MCP Tools Reference: mapstools.googleapis.com

Tool: search_places

Call this tool when the user's request is to find places, businesses, addresses, locations, points of interest, or any other Google Maps related search.

Input Requirements (CRITICAL):

  1. text_query (string - MANDATORY): The primary search query. This must clearly define what the user is looking for.

    • Examples: 'restaurants in New York', 'coffee shops near Golden Gate Park', 'SF MoMA', '1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View, CA, USA', 'pets friendly parks in Manhattan, New York', 'date night restaurants in Chicago', 'accessible public libraries in Los Angeles'.
    • For specific place details: Include the requested attribute (e.g., 'Google Store Mountain View opening hours', 'SF MoMa phone number', 'Shoreline Park Mountain View address').

  2. location_bias (object - OPTIONAL): Use this to prioritize results near a specific geographic area.

    • Format: {"location_bias": {"circle": {"center": {"latitude": [value], "longitude": [value]}, "radius_meters": [value (optional)]}}}
    • Usage:
      • To bias to a 5km radius: {"location_bias": {"circle": {"center": {"latitude": 34.052235, "longitude": -118.243683}, "radius_meters": 5000}}}
      • To bias strongly to the center point: {"location_bias": {"circle": {"center": {"latitude": 34.052235, "longitude": -118.243683}}}} (omitting radius_meters).

  3. language_code (string - OPTIONAL): The language to show the search results summary in.

    • Format: A two-letter language code (ISO 639-1), optionally followed by an underscore and a two-letter country code (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2), e.g., en, ja, en_US, zh_CN, es_MX. If the language code is not provided, the results will be in English.

  4. region_code (string - OPTIONAL): The Unicode CLDR region code of the user. This parameter is used to display the place details, like region-specific place name, if available. The parameter canaffect results based on applicable law.

    • Format: A two-letter country code (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2), e.g., US, CA.

Instructions for Tool Call:

  • Location Information (CRITICAL): The search must contain sufficient location information. If the location is ambiguous (e.g., just "pizza places"), you must specify it in the text_query (e.g., "pizza places in New York") or use the location_bias parameter. Include city, state/province, and region/country name if needed for disambiguation.

  • Always provide the most specific and contextually rich text_query possible.

  • Only use location_bias if coordinates are explicitly provided or if inferring a location from a user's known context is appropriate and necessary for better results.

The following sample demonstrate how to use curl to invoke the search_places 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": "search_places",
    "arguments": {
      // provide these details according to the tool's MCP specification
    }
  },
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1
}'

Input Schema

Request message for SearchText.

SearchTextRequest

JSON representation 
{
  "textQuery": string,
  "languageCode": string,
  "regionCode": string,
  "pageSize": integer,
  "pageToken": string,

  // Union field _location_bias can be only one of the following:
  "locationBias": {
    object (LocationBias)
  }
  // End of list of possible types for union field _location_bias.
}
Fields
textQuery

string

Required. The text query.
languageCode

string

Optional. The language to request that the summary is returned in. If the language code is unspecified or unrecognized, the summary with a preference for English will be returned.

For example, "en" for English.

Current list of supported languages: https://developers.google.com/maps/faq#languagesupport.
regionCode

string

Optional. The Unicode country/region code (CLDR) of the location where the request is coming from. This parameter is used to display the place details, like region-specific place name, if available. The parameter can affect results based on applicable law.

For example, "US" for United States.

For more information, see https://www.unicode.org/cldr/charts/latest/supplemental/territory_language_information.html.

Note that 3-digit region codes are not currently supported.
pageSize

integer

Optional. The maximum number of places to return. The service may return fewer than this value.
pageToken

string

Optional. A page token, received from a previous SearchText call. Provide this to retrieve the subsequent page.

Union field _location_bias.

_location_bias can be only one of the following:
locationBias

object (LocationBias)

An optional region to bias the search results to. If an explicit location is in text_query, it will be used to bias the search results instead of this field.

LocationBias

JSON representation 
{
  "circle": {
    object (Circle)
  }
}
Fields
circle

object (Circle)

Optional. A circle defined by center point and radius. The radius_meters is optional. If not set, the results will be biased towards the center point.

Circle

JSON representation 
{
  "center": {
    object (google.type.LatLng)
  },

  // Union field _radius_meters can be only one of the following:
  "radiusMeters": number
  // End of list of possible types for union field _radius_meters.
}
Fields
center

object (google.type.LatLng)

Required. The center point of the circle.

Union field _radius_meters.

_radius_meters can be only one of the following:
radiusMeters

number

The radius of the circle in meters. The radius must be within 50,000 meters.

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].

Output Schema

Response message for SearchText.

SearchTextResponse

JSON representation 
{
  "places": [
    {
      object (PlaceView)
    }
  ],
  "summary": string,
  "nextPageToken": string
}
Fields
places[]

object (PlaceView)

Output only. The list of places that are mentioned in the summary.
summary

string

Output only. A natural language summary of the search results. The summary may contain zero-based citations like "[0]", "[1]", "[2]" etc. These citations map to the corresponding places in the places field.
nextPageToken

string

Optional. A token that can be sent as page_token to retrieve the next page.

PlaceView

JSON representation 
{
  "place": string,
  "id": string,
  "googleMapsLinks": {
    object (GoogleMapsLinks)
  },

  // Union field _location can be only one of the following:
  "location": {
    object (google.type.LatLng)
  }
  // End of list of possible types for union field _location.
}
Fields
place

string

The resource name of the underlying place, in the format of "places/{id}".
id

string

The place ID of the underlying place.
googleMapsLinks

object (GoogleMapsLinks)

Links to trigger different Google Maps actions.

Union field _location.

_location can be only one of the following:
location

object (google.type.LatLng)

The position of this place.

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].
JSON representation 
{
  "directionsUrl": string,
  "placeUrl": string,
  "writeAReviewUrl": string,
  "reviewsUrl": string,
  "photosUrl": string
}
Fields
directionsUrl

string

A link to show the directions to the place. The link only populates the destination location and uses the default travel mode DRIVE.
placeUrl

string

A link to show this place.
writeAReviewUrl

string

A link to write a review for this place on Google Maps.
reviewsUrl

string

A link to show reviews of this place on Google Maps.
photosUrl

string

A link to show reviews of this place on Google Maps.

Tool Annotations

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