Find nearby places and details

Learn how to find places around a location with a keyword search.

Find nearby places and details using API key authentication

A nearby search finds places within a given radius of a location using the places service. The location typically represents a point on a map or the geolocation of a device.

To perform a nearby search, you use the places package from ArcGIS REST JS. With the results of the search, you can make another request to the service and return place attributes including the name, categories, ratings, and store hours.

In this tutorial, you use ArcGIS REST JS to perform a nearby search to find points of interest and return all available attributes associated with a place. You also use Calcite components to create a basic search interface.

Prerequisites

An ArcGIS Location Platform account.

Steps

Get the starter app

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

You can choose one of the following to create a new CodePen:

Option 1: Complete the Display a map tutorial; or,
Option 2: Start from the Display a map tutorial .

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 > Basemaps
  - Location services > Places
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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    /* Use for API key authentication */
    const accessToken = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"
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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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    /* Use for user authentication */
    const session = 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!

Add script references

Reference ArcGIS REST JS request and places packages to perform a bounding box search operation. You also reference the Calcite libraries to create the user interface.

Reference the routing and request packages from ArcGIS REST JS.

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    <!-- Load MapLibre from CDN -->
    <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" />

    <!-- ArcGIS REST JS: request and places -->
    <script src="https://unpkg.com/@esri/arcgis-rest-request@4/dist/bundled/request.umd.js"></script>
    <script
        src="https://unpkg.com/@esri/arcgis-rest-places@1/dist/bundled/places.umd.js"></script>

Reference the Calcite libraries.

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    <!-- Load MapLibre from CDN -->
    <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" />

    <!-- Calcite components -->
    <script type="module" src=https://js.arcgis.com/calcite-components/2.12.1/calcite.esm.js></script>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href=https://js.arcgis.com/calcite-components/2.12.1/calcite.css />

    <!-- ArcGIS REST JS: request and places -->
    <script src="https://unpkg.com/@esri/arcgis-rest-request@4/dist/bundled/request.umd.js"></script>
    <script
        src="https://unpkg.com/@esri/arcgis-rest-places@1/dist/bundled/places.umd.js"></script>

Create a REST JS ApiKeyManager using your access token.

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        const authentication = arcgisRest.ApiKeyManager.fromKey(accessToken);
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Update interface

Change the map's viewpoint to [-118.46651, 33.98621] with a zoom of 14 to focus on Santa Monica, California.

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        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: 14, // starting zoom
            center: [-118.46651, 33.98621] // starting location [longitude, latitude]

        });

Inside <body>, copy and paste the following HTML to create a basic search interface.

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    <calcite-combobox id="categorySelect" placeholder="Filter by category" overlay-positioning="fixed"
        selection-mode="single">
        <calcite-combobox-item value="10000" text-label="Arts and Entertainment"></calcite-combobox-item>
        <calcite-combobox-item value="11000" text-label="Business and Professional Services"></calcite-combobox-item>
        <calcite-combobox-item value="12000" text-label="Community and Government"></calcite-combobox-item>
        <calcite-combobox-item value="13000" text-label="Dining and Drinking"></calcite-combobox-item>
        <calcite-combobox-item value="15000" text-label="Health and Medicine"></calcite-combobox-item>
        <calcite-combobox-item selected value="16000" text-label="Landmarks and Outdoors"></calcite-combobox-item>
        <calcite-combobox-item value="17000" text-label="Retail"></calcite-combobox-item>
        <calcite-combobox-item value="18000" text-label="Sports and Recreation"></calcite-combobox-item>
        <calcite-combobox-item value="19000" text-label="Travel and Transportation"></calcite-combobox-item>
    </calcite-combobox>
    <div class="contents">
        <calcite-flow id="flow">
            <calcite-flow-item>
                <calcite-list id="results">
                    <calcite-notice open>
                        <div slot="message">Click on the map to search for places around a location</div>
                    </calcite-notice>
                </calcite-list>
            </calcite-flow-item>
        </calcite-flow>
    </div>

    <div id="map"></div>
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Modify the styling for the map div element and body and add new styling for the search panel.

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        body {
            margin: 0;
            padding: 0;
            width: 100%;
            height: 100%;
            display: flex;
            flex-direction: row;
        }

        #map {
            position: absolute;
            left: 350px;
            top: 0;
            bottom: 0;
            right: 0;
            font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
            font-size: 14px;
            color: #323232;
            z-index: 1;
        }


        .contents {
            position: absolute;
            top: 44px;
            bottom: 0;
            left: 0;
            width: 350px;
            overflow-y: auto;
            overflow-x: hidden;
        }

        #categorySelect {
            margin: 5px;
            width: 340px;
        }

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Create a helper function to dynamically create and append calcite-block elements with specified attributes and icons to the panel.

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        const categorySelect = document.getElementById("categorySelect");
        const resultPanel = document.getElementById("results");
        const flow = document.getElementById("flow");
        let infoPanel;

        const setAttribute = (heading, icon, validValue) => {
            if (validValue) {
                const element = document.createElement("calcite-block");
                element.heading = heading;
                element.description = validValue;

                const attributeIcon = document.createElement("calcite-icon");
                attributeIcon.icon = icon;
                attributeIcon.slot = "icon";
                attributeIcon.scale = "m";

                element.appendChild(attributeIcon);
                infoPanel.appendChild(element);
            }
        };
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Set the search category

To perform a place search, you typically need a category ID. Each category ID corresponds to a unique category of place, such as "Chinese Restaurants" (13099) or "Sports and Recreation" (18000).

Declare global variables to track the active place category and clicked location. Set the active category to 16000, which corresponds to the Landmarks and Outdoors category of places.

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        let activeCategory = "16000";
        let userLocation, clickedPoint;

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Create an event handler that updates the activeCategory when a new category is selected from the dropdown.

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        let activeCategory = "16000";
        let userLocation, clickedPoint;

        categorySelect.addEventListener("calciteComboboxChange", e => {
            activeCategory = categorySelect.value;

        });
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Set the search area

A nearby search is defined by a user location and a radius. The places service will search for points of interest near the provided location within the search radius. Add a click handler to set the user location, then draw a circle around that point to represent the search radius.

Add a reference to Turf.js, which will be used to visualize the search extent.

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    <!-- Load MapLibre from CDN -->
    <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" />

    <!-- Calcite components -->
    <script type="module" src=https://js.arcgis.com/calcite-components/2.12.1/calcite.esm.js></script>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href=https://js.arcgis.com/calcite-components/2.12.1/calcite.css />

    <!-- ArcGIS REST JS: request and places -->
    <script src="https://unpkg.com/@esri/arcgis-rest-request@4/dist/bundled/request.umd.js"></script>
    <script
        src="https://unpkg.com/@esri/arcgis-rest-places@1/dist/bundled/places.umd.js"></script>

    <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@turf/turf@7.1.0/turf.min.js"></script>

Add a fill layer to your map to represent the area what will be searched. Add a global searchRadius variable equal to 750 meters.

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        let activeCategory = "16000";
        let userLocation, clickedPoint;

        const searchRadius = 750;

        map.once("load", () => {
            map.addSource("clicked-point", {
                type: "geojson",
                data: {
                    "type": "Feature",
                    "geometry": {
                        "type": "Point",
                        "coordinates": []
                    }
                }
            });
            map.addLayer({
                id: "search-location",
                source: 'clicked-point',
                type: "fill",
                paint: {
                    'fill-color': '#aaaaaa',
                    'fill-opacity': 0.25,
                    'fill-outline-color': '#000000',
                }
            })
        })
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Create a click event handler that saves the location of clicks on the map.

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        map.on('click', function (e) {
            userLocation = e.lngLat;

        })

        categorySelect.addEventListener("calciteComboboxChange", e => {
            activeCategory = categorySelect.value;

        });
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When a click is registered, use turf.circle to create a circle around the point with a radius in meters. Set the source of your fill layer to this circle.

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        map.on('click', function (e) {
            userLocation = e.lngLat;

            const searchArea = turf.circle([e.lngLat.lng, e.lngLat.lat], searchRadius, {
                steps: 36,
                units: "meters"
            });
            map.getSource('clicked-point').setData(searchArea);

        })

        categorySelect.addEventListener("calciteComboboxChange", e => {
            activeCategory = categorySelect.value;

        });
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Find places near a point

Once a location and category have been set, make a request to the places service to find places near a point.

Define a new function showPlaces. Inside, use the ArcGIS REST JS findPlacesNearPoint function to submit a request to the Places service. Pass the searchRadius, userLocation, activeCategory, and your authentication object.

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        map.once("load", () => {
            map.addSource("clicked-point", {
                type: "geojson",
                data: {
                    "type": "Feature",
                    "geometry": {
                        "type": "Point",
                        "coordinates": []
                    }
                }
            });
            map.addLayer({
                id: "search-location",
                source: 'clicked-point',
                type: "fill",
                paint: {
                    'fill-color': '#aaaaaa',
                    'fill-opacity': 0.25,
                    'fill-outline-color': '#000000',
                }
            })
        })

        map.on('click', function (e) {
            userLocation = e.lngLat;

            const searchArea = turf.circle([e.lngLat.lng, e.lngLat.lat], searchRadius, {
                steps: 36,
                units: "meters"
            });
            map.getSource('clicked-point').setData(searchArea);

        })

        categorySelect.addEventListener("calciteComboboxChange", e => {
            activeCategory = categorySelect.value;

        });

        function showPlaces() {

            arcgisRest.findPlacesNearPoint({
                x: userLocation.lng,
                y: userLocation.lat,
                categoryIds: activeCategory,
                radius: searchRadius,
                authentication
            })

        };
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Call the showPlaces function inside both of the event handlers.

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        map.once("load", () => {
            map.addSource("clicked-point", {
                type: "geojson",
                data: {
                    "type": "Feature",
                    "geometry": {
                        "type": "Point",
                        "coordinates": []
                    }
                }
            });
            map.addLayer({
                id: "search-location",
                source: 'clicked-point',
                type: "fill",
                paint: {
                    'fill-color': '#aaaaaa',
                    'fill-opacity': 0.25,
                    'fill-outline-color': '#000000',
                }
            })
        })

        map.on('click', function (e) {
            userLocation = e.lngLat;

            const searchArea = turf.circle([e.lngLat.lng, e.lngLat.lat], searchRadius, {
                steps: 36,
                units: "meters"
            });
            map.getSource('clicked-point').setData(searchArea);

            showPlaces();

        })

        categorySelect.addEventListener("calciteComboboxChange", e => {
            activeCategory = categorySelect.value;

            if (userLocation) showPlaces();

        });
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Display results on the map

The places service will return a list of places near your location that match the specified category. Display these results as points on your map.

Create a new list to store service results. When a new places request is made, remove all results from the map.

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        const currentPlaces = [];

        function showPlaces() {

            for (let place of currentPlaces) {
                place.remove();
            }
            resultPanel.innerHTML = "";

            arcgisRest.findPlacesNearPoint({
                x: userLocation.lng,
                y: userLocation.lat,
                categoryIds: activeCategory,
                radius: searchRadius,
                authentication
            })

        };
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Access the service response. For each result, add a MapLibre Marker to your map.

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            arcgisRest.findPlacesNearPoint({
                x: userLocation.lng,
                y: userLocation.lat,
                categoryIds: activeCategory,
                radius: searchRadius,
                authentication
            })

                .then((response) => {
                    response.results.forEach((result) => {

                        addResult(result);

                    });
                });

        };

        function addResult(place) {
            const marker = new maplibregl.Marker()
                .setLngLat([place.location.x, place.location.y])
                .addTo(map);
            currentPlaces.push(marker);

        }
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Display results in a list

To show more information about each place, you will also display place results as an element in a Calcite list.

Create a new calcite-list-item element to display place information. Set the item properties to display the place name, category, and distance from the user's click. Add the element to the list of results.

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        function addResult(place) {
            const marker = new maplibregl.Marker()
                .setLngLat([place.location.x, place.location.y])
                .addTo(map);
            currentPlaces.push(marker);

            const infoDiv = document.createElement("calcite-list-item");
            resultPanel.appendChild(infoDiv);

            const description = `
            ${place.categories[0].label} -
            ${Number((place.distance / 1000).toFixed(1))} km
        `;

            infoDiv.label = place.name;
            infoDiv.description = description;

        }
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When the HTML element is clicked, display a popup at the associated marker.

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        function addResult(place) {
            const marker = new maplibregl.Marker()
                .setLngLat([place.location.x, place.location.y])
                .addTo(map);
            currentPlaces.push(marker);

            const infoDiv = document.createElement("calcite-list-item");
            resultPanel.appendChild(infoDiv);

            const description = `
            ${place.categories[0].label} -
            ${Number((place.distance / 1000).toFixed(1))} km
        `;

            infoDiv.label = place.name;
            infoDiv.description = description;

            marker.id = place.placeId;
            marker.setPopup(new maplibregl.Popup().setText(place.name));
            infoDiv.addEventListener("click", e => {
                marker.togglePopup();

            })

        }
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Run the app. Clicking on the map should perform a place search and display results as markers on the map. Result names and categories should display in the results panel to the left.

Get place details

The user of your application should be able to click on a result in the panel in order to see more information about it. Perform an arcgisRest.getPlaceDetails request to obtain detailed attributes about a specific point of interest.

Create a new function getDetails. When a result is clicked, call getDetails and pass the marker associated with the result.

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        function addResult(place) {
            const marker = new maplibregl.Marker()
                .setLngLat([place.location.x, place.location.y])
                .addTo(map);
            currentPlaces.push(marker);

            const infoDiv = document.createElement("calcite-list-item");
            resultPanel.appendChild(infoDiv);

            const description = `
            ${place.categories[0].label} -
            ${Number((place.distance / 1000).toFixed(1))} km
        `;

            infoDiv.label = place.name;
            infoDiv.description = description;

            marker.id = place.placeId;
            marker.setPopup(new maplibregl.Popup().setText(place.name));
            infoDiv.addEventListener("click", e => {
                marker.togglePopup();

                getDetails(marker);

            })

        }

        function getDetails(marker) {

        }
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Call arcgisRest.getPlaceDetails to get more information about a specific POI. Pass the place id to the placeId parameter and provide authentication.

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        function getDetails(marker) {

            arcgisRest.getPlaceDetails({
                placeId: marker.id,
                requestedFields: ["all"],
                authentication
            })

        }
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Display place details

Display the resulting place details in a new panel.

Access the response from the places service and create a new calcite-flow-item element to display results. Add the flow item to the <flow> element.

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        function getDetails(marker) {

            arcgisRest.getPlaceDetails({
                placeId: marker.id,
                requestedFields: ["all"],
                authentication
            })

                .then((result) => {

                    map.flyTo({ center: marker.getLngLat() });

                    infoPanel = document.createElement("calcite-flow-item");
                    flow.appendChild(infoPanel);

                });

        }
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Set the name and description of the panel using the service response. Call the setAttribute helper function included with the starter code to display the rest of the attributes if they are valid. Select a Calcite UI icon for each attribute.

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                .then((result) => {

                    map.flyTo({ center: marker.getLngLat() });

                    infoPanel = document.createElement("calcite-flow-item");
                    flow.appendChild(infoPanel);

                    const placeDetails = result.placeDetails;
                    infoPanel.heading = placeDetails.name;
                    infoPanel.description = placeDetails.categories[0].label;

                    setAttribute("Description", "information", placeDetails?.description);
                    setAttribute("Address", "map-pin", placeDetails?.address?.streetAddress);
                    setAttribute("Phone", "mobile", placeDetails?.contactInfo?.telephone);
                    setAttribute("Hours", "clock", placeDetails?.hours?.openingText);
                    setAttribute("Rating", "star", placeDetails?.rating?.user);
                    setAttribute("Email", "email-address", placeDetails?.contactInfo?.email);
                    setAttribute("Website", "information", placeDetails?.contactInfo?.website?.split("://")[1].split("/")[0]);
                    setAttribute("Facebook", "speech-bubble-social", (placeDetails?.socialMedia?.facebookId) ? `www.facebook.com/${placeDetails.socialMedia.facebookId}` : null);
                    setAttribute("Twitter", "speech-bubbles", (placeDetails?.socialMedia?.twitter) ? `www.twitter.com/${placeDetails.socialMedia.twitter}` : null);
                    setAttribute("Instagram", "camera", (placeDetails?.socialMedia?.instagram) ? `www.instagram.com/${placeDetails.socialMedia.instagram}` : null);

                });
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When the info panel is closed, close any open map popups.

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        function getDetails(marker) {

            arcgisRest.getPlaceDetails({
                placeId: marker.id,
                requestedFields: ["all"],
                authentication
            })

                .then((result) => {

                    map.flyTo({ center: marker.getLngLat() });

                    infoPanel = document.createElement("calcite-flow-item");
                    flow.appendChild(infoPanel);

                    const placeDetails = result.placeDetails;
                    infoPanel.heading = placeDetails.name;
                    infoPanel.description = placeDetails.categories[0].label;

                    setAttribute("Description", "information", placeDetails?.description);
                    setAttribute("Address", "map-pin", placeDetails?.address?.streetAddress);
                    setAttribute("Phone", "mobile", placeDetails?.contactInfo?.telephone);
                    setAttribute("Hours", "clock", placeDetails?.hours?.openingText);
                    setAttribute("Rating", "star", placeDetails?.rating?.user);
                    setAttribute("Email", "email-address", placeDetails?.contactInfo?.email);
                    setAttribute("Website", "information", placeDetails?.contactInfo?.website?.split("://")[1].split("/")[0]);
                    setAttribute("Facebook", "speech-bubble-social", (placeDetails?.socialMedia?.facebookId) ? `www.facebook.com/${placeDetails.socialMedia.facebookId}` : null);
                    setAttribute("Twitter", "speech-bubbles", (placeDetails?.socialMedia?.twitter) ? `www.twitter.com/${placeDetails.socialMedia.twitter}` : null);
                    setAttribute("Instagram", "camera", (placeDetails?.socialMedia?.instagram) ? `www.instagram.com/${placeDetails.socialMedia.instagram}` : null);

                    infoPanel.addEventListener("calciteFlowItemBack", e => {
                        marker.togglePopup();
                    })

                });

        }
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Close the info panel when a new search is performed.

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        function showPlaces() {

            for (let place of currentPlaces) {
                place.remove();
            }
            resultPanel.innerHTML = "";

            if (infoPanel) infoPanel.remove();

            arcgisRest.findPlacesNearPoint({
                x: userLocation.lng,
                y: userLocation.lat,
                categoryIds: activeCategory,
                radius: searchRadius,
                authentication
            })

                .then((response) => {
                    response.results.forEach((result) => {

                        addResult(result);

                    });
                });

        };
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Run the app

Run the app.

The app should display a map with a result panel on the left, which will populate with values when the map is clicked. Upon clicking on a place result, more information about the place should appear in the panel.

What's next?

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

Find places in a bounding box

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

Find place addresses

Search for coffee shops, gas stations, restaurants and other nearby places with the Geocoding service.

Find a route and directions

Find a route and directions with the route service.