Prerequisites

• Rube MCP must be connected (RUBESEARCHTOOLS available)
• Active connection via RUBEMANAGECONNECTIONS with toolkit google_maps
• Always call RUBESEARCHTOOLS first to get current tool schemas

Setup

Get Rube MCP: Add https://rube.app/mcp as an MCP server in your client configuration. No API keys needed — just add the endpoint and it works.

1. Verify Rube MCP is available by confirming RUBESEARCHTOOLS responds
2. Call RUBEMANAGECONNECTIONS with toolkit google_maps
3. If connection is not ACTIVE, follow the returned auth link to complete setup
4. Confirm connection status shows ACTIVE before running any workflows

Core Workflows

1. Geocode an Address

Use GOOGLEMAPSGEOCODING_API to convert a street address into geographic coordinates (latitude/longitude).

Tool: GOOGLE_MAPS_GEOCODING_API
Parameters:
  - address: Street address or plus code to geocode
  - latlng: Lat/lng for reverse geocoding (e.g., "40.714224,-73.961452")
  - place_id: Place ID for place geocoding
  - language: Language for results
  - region: Region bias (ccTLD code)
  - bounds: Bounding box for viewport bias
  - components: Component filter (e.g., "postal_code:94043|country:US")

2. Search for Places

Use GOOGLEMAPSTEXT_SEARCH to find places using a free-text query.

Tool: GOOGLE_MAPS_TEXT_SEARCH
Parameters:
  - textQuery (required): Search text (e.g., "restaurants in London")
  - fieldMask: Fields to return (e.g., "displayName,formattedAddress,rating")
  - maxResultCount: Max results (1-20, default 10)

3. Get Directions Between Two Locations

Use GOOGLEMAPSGET_ROUTE to calculate routes with distance and duration.

Tool: GOOGLE_MAPS_GET_ROUTE
Parameters:
  - origin_address (required): Starting point (address or "lat,lng")
  - destination_address (required): End point (address or "lat,lng")
  - travelMode: DRIVE, BICYCLE, WALK, TWO_WHEELER, or TRANSIT
  - routingPreference: TRAFFIC_UNAWARE, TRAFFIC_AWARE, TRAFFIC_AWARE_OPTIMAL
  - computeAlternativeRoutes: Return alternative routes (boolean)
  - units: METRIC or IMPERIAL
  - languageCode: BCP-47 language code
  - routeModifiers_avoidTolls / avoidHighways / avoidFerries: Route preferences

4. Compute Distance Matrix

Use GOOGLEMAPSCOMPUTEROUTEMATRIX to calculate distances and durations between multiple origins and destinations.

Tool: GOOGLE_MAPS_COMPUTE_ROUTE_MATRIX
Parameters:
  - origins (required): Array of origin locations (address strings or lat/lng objects)
  - destinations (required): Array of destination locations
  - travelMode: DRIVE, BICYCLE, WALK, TWO_WHEELER, or TRANSIT
  - routingPreference: TRAFFIC_UNAWARE, TRAFFIC_AWARE, TRAFFIC_AWARE_OPTIMAL
  - fieldMask: Response fields to include
  - units: METRIC or IMPERIAL

5. Get Place Details

Use GOOGLEMAPSGETPLACEDETAILS to retrieve comprehensive information about a specific place.

Tool: GOOGLE_MAPS_GET_PLACE_DETAILS
Description: Retrieves comprehensive details for a place using its resource
  name (places/{place_id} format). Returns hours, contacts, reviews, etc.
Note: Call RUBE_SEARCH_TOOLS to get the full schema for this tool.

6. Search Nearby Places

Use GOOGLEMAPSNEARBY_SEARCH to find places within a circular area around a point.

Tool: GOOGLE_MAPS_NEARBY_SEARCH
Parameters:
  - latitude (required): Center latitude (-90 to 90)
  - longitude (required): Center longitude (-180 to 180)
  - radius (required): Search radius in meters (max 50000)
  - includedTypes: Place types to include (e.g., ["restaurant", "cafe"])
  - excludedTypes: Place types to exclude
  - fieldMask: Fields to return
  - maxResultCount: Max results (1-20)

Common Patterns

• Geocode then route: Use GOOGLEMAPSGEOCODINGAPI to convert addresses to coordinates, then GOOGLEMAPSGETROUTE for directions between them.
• Search then detail: Use GOOGLEMAPSTEXTSEARCH to find places, then GOOGLEMAPSGETPLACE_DETAILS for richer metadata (hours, contacts, reviews).
• Autocomplete UX: Use GOOGLEMAPSAUTOCOMPLETE for type-ahead search suggestions as users type addresses or place names.
• Reverse geocode: Use GOOGLEMAPSGEOCODE_LOCATION to convert coordinates back to a human-readable address.
• Batch distance calculation: Use GOOGLEMAPSCOMPUTEROUTEMATRIX for many-to-many distance calculations instead of calling GOOGLEMAPSGET_ROUTE repeatedly.
• Embed maps: Use GOOGLEMAPSMAPSEMBEDAPI to generate embeddable map URLs for places, directions, or search results.

Known Pitfalls

• Route matrix results structure: GOOGLEMAPSCOMPUTEROUTEMATRIX returns results under data.elements with originIndex and destinationIndex plus distanceMeters and duration -- not a routes[] structure.
• Duration format: GOOGLEMAPSGETROUTE returns durations as strings like "937s" inside data.responsedata.routes. You must parse these before numeric comparisons.
• Place IDs for chaining: Use place identifiers returned from GOOGLEMAPSTEXTSEARCH when calling GOOGLEMAPSGETPLACE_DETAILS for richer fields.
• Reverse geocoding input: GOOGLEMAPSGEOCODE_LOCATION is coordinate-driven. Ensure you pass lat/lng (not an address string) to avoid mismatched lookups.
• Routing preference restrictions: routingPreference cannot be set when travelMode is WALK, BICYCLE, or TRANSIT -- it must be omitted for these modes.
• Nearby search type validity: "food" is NOT a valid type for GOOGLEMAPSNEARBYSEARCH (it is Table B). Use specific types like restaurant, cafe, bakery, fastfood_restaurant instead.
• Embed API uses API keys only: GOOGLEMAPSMAPSEMBEDAPI requires an API key and does not support OAuth2.

Quick Reference

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