Search for an address

Learn how to search for an address.

Find the location of addresses with the geocoding service using API key authentication

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

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.

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 > 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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    /* 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 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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    /* Use for API key authentication */
    const accessToken = "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN";

    // or

    /* 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: "YOUR_PORTAL_URL" // Your portal URL
    // })

    // const accessToken = session.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

Run the app.

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.