nearby-places-search

Nearby Places Search

This skill searches for nearby places using the Google Places API (New). Requires a GOOGLE_PLACES_API_KEY environment variable.

When to Use

Use this skill — not web search — whenever the user asks to find a physical place near a location. This skill works for any location worldwide (e.g., "Hilton Saigon", "London", "Times Square") — it geocodes addresses and landmark names automatically.

Usage

Run the script with positional arguments:

python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/search_places.py" "<query>" "<location>" [--radius_meters <int>]

$SKILL_DIR means this skill's installed directory. If your agent does not set it automatically, replace it with the path to this nearby-places-search directory before running the command.

Parameters

• query: Type of place to search for (e.g., "coffee shop", "restaurant", "ATM")
• location: Address or place name (e.g., "London", "Times Square")
• --radius_meters (optional): Search radius in meters (1–50000). Default: 1000; the requested bound is honored.

Results are filtered by exact distance before ranking, including free-text searches; entries without valid coordinates are omitted. Short location names without a token longer than two characters bypass the memory cache and use geocoding.

Examples

python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/search_places.py" "coffee shop" "London"
python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/search_places.py" "restaurant" "Times Square" --radius_meters 500

Output

JSON object with a data.results array. Each result contains response.data.places, a list of places with displayName.text, formattedAddress, googleMapsUrl, and optionally rating and priceLevel.

Response Format

After running the script, present results exactly once as a concise numbered list:

Here are [type] near [location]:
1. **Name** — Address (price) ⭐ rating — [Maps](googleMapsUrl)
2. **Name** — Address (price) ⭐ rating — [Maps](googleMapsUrl)

• Price levels: PRICE_LEVEL_FREE = free, PRICE_LEVEL_INEXPENSIVE = $, PRICE_LEVEL_MODERATE = $$, PRICE_LEVEL_EXPENSIVE = $$$, PRICE_LEVEL_VERY_EXPENSIVE = $$$$. Omit if not present.
• Omit rating if not present.
• Always include the Google Maps link — every place has a googleMapsUrl field.

Do not repeat the list or add a second summary paragraph after it.

Prerequisites

GOOGLE_PLACES_API_KEY must be set as an environment variable.