Build a Satellite Imagery Analyzer with Moondream AI

What We're Building

By the end of this tutorial, you'll have your own satellite imagery analyzer that can:

Get Your Moondream API Key

First things first - you'll need access to Moondream's vision AI. Moondream is a fast, lightweight vision language model that's perfect for analyzing images.

1. Go to moondream.ai and create an account
2. Navigate to your dashboard and find the API section
3. Generate a new API key - it will look like md_xxxxxxxxxxxx
4. Copy and save it somewhere secure - you'll need it shortly

Prerequisites

• Claude Code - Get it from claude.ai/code
• A DartUp account - Sign up free at dartup.dev
• Moondream API key - From the step above

Step 1: Create Your Project

Let's set up a new folder and fire up Claude Code:

Step 2: Build the App

Here's the prompt I used. It's detailed because we want Claude to build something production-ready with proper API key handling:

Build me a satellite imagery analyzer web app with these features:

1. Full-screen interactive map using Leaflet.js
2. Multiple basemap options: Google Satellite, ESRI World Imagery, OpenStreetMap
3. Location search bar to jump to any address
4. Drawing tools: rectangle, polygon, and point selection
5. Analysis panel with three modes:
   - "Detect" - finds specific objects (cars, buildings, pools, etc.)
   - "Query" - answers natural language questions about the area
   - "Caption" - describes what's in the selected area
6. API key input field (stored in localStorage, never sent to any server except Moondream)
7. Results panel showing AI responses with confidence scores
8. Export results as GeoJSON or CSV
9. Clean, modern dark theme UI

For the AI analysis, use the Moondream API:
- Endpoint: https://api.moondream.ai/v1/query
- Include the API key in Authorization header as "Bearer <key>"
- Send the satellite image as base64 in the request body

IMPORTANT: The API key should be stored client-side only and sent directly to
Moondream's API - never route it through any backend to keep it secure.

Make it a static HTML/CSS/JS app for easy deployment.

Claude will get to work. Watch as it builds out the map, drawing tools, and AI integration:

Step 3: Test Locally

Before deploying, let's make sure everything works:

Open the app and test it out:

1. Enter your Moondream API key in the settings panel
2. Search for a location (try "Central Park, New York")
3. Use the rectangle tool to select an area
4. Choose "Caption" mode and click "Analyze"
5. Watch as Moondream describes what it sees in the satellite imagery

Step 4: Protecting Your API Key

This is critical. When you deploy apps that use API keys, you need to think about security. Here's what makes our approach safe:

If you want your app to have its own embedded API key (so users don't need to bring their own), you can use DartUp's environment variables feature. Your key gets injected at build time and stored securely - never exposed in your source code.

Update the app to use an environment variable for the API key:
- Read MOONDREAM_API_KEY from the environment at build time
- Don't show the API key input field if the env var is set
- Fall back to asking the user for a key if no env var is present

When deploying, you can set environment variables in your DartUp dashboard under project settings. The key is encrypted and only available during the build process.

Step 5: Deploy to DartUp

Time to go live! Tell Claude to deploy:

Deploy this to DartUp as "satellite-analyzer"

Using Your Analyzer

Now that it's live, here are some cool things you can do:

Real-World Applications

This same pattern can be applied to lots of industries:

Customization Ideas

Want to take it further? Ask Claude to add:

• "Add time-lapse comparison with historical imagery"
• "Draw the detected objects directly on the map"
• "Add batch processing to analyze multiple areas"
• "Generate PDF reports with screenshots and analysis"
• "Add parcel data overlay for my county"

Wrapping Up

You just built a satellite imagery analyzer powered by AI - the kind of tool that would have taken a team months to build just a few years ago. Now it's live on the internet, your API keys are secure, and you can customize it however you want.

The combination of Moondream's fast vision AI, Claude Code for building, and DartUp for deploying makes it possible to go from idea to production in an afternoon.

Now go find something interesting from above.