Search APICategory Search
If your search use case only requires POI results filtered by category, you may use the category endpoint. This endpoint will only return POI results which are categorized as specified.
List of available categories (note that category list is subject to change with new data release):
"(sub) urban", "access gateway", "administrative area", "administrative division", "adventure sports venue", "adventure vehicle", "advertising/marketing", "afghan", "african", "agricultural school", "agricultural supplies", "agricultural technology", "agriculture", "airfield", "airline", "airline access", "airport", "algerian", "ambulance unit", "american", "amphitheater", "amusement arcade", "amusement park", "amusement place", "anabranch", "animal services", "animal shelter", "antique/art", "apartment", ...Show more
Request
Format
GET https://<baseURL>/search/<versionNumber>/categorySearch/<query>.<ext>?key=<apiKey>[&typeahead=<typeahead>][&limit=<limit>][&ofs=<ofs>][&lat=<lat>][&lon=<lon>][&countrySet=<countrySet>][&radius=<radius>][&topLeft=<topLeft>][&btmRight=<btmRight>][&language=<language>][&extendedPostalCodesFor=<extendedPostalCodesFor>][&view=<view>]
Parameters
The table below describes the parameters that can be used in a request. Required parameters must be used or the call will fail. Optional parameters, which are highlighted with [square brackets], may be used. If there is a default value that will be assumed when an optional parameter is not used, it is shown in the table. The order of request parameters is not important.
| Parameter | Description | Req'd? | Type / Values | Default Value | Max Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| baseURL | Base URL for calling the API. | Yes | api.tomtom.com | — | — |
| versionNumber | Service version number. The current value is 2. | Yes | 2 | — | — |
| query | Query string. Must be properly URL encoded. | Yes | String | — | — |
| ext | Valid response formats are JSON, JSONP, JS or XML. | Yes | String | — | — |
| key | Your TomTom API Key. | Yes | String | — | — |
| [typeahead] | If the "typeahead" flag is set, the query will be interpreted as a partial input and the search will enter predictive mode. | No | Boolean | false | — |
| [limit] | Maximum number of responses that will be returned. | No | Integer | 10 | 100 |
| [ofs] | Starting offset of the returned results within the full result set. | No | Integer | 0 | 1900 |
|
[lat]
|
Latitude e.g. lat=37.337 lat./lon. where results should be biased. NOTE: supplying a lat./lon. without a radius will only bias the search results to that area. |
No | Float | — | — |
| [lon] | Longitude e.g. lon=-121.89 lat./lon. where results should be biased NOTE: supplying a lat./lon. without a radius will only bias the search results to that area. |
No | Float | — | — |
| [countrySet] | Comma separated string of country codes (e.g.: FR,ES). This will limit the search to the specified countries. The choice of view may restrict which countries are available and incompatible combinations will return error 400. | No | String | — | — |
| [radius] | If radius and position are set, the results will be constrained to the defined area. The radius parameter is specified in meters. | No | Integer | — | — |
| [topLeft] | Top left position of the bounding box. This is specified as a comma separated string composed by lat., lon. (e.g.: 37.553,-122.453). NOTE: Point-Radius parameters and Bounding box parameters are mutually exclusive, point radius parameters take precedence when both are passed in. |
No | Position | — | — |
|
[btmRight]
|
Bottom right position of the bounding box. This is specified as a comma separated string composed by lat., lon. (e.g.: 37.553,-122.453). NOTE: Point-Radius parameters and Bounding box parameters are mutually exclusive, point radius parameters take precedence when both are passed in. |
No | Position | — | — |
| [language] | Language in which search results should be returned. Should be one of supported IETF language tags, case insensitive. When data in specified language is not available for a specific field, default langauge is used. | No | String | — | — |
| [extendedPostalCodesFor] | Indexes for which extended postal codes should be included in the results. Available indexes are:
Value should be "POI" or "None" to disable extended postal codes. Usage examples:
Extended postal code is returned as an 'extendedPostalCode' property of an address. Availability is region-dependent. |
No | String | — | — |
| [view] | Geopolitical View. The context used to resolve handling disputed territories. Views include Unified, along with IN, PK, IL and MA, which are tailored for India, Pakistan, Israel and Morocco, respectively. | No | String | Unified. IN overrides in India. |
— |
Response
Format
For illustrative purposes the example below is neatly indented and includes all possible response fields. Actual responses are more compact and the fields present will vary based on the result type and the data available. See the response field documentation below for more information.
When requesting JSON output the response has the following structure:
{
"summary": {
"query": "pizza",
"queryType": "NON_NEAR",
"queryTime": 95,
"numResults": 10,
"offset": 0,
"totalResults": 247458,
"fuzzyLevel": 1,
"geoBias": {
"lat": 36.98844,
"lon": -121.97483
}
},
"results": []
}
Each element of the results array is in the format:
{
"type": "POI",
"id": "US/POI/p0/9033556",
"score": 5,
"dist": 0,
"info": "search:ta:840061001865142-US",
"poi": {
"name": "Upper Crust Pizza & Pasta",
"phone": "+(1)-(831)-4762333",
"url": "www.uppercrustsc.com/",
"categories": [
"pizza",
"restaurant"
],
"classifications": [
{
"code": "RESTAURANT",
"names": [
{
"nameLocale": "en-US",
"name": "pizza"
},
{
"nameLocale": "en-US",
"name": "restaurant"
}
]
}
]
},
"address": {
"streetNumber": "2501",
"streetName": "Soquel Dr",
"municipalitySubdivision": "Santa Cruz, Live Oak",
"municipality": "Santa Cruz, Live Oak",
"countrySecondarySubdivision": "Santa Cruz",
"countryTertiarySubdivision": "Santa Cruz",
"countrySubdivision": "CA",
"postalCode": "95065",
"extendedPostalCode": "950652023",
"countryCode": "US",
"country": "United States Of America",
"countryCodeISO3": "USA",
"freeformAddress": "2501 Soquel Dr, Santa Cruz, CA 95065",
"countrySubdivisionName": "California"
},
"position": {
"lat": 36.98844,
"lon": -121.97483
},
"viewport": {
"topLeftPoint": {
"lat": 36.98934,
"lon": -121.97596
},
"btmRightPoint": {
"lat": 36.98754,
"lon": -121.9737
}
},
"entryPoints": [
{
"type": "main",
"position": {
"lat": 36.98817,
"lon": -121.97487
}
}
],
"dataSources": {
"geometry": {
"id": "00004e4c-3100-3c00-0000-0000685e23c7"
}
}
}
Response fields
The tables below describe all of the fields that can appear in a response. Fields are listed by the response section they belong to and in the order that they appear in the response.
| Field | Description | Type / Values |
|---|---|---|
| Response | ||
| summary | Summary information about the search that was performed. | Summary |
| results | Result list, sorted in descending order by score. | Result[] |
| Summary | ||
| query | Query as interpreted by the search engine. | String |
| queryType | Response type. * see response types below. | String |
| queryTime | Time spent on resolving the query. | Integer |
| numResults | Number of Results in the response. | Integer |
| offset | Starting offset of the returned Results within the full Result set. | Integer |
| totalResults | Total number of Results found. | Integer |
| fuzzyLevel | Maximum fuzzy level required to provide Results. | Integer |
| geoBias | Position used to bias the Results. | LatLon |
| Result | ||
| type | Type of Result. | POI |
| id | Non-stable id for this Result. | String |
| score | Score of the Result. Larger score means that probability that a Result meets query criteria is higher. | Double |
| dist | Unit: meters. | Double |
| info | Information about original data source of the Result. | String |
| poi | Optional section. Only present if type == POI. | Poi |
| address | Structured address for the Result. | Address |
| position | Position of the Result. | LatLon |
| viewport | A viewport which can be used to display the Result on a map. | Viewport |
| entrypoints | List of entry points of the POI. | Entrypoint[] |
| dataSources | Optional section. Reference ids for use with the Additional Data service. | DataSources |
| Poi | ||
| name | Name of the POI. | String |
| phone | Telephone number. | String |
| url | Website URL. | String |
| categories | The list of POI categories. DEPRECATED1: Use classifications instead. |
Category[] |
| classifications | The list of POI category classifications. | Classification[] |
| Classification | ||
| code | Fixed top level category code. | Category Code |
| names | List of category names with locale code. information. Currently only "en-US" locale is returned. | Name[] |
| Name | ||
| nameLocale | Locale code of this category name. | String |
| name | Category name in given locale. | String |
| Address | ||
| streetNumber | The building number on the street. | String |
| streetName | The street name. | String |
| municipalitySubdivision | Sub / Super City. | String |
| municipality | City / Town. | String |
| countrySecondarySubdivision | County. | String |
| countryTertiarySubdivision | Named Area. | String |
| countrySubdivision | State or Province. | String |
| postalCode | Postal Code / Zip Code. | String |
| extendedPostalCode | Extended postal code (availability dependent on region). | String |
| countryCode | Country. | String |
| country | Country name. | String |
| countryCodeISO3 | ISO alpha-3 country code. | String |
| freeformAddress | An address line formatted according to formatting rules of Result's country of origin or in case of countries it's full country name. | String |
| countrySubdivisionName | A full name of a first level of country administrative hierarchy. This field appears only in case countrySubdivision is presented in an abbreviated form. Supported only for USA, Canada and Great Britain. | String |
| Viewport | ||
| topLeftPoint | Top left corner of the rectangle. | LatLon |
| btmRightPoint | Bottom right corner of the rectangle. | LatLon |
| Entrypoint | ||
| type | Main entry point. | One of:
|
| position | Position of the entry point. | LatLon |
| DataSources | ||
| geometry | Information about the geometric shape of the result. Only present if type == Geography or POI. | Geometry |
| LatLon | ||
| lat | Latitude. | Double |
| lon | Longitude. | Double |
Response codes
| Code | Meaning and possible causes |
|---|---|
| 200 | OK: the search successfully returned zero or more results. |
| 400 | Bad Request: one or more parameters were incorrectly specified. |
| 403 | Forbidden: possible causes include:
|
| 405 | Method Not Allowed: the HTTP method (GET, POST, etc) is not supported for this request. |
| 404/596 | Not Found: the HTTP request method (GET, POST, etc) or path is incorrect. |
| 5xx | Server Error: the service was unable to process your request. Contact support to resolve the issue. |
Response headers
| Header | Description | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Access-Control-Allow-Origin | Ensures that clients that implement the CORS security model are able to access the response from this service. | * |
| Content-Type | Indicates the format of the response, as chosen by the client. Format: type/subtype; charset=utf-8 | type/subtype is one of:
|
1May 1, 2018: The categories response field has been deprecated and will be withdrawn following a 12 month deprecation period. The planned withdrawal date is May 1, 2019.