# Publish your outputs as Ellipsis Drive layers

Ellipsis Drive enables you to publish spatial outputs from external systems directly into structured, queryable layers.

This supports automated delivery of large volumes of spatial data, as well as frequent updates from analytical or operational pipelines.

Publishing can be performed through the web application or fully automated via the API, Python package, or R library.

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#### Automated publishing workflow

When publishing data programmatically, the typical workflow consists of the following steps:

1\. [Create an access token](https://docs.ellipsis-drive.com/developers/authentication-options) to authenticate your application or pipeline. 

2\. Identify the folder where the new layer should be created. If no folder is specified, the layer will be created in the root directory.

3\. Create a new layer in the selected folder using [this API call](https://docs.ellipsis-drive.com/developers/api-v3/path-raster/create-new-raster).

4\. Create one or more timestamps within the layer using [this API call](https://docs.ellipsis-drive.com/developers/api-v3/path-raster/timestamps/add-timestamp).

5\. Upload spatial files into the created timestamp using [this API call](https://docs.ellipsis-drive.com/developers/api-v3/path-raster/timestamps/upload-raster).

6\. Once uploads are complete, activate the timestamp using [this API call](https://docs.ellipsis-drive.com/developers/api-v3/path-raster/timestamps/activate-timestamp).

7\. Ellipsis Drive automatically transforms the uploaded data into a high-performance, interoperable web service.

***

#### Vector data updates (transactional mode)

Vector layers also support incremental updates.

Instead of publishing full datasets, you can:

* [add features](https://docs.ellipsis-drive.com/developers/api-v3/path-vector/timestamps/vector-features/add-feature)
* [update geometries](https://docs.ellipsis-drive.com/developers/api-v3/path-vector/timestamps/vector-features/edit-the-features)
* [delete features](https://docs.ellipsis-drive.com/developers/api-v3/path-vector/timestamps/vector-features/delete-feature)

This enables real-time or event-driven spatial data workflows.

In Python workflows, this can be done using native spatial objects such as [GeoPandas dataframes or Shapely geometries](https://ellipsis-package.readthedocs.io/en/latest/path/vector/timestamp/feature/index.html#add).


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.ellipsis-drive.com/developers/common-integrations/publish-your-outputs-as-ellipsis-drive-layers.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.