space to pan the map while the tool is active.

Notes

  • Click a polygon (not a handle) to pin it — its handles stay up even when the cursor leaves, so you can grab a vertex where another feature overlaps. Click empty canvas to release the pin and clear the selection.
  • The tool edits structure outlines, custom style polygons, and imported GeoJSON map reference shapes. Routing lines have their own editor — see Routing.
  • Handles with a green ring are shared: another feature has a vertex at the same spot. Dragging one with Move Together on carries the neighbor’s vertex too.
  • Handle shape, size, and colors are yours to customize — see vertex defaults in User Settings.

Move a vertex

Drag a handle — a ghost follows the cursor; release to commit the move.
Drag a handle — a ghost follows the cursor; release to commit the move.
  1. Hover a polygon to reveal its handles.
  2. Press and drag any handle. A ghost preview follows the cursor while the original stays put.
  3. Release to commit the move — the polygon reshapes. Press Esc during the drag to cancel it.

Notes

  • With Snapping on, the dragged vertex pulls to nearby geometry; with Move Together on, coincident vertices on touching features move with it.
  • Each move is a single undo step (Ctrl+Z / Cmd+Z).

Publish impact: the touched layer is marked modified and the change stays in your draft until you Publish.

Add a vertex

Hover an edge — a + marker rides the edge under your cursor.
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Hover an edge — a + marker rides the edge under your cursor.
  1. Hover an edge between two handles. A + marker rides the edge under your cursor (it hides when you get close to an existing corner).
  2. Click the edge where the + shows — a new vertex is inserted exactly there. A double-click on the edge does the same.
  3. The new handle is immediately draggable like any other.

Delete vertices

Click a handle to select it — Shift-click adds more to the selection.
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Click a handle to select it — Shift-click adds more to the selection.
  1. Click a handle to select it — it fills amber. Shift-click more handles to add them to the selection.
  2. Press Delete or Backspace. Every selected vertex is removed and the outline closes up.

Notes

  • A polygon must keep at least three corners. A delete that would leave fewer is rejected and nothing changes.
  • Deletes are all-or-nothing across the selection: if removing them would make any affected shape invalid, the whole delete is rejected.

Select multiple vertices

Press on empty canvas and drag a box across the handles you want.
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Press on empty canvas and drag a box across the handles you want.
  1. Press on empty canvas and drag — a marquee box follows the cursor.
  2. Release: every handle inside the box is selected. Hold Shift while boxing — or Shift-click individual handles — to add to an existing selection.
  3. Click empty canvas (or press Esc) to clear the selection.

Notes

  • While more than one distinct position is selected, the toolbar shows an Align (N) group — see Align vertices.
  • A box over no handles clears the current selection.

Move multiple vertices

Drag any selected handle — the whole selection moves by the same offset.
Drag any selected handle — the whole selection moves by the same offset.
  1. Select two or more handles (marquee or Shift-click).
  2. Press and drag any selected handle. The whole selection moves by the same offset — spacing between the selected vertices stays fixed.
  3. Release to commit; Esc during the drag cancels it.

Notes

  • A group move is all-or-nothing: if it would make any affected shape invalid (for example self-intersecting), the entire move is rejected and nothing changes.
  • Snapping and Move Together apply to the grabbed handle exactly as in a single-vertex drag.

Publish impact: every layer the group touches is marked modified — still one undo step, held in draft until you Publish.

Align vertices

With two or more positions selected, the Align (N) group appears in the toolbar.
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With two or more positions selected, the Align (N) group appears in the toolbar.

Snap selected vertices onto a straight horizontal or vertical line to square up an outline.

  1. Select two or more handles. The toolbar shows an Align (N) group, where N counts distinct selected positions.
  2. Click Align Horizontal to move them onto one horizontal line (the average of their positions), or Align Vertical for one vertical line.

Notes

  • A single closed corner is two handles stacked at one point — it counts as one position, so it cannot be aligned on its own.
  • Align is all-or-nothing: an align that would produce an invalid shape is rejected entirely.

Move an edge

Press on a segment between two handles and drag — both endpoints move together.
Press on a segment between two handles and drag — both endpoints move together.
  1. Press on a segment between two handles — away from the corners — and drag.
  2. Both endpoints move together, keeping the edge parallel to where it started.
  3. Release to commit; Esc cancels.

Notes

  • A quick click on a segment inserts a vertex instead (see Add a vertex); dragging past a few pixels makes it an edge move.
  • With Move Together on, a wall shared with a touching feature moves on both features at once.

Works with Snapping and Move Together

The Vertex Tool composes with the two toolbar modifiers:

  • Snapping (the magnet) pulls a dragged vertex to nearby geometry so you can land exactly on a neighbor’s corner or edge.
  • Move Together (topology) treats vertices from different features at the same spot as one: drags, group moves, edge moves, and aligns carry the coincident partners, and near-coincident vertices weld to exact on drop.

Every edit validates before it commits: coordinates must stay valid, rings keep their minimum size, and self-intersecting results are rejected with nothing written. The publish preview can still repair duplicate vertices it finds, but it is better to fix outlines here first.

Glossary

  • Handle — the marker on a vertex you grab to move it; its shape and colors are set in vertex defaults.
  • Shared vertex — a green-ringed handle sitting at the same spot as another feature’s vertex.
  • + marker — the add-vertex indicator that rides an edge under your cursor.
  • Marquee — the drag-box that selects every handle it contains.
  • Align (N) — the toolbar group that appears when N distinct positions are selected.
  • Move Together — the topology modifier that moves coincident vertices on touching features as one.
  • All-or-nothing — the validation rule: an edit that would break any affected shape is rejected whole, nothing commits.