MCP Tools Reference: mapstools.googleapis.com

Tool: compute_routes

Computes a travel route between a specified origin and destination. Supported Travel Modes: DRIVE (default), WALK.

Input Requirements (CRITICAL): Requires both origin and destination. Each must be provided using one of the following methods, nested within its respective field:

  • address: (string, e.g., 'Eiffel Tower, Paris'). Note: The more granular or specific the input address is, the better the results will be.

  • lat_lng: (object, {"latitude": number, "longitude": number})

  • place_id: (string, e.g., 'ChIJOwE_Id1w5EAR4Q27FkL6T_0') Note: This id can be obtained from the search_places tool. Any combination of input types is allowed (e.g., origin by address, destination by lat_lng). If either the origin or destination is missing, you MUST ask the user for clarification before attempting to call the tool.

Example Tool Call: {"origin":{"address":"Eiffel Tower"},"destination":{"place_id":"ChIJt_5xIthw5EARoJ71mGq7t74"},"travel_mode":"DRIVE"}

  • The grounded output must be attributed to the source using the information from the attribution field when available.

The following code sample shows how to use curl to call the compute_routes MCP tool.

Curl Request 
curl --location 'https://mapstools.googleapis.com/mcp' \
--header 'content-type: application/json' \
--header 'accept: application/json, text/event-stream' \
--data '{
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "compute_routes",
    "arguments": {
      // Provide these details according to the MCP tool specification.
    }
  },
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1
}'

Input Schema

ComputeRoutesRequest.

ComputeRoutesRequest

JSON representation 
{
  "origin": {
    object (Waypoint)
  },
  "destination": {
    object (Waypoint)
  },
  "travelMode": enum (RouteTravelMode)
}
Fields
origin

object (Waypoint)

Required. Origin waypoint.
destination

object (Waypoint)

Required. Destination waypoint.
travelMode

enum (RouteTravelMode)

Optional. Specifies the mode of transportation.

Waypoint

JSON representation 
{

  // Union field location_type can be only one of the following:
  "latLng": {
    object (LatLng)
  },
  "placeId": string,
  "address": string
  // End of list of possible types for union field location_type.
}
Fields
Union field location_type. Different ways to represent a location. location_type can be only one of the following:
latLng

object (LatLng)

A point specified using geographic coordinates.
placeId

string

The Place ID associated with the waypoint.
address

string

Human readable address or a plus code. See https://plus.codes for details.

LatLng

JSON representation 
{
  "latitude": number,
  "longitude": number
}
Fields
latitude

number

The latitude in degrees. It must be in the range [-90.0, +90.0].
longitude

number

The longitude in degrees. It must be in the range [-180.0, +180.0].

RouteTravelMode

A set of values used to specify the mode of travel.

Enums
ROUTE_TRAVEL_MODE_UNSPECIFIED No travel mode specified. Defaults to DRIVE.
DRIVE Travel by passenger car.
WALK Travel by walking. NOTE: WALK routes are in beta and might sometimes be missing clear sidewalks or pedestrian paths. You must display this warning to the user for all walking that you display in your app.

Output Schema

ComputeRoutesResponse.

ComputeRoutesResponse

JSON representation 
{
  "routes": [
    {
      object (Route)
    }
  ]
}
Fields
routes[]

object (Route)

Contains routes between the requested origin and destination. Currently only one route is returned.

Route

JSON representation 
{
  "distanceMeters": integer,
  "duration": string,
  "attribution": {
    object (Attribution)
  }
}
Fields
distanceMeters

integer

The travel distance of the route, in meters.
duration

string (Duration format)

The length of time needed to navigate the route.

A duration in seconds with up to nine fractional digits, ending with 's'. Example: "3.5s".
attribution

object (Attribution)

Required attribution to show with the route.

Duration

JSON representation 
{
  "seconds": string,
  "nanos": integer
}
Fields
seconds

string (int64 format)

Signed seconds of the span of time. Must be from -315,576,000,000 to +315,576,000,000 inclusive. Note: these bounds are computed from: 60 sec/min * 60 min/hr * 24 hr/day * 365.25 days/year * 10000 years
nanos

integer

Signed fractions of a second at nanosecond resolution of the span of time. Durations less than one second are represented with a 0 seconds field and a positive or negative nanos field. For durations of one second or more, a non-zero value for the nanos field must be of the same sign as the seconds field. Must be from -999,999,999 to +999,999,999 inclusive.

Attribution

JSON representation 
{
  "title": string,
  "url": string
}
Fields
title

string

The title to display for the attribution.
url

string

The URL to link to for the attribution.

Tool Annotations

Tool annotations are sent to MCP clients to describe the basic risk of a given tool. Most clients treat these hints as untrusted, but they can be used to decide when a confirmation prompt might be sent to a user.

Along with the title string, the following boolean hints are defined as follows:

  • readOnlyHint: If true, the tool doesn't modify its environment. Default: false.
  • destructiveHint: If true, then the tool can perform destructive actions. If false, then the tool can only perform additive actions. Default: true.
  • idempotentHint: If true, then calling the tool repeatedly with the same arguments will have no additional effect on its environment. Default: false.
  • openWorldHint: If true, then the tool can interact with an 'open world' of external entities. If false, then the tool can only interact with internal entities. For example, a web search tool would be open world, while a memory tool would not be open world.

Destructive Hint: ❌ | Idempotent Hint: ❌ | Read Only Hint: ✅ | Open World Hint: ❌