Missions are exploration Operations within Ingress. They are primarily Agent-created sequences that move Agents along a specific set of Waypoints. Agents must complete objectives at the Waypoints, which include hacking, fielding, and entering a code. Missions are unique to the area they are located within and generally do not cover much area.
Agents who finish a Mission receive a specific medal "medal" of that Mission. Each Agent's completion time is also logged to calculate the Mission's average completion time. Agents can also upvote or downvote Missions to affect their overall rating.
Types
Ingress Missions challenge Agents to seek out sequences of culturally or aesthetically significant sites called Waypoints. How Agents access these Waypoints depends on the Mission type:
- SEQUENTIAL - VISIBLE: Agents will be told where the Waypoints are and must visit them in a specific order.
- SEQUENTIAL - HIDDEN: Agents can only see the first Waypoint location; all the rest are hidden and only revealed via location clues. Agents must visit Waypoints in a specific order.
- ANY ORDER: All Waypoint locations are visible to Agents, and Agents can visit Waypoints in any order to successfully complete the Mission.
Medals/Badges
Missions have their own set of medals/badges that appear below the standard medals. Each Mission medal/badge can only be earned once. They do not provide any extra bonus to AP, leveling, or capabilities.
Creating a Mission
To get started on your first Ingress Mission, visit the Ingress Mission Creator Tool and select CREATE NEW MISSION. At this time, the ability to author Missions is available to all Agents who are at least Level 7. In addition to knowing the basics on how to create a Mission, be sure to understand the Mission criteria to ensure your Mission gets accepted upon review.
Main Details
Once you have selected the type of Mission, you can then add:
- a Mission name (required)
- a description (optional), which is recommended since Agents will read this and decide whether or not to try the Mission
- an icon (optional), which is used in the MISSIONS tab and in the Medal in profiles for Agents who complete the Mission. If an icon is added to a Mission after it was created, it will update the medal/badge for all Agents who completed it.
Adding Waypoints
Mission Waypoints can be either Ingress Portals or Field Trip cards—both are included in the Ingress Mission Creator Tool—but the first Waypoint must be a Portal. Each Waypoint must include at least one objective; multiple objectives can be added to a single Waypoint.
In the Ingress Mission Creator Tool's map, orange circles with numbers represent clusters of Waypoints in a small area. To see the individual Waypoints, you will need to zoom in on the map.
If you have a certain Waypoint title, point of interest, or keyword in mind, you can use the "Search titles and descriptions in map" search bar. Note that this will only search the area of the map you have open on the left-hand side.
Use the "Go to location" search bar within the map to find a specific address or street intersection. Once you have found the general location, select Waypoints in the area to see their title and description.