how to find out which map viewer templates include a specific feature service

Question

My coworker is planning on deleting a feature service and I have it in several of my map viewer templates for use in offline areas.

I am concerned that if I don't remove the layer from my apps that it will break the syncing of my field maps.

How can I find out which map viewer templates contain the feature layer?

I have been manually opening every map to look for the layer and am concerned that I may have missed it in an app.

Laura · Answer

https://masoncityiowa.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=2967bae3767640038a6841714784d44chttps://masoncityiowa.maps.arcgis.com/home/notebook/notebook.html?id=2967bae3767640038a6841714784d44c

Look for dependency search in agol by carlsonj9

DanielFox1 · Answer

Hi @L77

Certainly deleting the error will break the offline syncing, if anything like that happens you can follow this workflow to recover the offline data collection

How To: Access Offline Edits from ArcGIS Field Maps Directly from an iOS or Android Device

But I would recommend moving the data to you if you need it or complete all the work before it is deleted.

VenkataKondepati · Answer

1. Use ArcGIS Online Assistant or AGO Admin Tools

ArcGIS Online Assistant (Esri Labs) lets you log in and view the JSON of your maps and apps.

Open each web map’s JSON and search for the service URL of the feature layer in question.

Much faster than opening every map in Map Viewer.

Admin Tools for ArcGIS Online (by GeoJobe) has reports that let you list all items and their dependent layers. If your org allows add-ons, this is the most user-friendly way.

2. Search Your Content in ArcGIS Online

In your ArcGIS Online Content page, use the search bar with the feature service URL or part of the layer name.

This will often bring up maps and apps where the layer is referenced.

3. Programmatic Approach

If you’re comfortable with Python:

Use the ArcGIS API for Python to loop through your org’s web maps and search for the layer URL in their data.

Code snippet example:

from arcgis.gis import GIS

gis = GIS("home")
layer_url = "https://services.arcgis.com/xyzx/arcgis/rest/services/YourLayer/FeatureServer"

for item in gis.content.search("", item_type="Web Map", max_items=500):
    data = item.get_data()
    if data and "operationalLayers" in data:
        for lyr in data["operationalLayers"]:
            if layer_url in str(lyr):
                print(f"Layer found in map: {item.title} (ID: {item.id})")

This will list out all web maps containing the feature service.

4. Impact on Field Maps Syncing

Yes, if the service is deleted, sync will fail for any offline area or map that references it.

That’s why locating all references before deletion is critical.

Recommendation: If you don’t want to go the Python route, the quickest practical method is ArcGIS Online Assistant → search your JSON for the layer URL.