Find place addresses

Learn how to access the geocoding service.

Find places using API key authentication

Place finding is the process of searching for a place name or POI to find its address and location.

In this tutorial, you use the Geocoding service to find coffee shops within a specified location and distance.

Prerequisites

An ArcGIS Location Platform or ArcGIS Online account.

Steps

Get the starter app

Select a type of authentication below and follow the steps to create a new application.

If you are using the CDN libraries, to get started.

Set up authentication

Create developer credentials in your portal for the type of authentication you selected.

Create a new API key credential with the correct privileges to access the resources used in this tutorial.

Go to the Create an API key tutorial and create an API key with the following privilege(s):
- Privileges:
  - Location services > Geocoding
Copy the API key access token to your clipboard when prompted.

Set developer credentials

Use the API key or OAuth developer credentials so your application can access location services.

Update the accessToken variable to use your API key.

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    const accessToken = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN";

In both the index.html and callback.html files, replace YOUR_CLIENT_ID and YOUR_REDIRECT_URL with the client ID and redirect URL of your OAuth credentials.

index.html
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    const authentication = await arcgisRest.ArcGISIdentityManager.beginOAuth2({
       clientId: "YOUR_CLIENT_ID", // Your client ID from OAuth credentials
       redirectUri: "YOUR_REDIRECT_URL", // The redirect URL registered in your OAuth credentials
       portal: "https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest" // Your portal URL
    })

callback.html
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    arcgisRest.ArcGISIdentityManager.completeOAuth2({
      clientId: "YOUR_CLIENT_ID", // Your client ID from OAuth credentials
      redirectUri: "YOUR_REDIRECT_URL", // The redirect URL registered in your OAuth credentials
      portal: "https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest" // Your portal URL
    })

Run the app and ensure you can sign in successfully.

If you are unable to sign in, make sure you have the correct redirect URL and port. This URL varies based on your application and typically takes the format of https://<server>[:port]/callback.html or http://my-arcgis-app:/auth. For example, if you are running an application on http://127.0.0.1:5500/, set http://127.0.0.1:5500/callback.html as your redirect URL in the index.html and callback.html file and your developer credential. They all have to match!

Make the request

Copy and paste the code below, following the steps to make a request to the Geocoding service.

Reference the arcgis-rest-request and arcgis-rest-geocoding libraries either through CDN, ES Modules, or Node JS.
Define the parameters needed for the request.
Call the Geocoding service and handle the results.

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  <script>
    /* when including ArcGIS REST JS all exports are available
  from the same arcgisRest global */
    /* Use for API key authentication */

    const accessToken = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN";
    const authentication = arcgisRest.ApiKeyManager.fromKey(accessToken);

    // or

    /* Use for user authentication */
    // const authentication = await arcgisRest.ArcGISIdentityManager.beginOAuth2({
    //   clientId: "YOUR_CLIENT_ID", // Your client ID from OAuth credentials
    //   redirectUri: "YOUR_REDIRECT_URL", // The redirect URL registered in your OAuth credentials
    //   portal: "https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest" // Your portal URL
    // })

    arcgisRest
      .geocode({
        params: {
          category: "Coffee shop",
          location: "144.9850916862488,-37.798297645411",
          maxLocations: 20
        },
        outFields: "*",
        authentication
      })
      .then((response) => {
        console.log("Candidates:", response.candidates);
        document.getElementById("result").textContent = JSON.stringify(response.candidates, null, 2);
      });

  </script>
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Run the app

Run the app.

The result should look similar to this.

What's next?

Learn how to use additional ArcGIS location services in these tutorials:

Find a route and directions

Find a route and directions for an origin and destination by accessing the route service.

Get local data

Query regional facts, spending trends, and psychographics with the GeoEnrichment service.

Find service areas

Create a service area that can be reached from a location within a drive time with the route service.