documentation/autocomplete.md

Search with autocomplete

If you are building an end-user application, you can use the /autocomplete endpoint alongside /search to enable real-time feedback. This type-ahead functionality helps users find what they are looking for more easily, without requiring them to fully specify their search term. Typically, the user starts typing and a drop-down list appears where they can choose the term from the list below.

To build a query with autocomplete, you need a free, API developer key and a text parameter, representing what a user has typed into your application so far. Optionally, you can specify a geographic point where the search is focused, this will allow users to see more local places in the results.

User experience guidelines

There are two user experience pitfalls to watch out for when implementing a client-side typeahead solution:

Requests must be throttled. The client must only send a maximum of one or two requests per second. Sending requests more frequently than this will result in a sluggish network and laggy user interface for mobile consumers. A general rule is to account for fast typers by batching their keystrokes and sending the input text no more than twice per second. Mapzen Search limits the amount of requests per second (per api key), so be sure to account for those limits in your throttle code. Learn more in this interactive demo.

Responses are asynchronous. There is no guarantee that responses will be returned in the same order they were requested. If you were to send two queries synchronously, first 'Lo' then 'London', you may find the 'London' response would arrive before the 'Lo' response. This will result in a quick flash of 'London' results followed by the results for 'Lo', which can confuse the user. You must account for this behavior by storing the requested_at timestamps for each request and discarding older responses when they arrive late.

Global scope, local focus

To focus your search based upon a geographical area, such as the center of the user's map or at the device's GPS location, supply the parameters focus.point.lat and focus.point.lon. This boosts locally relevant results higher. For example, if you search for Union Square:

From San Francisco:

/v1/autocomplete?api_key=search-XXXXXXX&text=union%20square&focus.point.lat=37.7&focus.point.lon=-122.4

{
  "type": "Feature",
  "properties": {
    "label": "Union Square, San Francisco, CA"
  },
  "geometry": {
    "type": "Point",
    "coordinates": [
      -122.40776,
      37.78576
    ]
  }
}

From New York City:

/v1/autocomplete?api_key=search-XXXXXXX&text=union%20square&focus.point.lat=40.7&focus.point.lon=-73.9

{
  "type": "Feature",
  "properties": {
    "label": "Union Square, Manhattan, NY"
  },
  "geometry": {
    "type": "Point",
    "coordinates": [
      -73.99027,
      40.73624
    ]
  }
}

The /autocomplete endpoint can promote nearby results to the top of the list, while still allowing important matches from farther away to be visible. For example, searching McDonalds with a focus on Berlin may result in other global locations being returned.

/v1/autocomplete?api_key=search-XXXXXXX&text=McDonalds&focus.point.lat=52.5&focus.point.lon=13.3

{
  "type": "Feature",
  "properties": {
    "label": "McDonald County, MO"
  },
  "geometry": {
    "type": "Point",
    "coordinates": [
      -94.348365135014,
      36.628682617601
    ]
  }
},
{
  "type": "Feature",
  "properties": {
    "label": "McDonald's, Berlin, Germany"
  },
  "geometry": {
    "type": "Point",
    "coordinates": [
      13.33236,
      52.504232
    ]
  }
},
{
  "type": "Feature",
  "properties": {
    "label": "McDonald's, Berlin, Germany"
  },
  "geometry": {
    "type": "Point",
    "coordinates": [
      13.306792,
      52.500007
    ]
  }
}
[...]

Available autocomplete parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Example
api_key	string	yes	none	get yours here
text	string	yes	none	Union Square
focus.point.lat	floating point number	no	none	48.581755
focus.point.lon	floating point number	no	none	7.745843