Fetches live business hours, ratings, contact details, and location for up to 20 local businesses at once using their place IDs.
Best for: Building a list of nearby shops or restaurants with current info for a customer.
Creator's repository · brave/brave-search-skills
License: MIT
---
name: local-pois
description: USE FOR getting local business/POI details. Requires POI IDs obtained from web-search (with result_filter=locations). Returns full business information including ratings, hours, contact info. Max 20 IDs.
---
# Local POIs (Search API)
> **Requires API Key**: Get one at https://api.search.brave.com
>
> **Plan**: Included in the **Search** plan. See https://api-dashboard.search.brave.com/app/subscriptions/subscribe
>
> **Two-step flow**: This endpoint requires POI IDs from a prior web search.
>
> 1. Call `web-search` with `result_filter=locations` to get POI IDs from `locations.results[].id`
> 2. Pass those IDs to this endpoint to get full business details
## Quick Start (cURL)
### Get POI Details
```bash
curl -s "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/local/pois" \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
-H "Accept-Encoding: gzip" \
-H "X-Subscription-Token: ${BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY}" \
-G \
--data-urlencode "ids=loc4CQWMJWLD4VBEBZ62XQLJTGK6YCJEEJDNAAAAAAA="
```
### Multiple POIs with Location Headers
```bash
curl -s "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/local/pois" \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
-H "Accept-Encoding: gzip" \
-H "X-Subscription-Token: ${BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY}" \
-H "X-Loc-Lat: 37.7749" \
-H "X-Loc-Long: -122.4194" \
-G \
--data-urlencode "ids=loc4CQWMJWLD4VBEBZ62XQLJTGK6YCJEEJDNAAAAAAA=" \
--data-urlencode "ids=loc4HTAVTJKP4RBEBZCEMBI3NG26YD4II4PATIHPDYI=" \
--data-urlencode "units=imperial"
```
**Note**: POI IDs are opaque strings returned in web search `locations.results[].id`. IDs are ephemeral and expire after ~8 hours. The example IDs above are for illustration — fetch fresh IDs via `web-search` with `result_filter=locations`. Use `--data-urlencode` since IDs may contain `=`.
## Endpoint
```http
GET https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/local/pois
```
**Authentication**: `X-Subscription-Token: <API_KEY>` header
## Parameters
| Parameter | Type | Required | Default | Description |
|--|--|--|--|--|
| `ids` | string[] | **Yes** | — | POI IDs from web search results (1-20) |
| `search_lang` | string | No | `en` | Language preference (2+ char language code) |
| `ui_lang` | string | No | `en-US` | UI language (locale code, e.g., "en-US") |
| `units` | string | No | null | `metric` (km) or `imperial` (miles) |
### Location Headers (Optional)
For distance calculation from user location:
| Header | Type | Range | Description |
|--|--|--|--|
| `X-Loc-Lat` | float | -90.0 to 90.0 | User latitude |
| `X-Loc-Long` | float | -180.0 to 180.0 | User longitude |
## Response Fields
The response has `type: "local_pois"` and a `results` array of `LocationResult` objects:
| Field | Type | Description |
|--|--|--|
| `title` | string | Business/POI name |
| `url` | string | Canonical URL for the location |
| `provider_url` | string | Provider page URL |
| `type` | string | Always `"location_result"` |
| `id` | string | POI identifier (opaque string, valid ~8 hours) |
| `description` | string? | Short description |
| `postal_address.type` | string | Always `"PostalAddress"` |
| `postal_address.displayAddress` | string | Formatted display address |
| `postal_address.streetAddress` | string? | Street address |
| `postal_address.addressLocality` | string? | City |
| `postal_address.addressRegion` | string? | State/region |
| `postal_address.postalCode` | string? | Postal/ZIP code |
| `postal_address.country` | string? | Country code |
| `contact.telephone` | string? | Phone number |
| `contact.email` | string? | Email address |
| `rating.ratingValue` | float? | Average rating (≥0) |
| `rating.bestRating` | float? | Max possible rating |
| `rating.reviewCount` | int? | Number of reviews |
| `rating.profile.name` | string? | Rating provider name |
| `rating.profile.url` | string? | Rating provider URL |
| `opening_hours.current_day` | object[]? | Today's hours (`abbr_name`, `full_name`, `opens`, `closes`) |
| `opening_hours.days` | object[][]? | Hours for each day of the week (same structure) |
| `coordinates` | [float, float]? | `[latitude, longitude]` tuple |
| `distance.value` | float? | Distance from user location |
| `distance.units` | string? | Distance unit (`km` or `miles`) |
| `categories` | string[] | Business categories (default `[]`) |
| `price_range` | string? | Price indicator (`$`, `$$`, `$$$`, `$$$$`) |
| `serves_cuisine` | string[]? | Cuisine types (restaurants) |
| `thumbnail.src` | string? | Thumbnail image URL |
| `thumbnail.original` | string? | Original image URL |
| `profiles` | object[]? | External profiles (`name`, `url`, `long_name`, `img`) |
| `reviews.reviews_in_foreign_language` | bool | Whether reviews in a foreign language are available |
| `pictures.results` | object[]? | Photo thumbnails |
| `action` | object? | Action to take — has `type` (string) and `url` (string) |
| `results` | object[]? | Related web results (`LocationWebResult` with `meta_url`) |
| `timezone` | string? | IANA timezone (e.g., `America/Los_Angeles`) |
| `timezone_offset` | int? | UTC timezone offset |
### Example Response
```json
{
"type": "local_pois",
"results": [
{
"type": "location_result",
"title": "Park Mediterranean Grill",
"url": "https://yelp.com/biz/park-mediterranean-grill-sf",
"provider_url": "https://yelp.com/biz/park-mediterranean-grill-sf",
"id": "loc4CQWMJWLD4VBEBZ62XQLJTGK6YCJEEJDNAAAAAAA=",
"postal_address": {
"type": "PostalAddress",
"displayAddress": "123 Main St, San Francisco, CA 94102",
"streetAddress": "123 Main St",
"addressLocality": "San Francisco",
"addressRegion": "CA",
"postalCode": "94102",
"country": "US"
},
"contact": { "telephone": "+1 415-555-0123" },
"thumbnail": {
"src": "https://example.com/thumb.jpg",
"original": "https://example.com/original.jpg"
},
"rating": {
"ratingValue": 4.5,
"bestRating": 5.0,
"reviewCount": 234,
},
"opening_hours": {
"current_day": [
{ "abbr_name": "Mon", "full_name": "Monday", "opens": "07:00", "closes": "21:00" }
]
},
"coordinates": [37.7749, -122.4194],
"distance": { "value": 0.3, "units": "miles" },
"categories": ["Mediterranean", "Greek"],
"price_range": "$$",
"serves_cuisine": ["Mediterranean", "Greek"],
"timezone": "America/Los_Angeles"
}
]
}
```
## Getting POI IDs
POI IDs come from the **Web Search API** (`web-search`) with `result_filter=locations`:
```bash
# 1. Search for local businesses
curl -s "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search?q=coffee+shops+near+me&result_filter=locations" \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
-H "X-Subscription-Token: ${BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY}" \
-H "X-Loc-Lat: 37.7749" \
-H "X-Loc-Long: -122.4194"
# 2. Extract POI IDs from locations.results[].id
# 3. Use those IDs with this endpoint
```
## Use Cases
- **Local business lookup**: Retrieve full details (hours, contact, address) for POIs surfaced in web search
- **Restaurant discovery pipeline**: Search for restaurants, fetch POI details, filter by cuisine/rating/price_range
- **Business hours checker**: Get opening_hours for a business to determine if currently open
- **Location-aware application**: Combine with location headers to get distance calculations for nearby POIs
## Notes
- **ID format**: Opaque strings (use `--data-urlencode` for cURL)
- **Units**: `metric` or `imperial` for distance measurement preference
- **Max IDs**: Up to 20 IDs per request