How to build a place finding app

1. Select a category
Find one or more category IDs with the category finder.
2. Search for places
Perform a search either near a location or within an extent.
3. Get place details
Request attributes to learn more about each place.

1. Select a category

The first step is to identify one or more place categories for the types of places you are interested in. Categories are used to help filter search results so only the type of places you are interested in are returned. All categories have a name and a unique ID. To help find the appropriate category (and ID) you can use the /categories request.

The steps to find a category are:

Reference the places service.
Define a filter category.
Set the access token.

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https://places-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/places-service/v1/categories?filter=<CATEGORY>&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>&f=pjson

APIs

ArcGIS REST JS

ArcGIS API for Python

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import { ApiKeyManager } from "@esri/arcgis-rest-request";
import { getCategories,searchCategories,getCategory } from "@esri/arcgis-rest-places";

const apiKey = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN";

const authentication = ApiKeyManager.fromKey(apiKey);


getCategories({
  authentication
}).then((results)=>{
  console.log(JSON.stringify(results,null,2));
});

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REST API

cURL

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curl 'https://places-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/places-service/v1/categories?token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>&f=pjson'

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{
  "categories": [
    {
      "categoryId": "10000",
      "fullLabel": [
        "Arts and Entertainment"
      ],
      "parents": []
    },
    {
      "categoryId": "10001",
      "fullLabel": [
        "Arts and Entertainment",
        "Amusement Park"
      ],
      "parents": [
        "10000"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categoryId": "10002",
      "fullLabel": [
        "Arts and Entertainment",
        "Aquarium"
      ],
      "parents": [
        "10000"
      ]
    }
    // More categories
  ]
}

See full category list

2. Search for places

The next step is to perform a search with /near-point or /within-extent. To filter and return the best results, you should provide a list of categories and/or keywords when you search. When places are returned, they contain attributes such as name, placeId, location, and categories. You can use the place attributes to display them on a map or to get more details about each place.

You can perform the following types of place search with the JavaScript Maps SDK, scripting APIs, or open source libraries. The general steps are to:

Reference the places service.
Set the min and max x and y values for the radius or extent, as well as the categoryIds.
Set the access token.

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https://places-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/places-service/v1/places/near-point?x=<LONGITUDE>&y=<LATITUDE>&radius=<METERS>&categoryIds=<IDs>&pageSize=<SIZE>&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>&f=pjson

APIs

ArcGIS REST JS

ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript

ArcGIS API for Python

Esri Leaflet

MapLibre GL JS

OpenLayers

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findPlacesNearPoint({
  x: 24.938,
  y: 60.169,
  categoryIds: ["16026", "16041", "10027"],
  radius: 500,
  authentication,
}).then(results => {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(results.places, null, 2))
})

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REST API

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HTTP

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curl 'https://places-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/places-service/v1/places/near-point' \
-d 'x=24.938' \
-d 'y=60.169' \
-d 'radius=500' \
-d 'categoryIds=16026,16041,16032' \
-d 'token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
-d 'f=pjson'

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{
    "results": [
        {
            "placeId": "ab756a46cd59b2998f386367fd11e7cd",
            "location": {
                "x": 24.937485,
                "y": 60.168314
            },
            "categories": [
                {
                    "categoryId": "10027",
                    "label": "Museum"
                }
            ],
            "name": "Amos Andersonin taidemuseo",
            "distance": 81.4
        },
        {
            "placeId": "cc8b3eb4e906e8d3e1fbf0d9413e2b74",
            "location": {
                "x": 24.939931,
                "y": 60.169082
            },
            "categories": [
                {
                    "categoryId": "16041",
                    "label": "Plaza"
                }
            ],
            "name": "Ylioppilasaukio",
            "distance": 107.2
        },
        // more results...
    ],
    "pagination": {
        "nextUrl": "https://places-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/places-service/v1/places/within-extent?xmin=24.89700000&ymin=60.15900000&xmax=24.97900000&ymax=60.17800000&categoryIds=16026,10027,16032&f=pjson&offset=20&pageSize=20"
    }
}

See full response

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https://places-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/places-service/v1/places/within-extent?xmin=<LONGITUDE>&ymin=<LATITUDE>&xmax=<LONGITUDE>&ymax=<LATITUDE>&categoryIds=<IDs>&pageSize=<SIZE>&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>&f=pjson

APIs

ArcGIS REST JS

ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript

ArcGIS API for Python

Esri Leaflet

MapLibre GL JS

OpenLayers

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findPlacesWithinExtent({
  xmin: 24.897,
  ymin: 60.159,
  xmax: 24.979,
  ymax: 60.178,
  categoryIds: ["16026", "10027", "16032", "16033", "16037"],
  authentication,
}).then(response => {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(response.results, null, 2));
});

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REST API

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HTTP

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curl 'https://places-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/places-service/v1//within-extent' \
-d 'xmin=24.897' \
-d 'ymin=60.159' \
-d 'xmax=24.979' \
-d 'ymax=60.178' \
-d 'categoryIds=["16026", "10027", "16032", "16033", "16037"]' \
-d 'token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \
-d 'f=pjson'

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{
  "results": [
    {
      "placeId": "6dcabdbdee17e4d57d64e50fd2bf5b67",
      "location": {
          "x": 24.92331,
          "y": 60.176246
      },
      "categories": [
          {
              "categoryId": "10028",
              "label": "Art Museum"
          }
      ],
      "name": "Reitzin säätiön kokoelmat"
  },
  {
      "placeId": "04db7e0fa56592edcb70a88a0c480fab",
      "location": {
          "x": 24.914545,
          "y": 60.159993
      },
      "categories": [
          {
              "categoryId": "16032",
              "label": "Park"
          }
      ],
      "name": "Selkämerenpuisto"
    },
    // more results...
  ],
    "pagination": {
        "nextUrl": "https://places-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/places-service/v1/places/within-extent?xmin=24.89700000&ymin=60.15900000&xmax=24.97900000&ymax=60.17800000&categoryIds=16026,10027,16032&f=pjson&offset=20&pageSize=20"
    }
}

See full response

3. Get place details

The last step is to request additional place attributes for each place by using the /places/{placeId} operation.

To get place details, you need to define the following:

Reference the places service.
Set the place ID returned from either a nearby or bounding box search.
Set the requestedFields parameter to specify the fields you want. The request fields are grouped into Place, Address, and/or Details price groups. The number of attributes returned can vary depending on the type of place.
Set the access token.

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https://places-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/places-service/v1/places/<placeId>?requestedFields=<place_details>&token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>&f=pjson

APIs

ArcGIS REST JS

ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript

ArcGIS API for Python

Esri Leaflet

MapLibre GL JS

OpenLayers

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arcgisRest
  .getPlaceDetails({
    placeId: "bd5f5dfa788b7c5f59f3bfe2cc3d9c60",
    requestedFields: ["name", "categories"],
    authentication,
  })
  .then(results => {
    console.log(JSON.stringify(results, null, 2))
  })

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REST API

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curl 'https://places-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/places-service/v1/places/bd5f5dfa788b7c5f59f3bfe2cc3d9c60' \
-d 'requestedFields=name,categories' \
-d 'f=pjson' \
-d 'token=<ACCESS_TOKEN>' \

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{
    "placeDetails": {
        "placeId": "bd5f5dfa788b7c5f59f3bfe2cc3d9c60",
        "categories": [
            {
                "categoryId": "12069",
                "label": "Government Department / Agency"
            }
        ],
        "name": "The White House"
    }
}

Additional resources

Tutorials

Find nearby places and details

Find points of interest near a location and get detailed information about them.

JavaScript Maps SDK Esri Leaflet MapLibre GL JS OpenLayers CesiumJS REST JS REST API

Find places in a bounding box

Perform a text-based search to find places within a bounding box.

Esri Leaflet MapLibre GL JS OpenLayers CesiumJS REST JS REST API