# Get started with Mapzen Search

[Mapzen Search](https://mapzen.com/projects/search) is a modern, geographic search service based entirely on open-source tools and powered entirely by open data. To start integrating Mapzen Search to your apps, you need a [free, developer API key](api-keys-rate-limits.md). You might use this functionality in any app that has a geographic component, including ones that deliver goods, locate hotels or venues, or even provide local weather forecasts.

Through a process known as [geocoding](search.md), Mapzen Search allows you to use natural language to find a particular place by entering an address or the name of a landmark or business, and then translates the result in to the geographic coordinates used by computers. Mapzen Search accesses [global databases](data-sources.md) of place names and locations, but you can receive more locally relevant search results by limiting the search to a particular radius around a location (such as a cell phone), region, or country. With text [autocompletion capabilities](autocomplete.md), you can search for places and match against Mapzen Search data in real-time. 

Mapzen Search also enables the opposite workflow, known as [reverse geocoding](reverse.md), to transform latitude and longitude values in to a list of places. This process attempts to find the name and address of the place nearest a longitude and latitude pair. For example, you can click a postion on the map to learn which business is located there.

Behind the scenes of your app, Mapzen Search can improve the quality of your own data by augmenting it with information where your users are located. You can pass the coordinates returned from Mapzen Search to other services, such as [Mapzen Turn-by-Turn](https://mapzen.com/projects/valhalla) that enables navigation and routing directions between points. Mapzen Search can also convert a geographic coordinate pair into the administrative boundary hierarchy containing it, such as a from the neighbourhood to the local administrative area, and on up to the country level. Getting this information can be useful when filtering for places in non-geographic databases.

Mapzen Search is powered by Pelias, an experimental, community-focused geocoder from Mapzen, is available for both commercial and non-commercial purposes. The [source code](https://github.com/pelias/pelias) is open to view and modify, and contributions are welcomed.