Google Maps Directions

engine=google_maps_directions

Returns Google Maps results as structured JSON, from the same endpoint every engine answers on.

Request

GET

Params

Send this parameter	Key	Value	Description
Authorization
	api_keyrequired		SearchApi.io API key; alternatively send 'Authorization: Bearer <key>'. This is the author's own SearchApi key, left here on purpose so you can run this page for real without signing up. Replace it with yours to run against your own account — whichever key is in this row is the one Run live spends credits on, and the one the address above and every code sample carry, so a key pasted here also travels in a link you share. Run, beside it, answers from a recording and spends nothing.
	api_key_preset	default	Which demo key to send. The working key resolves the recorded sample; the other two resolve the recorded 401 and 429 envelopes, so the path to an error state is the caller's real path.
Required
	start_addrrequired		Origin address of the route.
	end_addrrequired		Destination address of the route.
Targeting Only what you set is sent. Sending the API its own defaults back would ship a dozen parameters you never chose and bury the ones you did.
	gl	default	Country of the search (two-letter country code).
	hl	default	Interface language of the search (two-letter language code).
More Everything else this engine accepts, in the catalog's order.
	travel_mode		Travel mode of the route.

JSON

Nothing has been run yet. Send the request to see the recorded response.

Run answers from a recording served from disk. To call the API for real, paste your own key into the live run below.

Code

cURL

curl "https://www.searchapi.io/api/v1/search?engine=google_maps_directions&start_addr=Golden+Gate+Bridge%2C+San+Francisco%2C+CA&end_addr=Ferry+Building%2C+San+Francisco%2C+CA&api_key=E5oa7LbhkKN7YUyj4CwXppK8"

Only required parameters and parameters you set are sent — the request never repeats the API's own defaults back at it.

Use from an agent

Every engine in the catalog is reachable from an agent you already have open. Connect it once, then ask in words.

Connect

claude mcp add searchapi "<YOUR_MCP_URL>" --transport http

Create your MCP URL at https://www.searchapi.io/integrations/mcp and paste it over the placeholder. The connect flow is OAuth, so your API key never enters your client's config.

Ask

Using SearchApi's Google Maps Directions engine, run this search and summarise the results: start_addr = "Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA", end_addr = "Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA"

Follows the request above — change a parameter and this changes with it.

Call

Both describe the request the form above builds.

SearchApi's MCP server was read on 2026-08-11: remote over Streamable HTTP, 80+ tools, OAuth connect. Which engines its tool list covers was not verified here.

Parameters

5 parameters, read from the catalog at render time.

Parameters accepted by the google_maps_directions engine
Parameter	Type	Description
start_addrrequired	string	Origin address of the route.
end_addrrequired	string	Destination address of the route.
travel_mode	enum	Travel mode of the route. best driving two_wheeler transit walking cycling flight
gl	enum	Country of the search (two-letter country code). us (default) af al dz as ad ao ai aq ag ar am 227 more values
hl	enum	Interface language of the search (two-letter language code). en (default) af ak sq am ar hy az eu be bem bn 134 more values

Every request also carries

Three parameters are on every engine in the catalog: the engine being called, the key that authenticates the call, and the enterprise retention switch.

Parameters common to every engine
Parameter	Type	Description
enginerequired	string	Engine that retrieves the data; fixed per API (see Apis::BY_ENGINE keys).
api_keyrequired	string	SearchApi.io API key; alternatively send 'Authorization: Bearer <key>'.
zero_retention	boolean	Enterprise-only: disables all logging and persistent storage of the search. default: false