send-satellite

name

send-satellite

description

Take a Google Maps satellite/aerial screenshot at a specific coordinate (or named place) and deliver it to the user on the channel they asked from. Use when the user says "send me a satellite image / aerial view / map / vom oben of my location / of <place>". Distinct from send-image — this is a screenshot of a real-time map view at real coordinates, not a stock photo lookup. Drives Chrome via the `browser` tool, saves a PNG to /tmp, ends with `MEDIA:/tmp/<file>.png` so the wristclaw adapter ships it to the Visuals tab.

send-satellite

Deliver a Google Maps satellite screenshot at a real lat/lon. Not a stock photo — a screenshot of the live map at the user's actual coordinates (or a named place).

When to use this skill instead of send-image

• "satellite image / aerial view / view from above / Luftbild / Satellitenbild"
• "where am I — show it on a map / show me / aerial photo of here"
• "map of " — when the user wants the map view, not a stock photo
• "what does X look like from above"

If the user just wants a stock photo of a thing (a car, a person, a building), use send-image instead.

Steps

1. Resolve the location

• If "my location" / "here" / "where I am" → use the lat/lon from the [ambient context] section of this turn (your location-tracking skill should auto-inject the current device position there every turn). Read the most recent fix for the user's primary device.
• If a place name → use the name directly; Google Maps will geocode.

2. Build the URL

For lat/lon (recommended — exact position):

https://www.google.com/maps/@<lat>,<lon>,<zoom>z/data=!3m1!1e3

!3m1!1e3 is the URL fragment that switches Google Maps to satellite view. <zoom>z controls altitude; pick:

• 17z — close-up of a single building (~150 m across)
• 15z — neighborhood (~600 m)
• 13z — town overview (~2 km) Default to 16z unless the user asks otherwise.

For a place name (when no lat/lon is available):

https://www.google.com/maps/place/<encoded_name>/@<approx_lat>,<approx_lon>,16z/data=!3m1!1e3

If you only have a name, first navigate to https://www.google.com/maps/search/<encoded_name> and let Google geocode it, then read the resulting URL and re-navigate with the !3m1!1e3 satellite suffix.

3. Open the browser tab

browser(action="open", label="maps", url="<above-URL>")

4. Wait for tiles to load (~1500 ms)

Satellite tiles are lazy-loaded. After open, snapshot once to ensure the page reached interactive state, then wait a beat for image tiles to fetch. If you act too early, the screenshot will be mostly gray placeholder squares.

browser(action="snapshot", targetId="maps")
# pause ~1.5s

5. Take the screenshot

browser(action="screenshot", targetId="maps", path="/tmp/satellite-<unix_ms>.png")

Use a unique timestamped filename so concurrent calls don't collide.

6. Reply

Two-line reply format. First line: a brief human-readable caption. Last line: the MEDIA marker (must be the final line of your message, no trailing whitespace).

You are at <lat>,<lon> in <placename>. Here's the satellite image.
MEDIA:/tmp/satellite-<unix_ms>.png

Notes:

• Keep the caption short (one sentence) — Apple Watch screen.
• If the place name is unknown, just say "Here's the satellite image of your current location."
• If you're on a non-English wrist locale, reply in the user's language ([ambient context] includes detected language).

7. Tab hygiene (optional, post-reply)

browser(action="close", targetId="maps") if you don't expect a follow-up.

Failure modes

• No location available (findmyloc fix is stale / device missing): say so honestly. "I don't have a fresh location fix; let me know where you are or what place you want a satellite image of."
• Tile-load timeout (screenshot all-gray): retry once after another 1.5 s wait. If still empty, snapshot and inspect; Google sometimes throws a captcha / consent banner on first visit — those need to be dismissed first.
• Place name geocodes to wrong country: Google Maps may pick the most popular match. Add region context to the search (e.g. Stans NW Switzerland).
• MEDIA marker invisible at the watch: ensure the file actually exists at the path you wrote on the last line, the path is /tmp/..., and the file is a real PNG/JPG (not a 0-byte stub). The adapter silently drops paths it cannot read.

Why not just open Google Maps and call it done

The screenshot is the deliverable — the watch can render an image thumbnail in the Visuals tab, not a URL. URL-only replies show up as plain text on the watch and lose the visual payoff of the request.