"},{"ID":3791,"user_firstname":"Allan","user_lastname":"Laframboise","nickname":"Allan Laframboise","user_nicename":"alaframboise","display_name":"Allan Laframboise","user_email":"alaframboise@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2018-03-02 00:15:25","user_description":"Allan Laframboise is the product engineering lead for documentation for the Developer Experience team.","user_avatar":"
"}],"short_description":"Learn how ArcGIS portal tools help developers build faster with secure API keys, automated Python Notebooks, and simplified administration.","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2942132,"id":2942132,"title":"ArcGIS portal tools","filename":"1920x1080.png","filesize":424738,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1920x1080.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-online\/developers\/accelerate-geospatial-app-development-using-arcgis-portal-tools\/1920x1080-15","alt":"API key window, new item window, ArcGIS Notebooks","author":"360712","description":"","caption":"","name":"1920x1080-15","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2942128,"date":"2025-10-07 13:25:05","modified":"2025-10-09 14:34:55","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1920x1080-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1920x1080.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1920x1080.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1920x1080.png","large-width":1920,"large-height":1080,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1920x1080-1536x864.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1920x1080.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1920x1080-826x465.png","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1920x1080.png","wide_image-width":1920,"wide_image-height":1080}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Developing ArcGIS applications often involves repetitive tasks like importing data, managing authentication, and creating visualizations for maps and layers. With ArcGIS portal tools<\/a>\u2014available across ArcGIS Location Platform, ArcGIS Online, and ArcGIS Enterprise\u2014you can streamline these workflows without writing custom code. Whether you’re an experienced ArcGIS developer or evaluating the platform for the first time, these tools help you get up and running faster while maintaining flexibility and scalability across your projects.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In this blog, you’ll learn how to:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n At its core, an ArcGIS portal<\/a> is a secure content management system that acts as the central hub for your geographic information\u2014maps, layers, services, and applications. Whether hosted in the cloud via ArcGIS Location Platform or ArcGIS Online, or deployed on-premises with ArcGIS Enterprise, the portal provides a unified environment for storing, organizing, and accessing your GIS resources.<\/p>\n For developers, the ArcGIS portal is more than just a storage solution\u2014it’s the backbone of app development.<\/p>\n It provides essential capabilities that support every stage of the development lifecycle, including:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Portal tools simplify these workflows so you spend less time on setup and more time building features.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Developers across ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Enterprise, and ArcGIS Location Platform share the same goals: secure access, reliable data management, and beautiful maps and apps that perform well. Portal tools offer built-in solutions that significantly reduce development time.<\/p>\n By using them, you get:<\/p>\n Establishing secure access to your ArcGIS portal is a foundational step in application development. The Developer Credentials tool<\/strong><\/a> provides a streamlined method for generating API keys or OAuth 2.0 tokens\u2014eliminating the need to implement custom authentication logic from scratch.<\/p>\n Key features include:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Best Practices:<\/strong> Create unique developer credentials for each application you build. This isolates access and usage metrics, making it easier to track usage costs and monitor performance at a more granular level.<\/p>\n Instead of building a custom ETL pipeline or using static files, developers can use the ArcGIS portal’s import data tool<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to upload geospatial files in bulk\u2014including CSV, GeoJSON, Excel, and shapefiles. The tool handles format conversion and schema validation automatically, reducing manual preprocessing and improving data integrity.<\/p>\n Typical workflow:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n Best practices:<\/strong> Leverage the power and flexibility of hosted feature layers for your applications. Use portal tools to perform partial data updates, complex data queries, and improve response times.<\/p>\n These tools streamline the map creation process allowing you to use pre-configured layers from your portal or from an extensive collection in ArcGIS Living Atlas<\/a>. Core tools to consider:<\/p>\n Managing your portal effectively starts with knowing how to use its administration tools. These tools are essential for keeping your development environment secure, organized, and performant, helping your geospatial apps run smoothly.<\/p>\n Key portal administration tasks include:<\/strong><\/p>\n Best practices:<\/strong> Use interactive tools for one-off tasks, but automate user and group management with Python scripts to ensure roles and permissions stay aligned with development and project requirements.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n ArcGIS Notebooks<\/strong> provide a built-in Python environment within your portal for automating administrative and data management tasks. Notebooks run server-side\u2014no external infrastructure required\u2014and can be scheduled, shared, and integrated directly into your workflows.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sample Notebooks for common tasks<\/strong><\/p>\n Note: <\/strong>ArcGIS Notebooks are not currently supported in ArcGIS Location Platform<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a summary to help you get started with these tools effectively:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you are new to ArcGIS development and want to try the portal tools, you can get started by signing up for a free<\/a> ArcGIS Location Platform account<\/span>.<\/span> Also, stay in the loop with the latest in developer technology by subscribing to the\u00a0Esri Developer Newsletter.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n"}],"related_articles":"","show_article_image":false,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/826x465-1.png","wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1920x1080.png"},"yoast_head":"\n\n
<\/h2>\n
What are portal tools?<\/h2>\n
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Why portal tools matter for developers<\/h2>\n
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Simplify authentication and gain insight into app usage<\/h2>\n
![\"Use](\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/arcgis-tools-developer-credentials-tool.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
<\/h2>\n
Import and manage geospatial data efficiently<\/h2>\n
![\"Use](\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/new-item-dialog.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
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Create visualizations for maps and layers<\/h2>\n
![\"Use](\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/mapping-and-visualization-tools.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
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Managing users, content, and settings with ease<\/h2>\n
![\"Content](\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/portal-essential-admin-tools.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
<\/h2>\n
Automate workflows with ArcGIS Notebooks<\/h2>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/10\/deploy-automatic-notification-notebook.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
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<\/h2>\n
Putting it all together: A developer workflow<\/h2>\n
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\nGenerate developer credentials<\/a> (API keys or OAuth 2.0 tokens) and configure permissions to securely access portal content.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
\nUse data management tools<\/a> to upload geospatial files and structure them into feature layers and services your apps can consume.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
\nLeverage Map Viewer<\/a>, Scene Viewer<\/a>, and the Vector Tile Style Editor<\/a> to test visualizations and refine user experience before full-scale development.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
\nUse ArcGIS Notebooks<\/a> and the ArcGIS API for Python<\/a> to automate tasks such as user and group management, service monitoring, and report generation.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n