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Using session tokens

Session tokens group the query and selection phases of a user autocomplete search into a discrete session for billing purposes. The following examples show how to use session tokens in Autocomplete (New) and Place Details (New) calls.

Create a session token

Users are responsible for generating unique session tokens for each session. Google recommends using version 4 UUIDs.

Note: Session tokens can overlap across Google Cloud Console projects, but they must be unique per project. For example, an app using Project A and an app using Project B can use the same session token, but multiple apps using Project A cannot use the same session token.

Make an Autocomplete (New) request

An Autocomplete (New) request is an HTTP POST request. For more information about request body parameters, see Place Autocomplete (New) requests.

The following series of requests show a user searching for a pizza shop in San Francisco. As the user begins typing a query, Autocomplete (New) is called for each keystroke. The generated session token is passed as a parameter in each call.

First request and response

Request 1

curl -X POST -d '{
  "input": "p",
  "sessionToken": "3519edfe-0f75-4a30-bfe4-7cbd89340b2c",
  "locationBias": {
    "circle": {
      "center": {
        "latitude": 37.7937,
        "longitude": -122.3965
      },
      "radius": 500.0
    }
  }
}' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -H "X-Goog-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places:autocomplete

Response 1

{
  "suggestions": [
    {
      "placePrediction": {
        "place": "places/ChIJHSGzi_yAhYARnrPmDWAx9ro",
        "placeId": "ChIJHSGzi_yAhYARnrPmDWAx9ro",
        "text": {
          "text": "PIER 39, The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA, USA",
          "matches": [
            {
              "endOffset": 1
            }
          ]
        },
        "structuredFormat": {
          "mainText": {
            "text": "PIER 39",
            "matches": [
              {
                "endOffset": 1
              }
            ]
          },
          "secondaryText": {
            "text": "The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA, USA"
          }
        },
        "types": [
          "historical_landmark",
          "shopping_mall",
          "point_of_interest",
          "establishment",
          "marina",
          "tourist_attraction"
        ]
      }
    },
  ]
   / ... /
}

Second request and response

Request 2

curl -X POST -d '{
  "input": "pi",
  "sessionToken": "3519edfe-0f75-4a30-bfe4-7cbd89340b2c",
  "locationBias": {
    "circle": {
      "center": {
        "latitude": 37.7937,
        "longitude": -122.3965
      },
      "radius": 500.0
    }
  }
}' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -H "X-Goog-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places:autocomplete

Response 2

{
  "suggestions": [
    {
      "placePrediction": {
        "place": "places/ChIJHSGzi_yAhYARnrPmDWAx9ro",
        "placeId": "ChIJHSGzi_yAhYARnrPmDWAx9ro",
        "text": {
          "text": "PIER 39, The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA, USA",
          "matches": [
            {
              "endOffset": 2
            }
          ]
        },
        "structuredFormat": {
          "mainText": {
            "text": "PIER 39",
            "matches": [
              {
                "endOffset": 2
              }
            ]
          },
          "secondaryText": {
            "text": "The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA, USA"
          }
        },
        "types": [
          "establishment",
          "point_of_interest",
          "shopping_mall",
          "marina",
          "historical_landmark",
          "tourist_attraction"
        ]
      }
    },
  /.../
  ]
}

Third request and response

Request 3

curl -X POST -d '{
  "input": "piz",
  "sessionToken": "3519edfe-0f75-4a30-bfe4-7cbd89340b2c",
  "locationBias": {
    "circle": {
      "center": {
        "latitude": 37.7937,
        "longitude": -122.3965
      },
      "radius": 500.0
    }
  }
}' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -H "X-Goog-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places:autocomplete

Response 3

{
  "suggestions": [
    {
      "placePrediction": {
        "place": "places/ChIJ_QJSSfGAhYARQVFJBNKy3HE",
        "placeId": "ChIJ_QJSSfGAhYARQVFJBNKy3HE",
        "text": {
          "text": "Pizza By The Slice, Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA, USA",
          "matches": [
            {
              "endOffset": 3
            }
          ]
        },
        "structuredFormat": {
          "mainText": {
            "text": "Pizza By The Slice",
            "matches": [
              {
                "endOffset": 3
              }
            ]
          },
          "secondaryText": {
            "text": "Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA, USA"
          }
        },
        "types": [
          "establishment",
          "point_of_interest",
          "food",
          "pizza_restaurant",
          "restaurant"
        ]
      }
    },
  /.../
  ]
}

Note: You can use the optional inputOffset parameter to specify the position of the cursor in the input field.

End the session

Terminate a session by making a request to Place Details (New) or Address Validation and passing the same session token that you used for the Autocomplete (New) requests.

Make a Place Details (New) request

A Place Details (New) request is an HTTP GET request. For more information about request body parameters, see Place Details (New) requests.

The following Place Details (New) request includes the selected place's id and the sessionToken used in previous Autocomplete (New) calls.

curl -X GET -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H "X-Goog-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "X-Goog-FieldMask: id,displayName,accessibilityOptions,businessStatus" \
https://places.googleapis.com/v1/places/ChIJ_QJSSfGAhYARQVFJBNKy3HE?sessionToken=3519edfe-0f75-4a30-bfe4-7cbd89340b2c

Using a place id of ChIJ_QJSSfGAhYARQVFJBNKy3HE, the call generates the following JSON response:

{
  "id": "ChIJ_QJSSfGAhYARQVFJBNKy3HE",
  "businessStatus": "OPERATIONAL",
  "displayName": {
    "text": "Pizza By The Slice",
    "languageCode": "en"
  },
  "accessibilityOptions": {
    "wheelchairAccessibleParking": false,
    "wheelchairAccessibleEntrance": true
  }
}

Make an Address Validation request

An Address Validation request is an HTTP POST request. For more information about request body parameters, see Send an address validation request.

The following Address Validation request includes the address of the selected place, found in the text field of the Autocomplete (New) response, and the sessionToken used in previous Autocomplete (New) calls.

    curl -X POST -d '{
      "sessionToken": "3519edfe-0f75-4a30-bfe4-7cbd89340b2c",
      "address": {
        "addressLines": "Pizza By The Slice, Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA, USA"
      }
    }' \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    "https://addressvalidation.googleapis.com/v1:validateAddress?key=YOUR_API_KEY"

The call generates the following JSON response:

    {
      "result": {
        "verdict": {
          "inputGranularity": "PREMISE",
          "validationGranularity": "PREMISE",
          "geocodeGranularity": "PREMISE",
          "hasInferredComponents": true
        },
        "address": {
          "formattedAddress": "Pizza By The Slice, Grant Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133, USA",
          "postalAddress": {
            "regionCode": "US",
            "languageCode": "en",
            "postalCode": "94133",
            "administrativeArea": "CA",
            "locality": "San Francisco",
            "addressLines": [
              "Pizza By The Slice",
              "Grant Ave"
            ]
          },
          "addressComponents": [
            {
              "componentName": {
                "text": "Pizza By The Slice",
                "languageCode": "en"
              },
              "componentType": "point_of_interest",
              "confirmationLevel": "CONFIRMED"
            },
            {
              "componentName": {
                "text": "Grant Avenue",
                "languageCode": "en"
              },
              "componentType": "route",
              "confirmationLevel": "CONFIRMED"
            },
            {
              "componentName": {
                "text": "San Francisco",
                "languageCode": "en"
              },
              "componentType": "locality",
              "confirmationLevel": "CONFIRMED"
            },
            {
              "componentName": {
                "text": "CA",
                "languageCode": "en"
              },
              "componentType": "administrative_area_level_1",
              "confirmationLevel": "CONFIRMED"
            },
            {
              "componentName": {
                "text": "USA",
                "languageCode": "en"
              },
              "componentType": "country",
              "confirmationLevel": "CONFIRMED"
            },
            {
              "componentName": {
                "text": "94133"
              },
              "componentType": "postal_code",
              "confirmationLevel": "CONFIRMED",
              "inferred": true
            }
          ],
          "missingComponentTypes": [
            "street_number"
          ]
        },
        "geocode": {
          "location": {
            "latitude": 37.800504,
            "longitude": -122.4074794
          },
          "plusCode": {
            "globalCode": "849VRH2V+62"
          },
          "bounds": {
            "low": {
              "latitude": 37.800504,
              "longitude": -122.4074794
            },
            "high": {
              "latitude": 37.800504,
              "longitude": -122.4074794
            }
          },
          "featureSizeMeters": 10,
          "placeId": "ChIJ_QJSSfGAhYARQVFJBNKy3HE",
          "placeTypes": [
            "food",
            "restaurant",
            "point_of_interest",
            "establishment"
          ]
        },
        "uspsData": {
          "standardizedAddress": {
            "firstAddressLine": "PIZZA BY THE SLICE",
            "secondAddressLine": "GRANT AVE",
            "cityStateZipAddressLine": "SAN FRANCISCO",
            "city": "SAN FRANCISCO",
            "state": "CA",
            "zipCode": "94133"
          },
          "dpvFootnote": "A1M1",
          "postOfficeCity": "SAN FRANCISCO",
          "postOfficeState": "CA"
        }
      },
      "responseId": "4b669675-2c3b-463a-ae20-400248cf6ac9"
    }

Abandon a session

A session terminates if the user abandons the session. For example, if a user begins searching for a pizza shop but does not select a place (triggering a Place Details (New) call) or validate the address (triggering an Address Validation call), the session terminates and the session token expires.