Search for an address

Learn how to find an address or place using a search box and the geocoding service.

Find the location of addresses with the geocoding service.

Geocoding is the process of converting address or place text to a location. The geocoding service provides address and place geocoding and reverse geocoding.

In this tutorial, you use ArcGIS REST JS to access the geocoding service. You use a simple input control to accept text and a button to execute a search for an address or place. When an address or place is located, a pop-up will appear with the name, location, and address, and the view will pan to it.

Prerequisites

You need an ArcGIS Location Platform or ArcGIS Online account.

Steps

Create a new pen

To get started, either complete the Display a map tutorial or .

Get an access token

You need an access token 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 > Basemaps
  - Location services > Geocoding
Copy the API key access token to your clipboard when prompted.

In CodePen, update the accessToken variable to use your access token.

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const accessToken = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN";
const basemapEnum = "arcgis/streets";
const map = new maplibregl.Map({
  container: "map", // the id of the div element
  style: `https://basemapstyles-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/styles/v2/styles/${basemapEnum}?token=${accessToken}`,
  zoom: 12, // starting zoom
  center: [-118.805, 34.027] // starting location [longitude, latitude]
});

To learn about the other types of authentication available, go to Types of authentication.

Add references to ArcGIS REST JS

This tutorial uses ArcGIS REST JS for geocoding.

In the <head> element, add references to the ArcGIS REST JS library.

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  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1,user-scalable=no" />
    <script src=https://unpkg.com/maplibre-gl@4/dist/maplibre-gl.js></script>
    <link href=https://unpkg.com/maplibre-gl@4/dist/maplibre-gl.css rel="stylesheet" />

    <script src="https://unpkg.com/@esri/arcgis-rest-request@4/dist/bundled/request.umd.js"></script>
    <script src="https://unpkg.com/@esri/arcgis-rest-geocoding@4/dist/bundled/geocoding.umd.js"></script>
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Update the map

A navigation basemap layer is typically used in geocoding and routing applications. Update the basemap layer to use arcgis/navigation.

Update the basemap and the map initialization to center on location [151.2093, -33.8688], Sydney.

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      const accessToken = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN";

      const basemapEnum = "arcgis/navigation";

      const map = new maplibregl.Map({
        container: "map",
        style: `https://basemapstyles-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/styles/v2/styles/${basemapEnum}?token=${accessToken}`,
        zoom: 13,

        center: [151.2093, -33.8688] // Sydney

      });
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Create geocoder controls

Use an HTML <input> control to type an address into, and a <button> control to initiate the query. Wrap them in a <div>.

To add the <div> element as a Map control, you create an object that implements the MapLibre GL JS IControl interface.

Create a GeocodeControl class with an onAdd function. Inside, create a <div> element with an <input> and a <button> inside. You can use document.createElement to create a template with this HTML inside. Return this element.

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      const map = new maplibregl.Map({
        container: "map",
        style: `https://basemapstyles-api.arcgis.com/arcgis/rest/services/styles/v2/styles/${basemapEnum}?token=${accessToken}`,
        zoom: 13,

        center: [151.2093, -33.8688] // Sydney

      });

      class GeocodeControl {
        onAdd(map) {
          const template = document.createElement("template");
          template.innerHTML = `
            <div id="geocode-container">
              <input id="geocode-input" class="maplibregl-ctrl" type="text" placeholder="Enter an address or place e.g. 1 York St" size="50" />
              <button id="geocode-button" class="maplibregl-ctrl">Geocode</button>
            </div>
          `;

          return template.content;
        }
      }
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Add the geocodeControl element to the top-left of the view.

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          return template.content;
        }
      }

      const geocodeControl = new GeocodeControl();
      map.addControl(geocodeControl, "top-left");
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Style the input box and button to be the same height.

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    <style>
      html,
      body,
      #map {
        padding: 0;
        margin: 0;
        height: 100%;
        width: 100%;
        font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
        font-size: 14px;
        color: #323232;
      }

      #geocode-container {
        display: inline-flex;
        margin: 20px;
      }
      #geocode-input,
      #geocode-button {
        font-size: 16px;
        margin: 0 2px 0 0;
        padding: 4px 8px;
      }
      #geocode-input {
        width: 300px;
      }

    </style>
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Call the geocoding service

When you click the button, call arcgisRest.geocode with the value of the search query. This uses the findAddressCandidates operation in the geocoding service.

For more control over geocoding, you can pass an IGeocodeOptions instead of a simple string.

Attach a click event handler to the button.

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      const geocodeControl = new GeocodeControl();
      map.addControl(geocodeControl, "top-left");

      document.getElementById("geocode-button").addEventListener("click", () => {

      });
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Inside the click handler, create a new arcgisRest.ApiKeyManager to access the geocoding service. Call arcgisRest.geocode with the user's search query. Set the params to include the center of the map and set outFields to * to return all fields.

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      document.getElementById("geocode-button").addEventListener("click", () => {

        const query = document.getElementById("geocode-input").value;
        const authentication = arcgisRest.ApiKeyManager.fromKey(accessToken);

        arcgisRest
          .geocode({
            singleLine: query,
            authentication,
            params: {
              location: map.getCenter().toArray().join(","), // center of map as longitude,latitude
              outFields: "*" // return all fields
            }
          })

      });
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Show the result

If the query is successful, the candidates property will contain at least one value. To display the first candidate on the map, create a pop-up and add it to the map.

Add a response handler. Inside, check that candidates contains at least one value. Use the location property to add a popup to the map and set the HTML of the popup to LongLabel to display the full address.

To add a popup to the map, you use the Popup class in MapLibre GL JS. See the Display a pop-up tutorial for more information.

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        arcgisRest
          .geocode({
            singleLine: query,
            authentication,
            params: {
              location: map.getCenter().toArray().join(","), // center of map as longitude,latitude
              outFields: "*" // return all fields
            }
          })

          .then((response) => {

            const result = response.candidates[0];
            if (!result) {
              alert("That query didn't match any geocoding results.");
              return;
            }
            const lngLat = [result.location.x, result.location.y];

            new maplibregl.Popup().setLngLat(lngLat).setHTML(result.attributes.LongLabel).addTo(map);

          })
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Use MapLibre GL JS's panTo method to center the map at the result.

This transitions the map smoothly from the current location to the result. To instantly reposition the map to that location, you could use jumpTo instead.

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            new maplibregl.Popup().setLngLat(lngLat).setHTML(result.attributes.LongLabel).addTo(map);

            map.panTo(lngLat);
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Handle errors

It is good practice to handle situations where there is a problem accessing the service. This could happen due to network disruption or a problem with your API key, for instance.

Check for issues accessing the geocoding service and alert the user.

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            new maplibregl.Popup().setLngLat(lngLat).setHTML(result.attributes.LongLabel).addTo(map);

            map.panTo(lngLat);

          })

          .catch((error) => {
            alert("There was a problem using the geocoder. See the console for details.");
            console.error(error);
          });
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Run the app

In CodePen, run your code to display the map.

In the input box, type "1 King St." or "Starbucks" and then click the Geocode button to find it's location. If a location is found, the map will zoom to it and display a pop-up with the address.

What's next?

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

Reverse geocode

Find an address near a location with the Geocoding service.

Find service areas

Calculate the area that can be reached in a given driving time from a location.

Find a route and directions

Find a route and directions with the route service.