W
Weather MCP

Search Location

The search_location tool searches for geographic locations and returns their coordinates, useful for precise weather queries.

Overview

Tool Name: search_location Coverage: Worldwide Data Source: OpenStreetMap Nominatim Cache Duration: 24 hours Results: Up to 5 matching locations

Usage

Claude uses this tool automatically when location names are ambiguous or when coordinates are explicitly requested.

Example Queries

"Find the coordinates for Central Park"
"Where is Yosemite National Park?"
"Latitude and longitude of the Eiffel Tower"
"Search for Springfield" (returns multiple matches)
"Find Tokyo Skytree location"

Parameters

query (required)

Type: string Description: Location name, landmark, address, or place

The search accepts various query types:

  • City names: "Seattle", "Paris", "Tokyo"
  • Landmarks: "Golden Gate Bridge", "Big Ben"
  • Addresses: "1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC"
  • Parks: "Yellowstone National Park"
  • Airports: "LAX", "Heathrow Airport"
  • Regions: "Silicon Valley", "Napa Valley"

limit (optional)

Type: number Default: 5 Range: 1-10

Maximum number of results to return.

Response Data

Each location result includes:

Basic Information

  • Display Name: Full formatted name of the location
  • Type: Location type (city, town, landmark, etc.)
  • Class: Geographic class (place, natural, building, etc.)

Coordinates

  • Latitude: Decimal degrees (-90 to 90)
  • Longitude: Decimal degrees (-180 to 180)

Address Components

  • Country: Country name
  • Country Code: ISO country code
  • State/Region: State or region name (if applicable)
  • County: County name (if applicable)
  • City: City name
  • Postal Code: ZIP/postal code (if applicable)

Bounding Box

  • Min/Max Coordinates: Geographic extent of the location

Example Response

User: "Find the coordinates for Golden Gate Bridge"

Claude: "I found the Golden Gate Bridge:

Location: Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California, United States

Coordinates:

  • Latitude: 37.8199° N
  • Longitude: 122.4783° W

Type: Bridge Region: San Francisco County, California

Would you like me to get the current weather conditions or forecast for this location?"

Search Behavior

Single Result

When only one clear match is found, Claude uses it automatically:

User: "Weather in Eiffel Tower"
→ Finds "Eiffel Tower, Paris, France" automatically
→ Returns weather for those coordinates

Multiple Results

When multiple locations match, Claude presents options:

User: "Weather in Springfield"
→ Finds: Springfield, IL; Springfield, MA; Springfield, MO, etc.
→ Claude: "I found several cities named Springfield. Which one?
  1. Springfield, Illinois
  2. Springfield, Massachusetts
  3. Springfield, Missouri
  ..."

Use Cases

Precise Location Queries

"Exact coordinates of my hotel"
"Find the location of [landmark]"
"Where exactly is [address]?"

Location Verification

"Is that in the right city?"
"Confirm the location of [place]"
"What county is [city] in?"

Planning & Navigation

"Location of the nearest airport to [city]"
"Find [national park] coordinates"
"Where is the stadium located?"

Geographic Research

"What are the boundaries of [city]?"
"Bounding box for [region]"
"Geographic details of [location]"

Location Types

The search can find various location types:

Places

  • Cities, towns, villages
  • Neighborhoods, districts
  • Regions, states, countries

Landmarks

  • Monuments and memorials
  • Towers and buildings
  • Parks and recreation areas

Infrastructure

  • Airports and stations
  • Bridges and tunnels
  • Ports and harbors

Natural Features

  • Mountains and peaks
  • Lakes and rivers
  • Beaches and bays

Addresses

  • Street addresses
  • Postal codes
  • Coordinates

Search Quality

High Precision Results

  • Well-known landmarks
  • Major cities
  • Official place names
  • Complete addresses

Variable Results

  • Common place names (may return multiple matches)
  • Informal names (may not match)
  • Recent developments (may not be in database)
  • Very small locations (may not have records)

Data Accuracy

Coordinate Precision

  • Cities: City center point
  • Landmarks: Structure location
  • Addresses: Building or plot location
  • Regions: Geographic center

Precision: Typically accurate to within 10-100 meters for specific locations.

Address Completeness

Varies by country and region:

  • Excellent: US, Canada, Western Europe, Japan
  • Good: Most developed countries
  • Variable: Developing regions, rural areas

Limitations

  • Informal Names: May not recognize colloquial place names
  • New Developments: Recently built locations may not be indexed
  • Spelling: Sensitive to spelling errors
  • Language: Works best with English or local language names
  • Private Properties: May not find private residences or businesses

Error Handling

Common errors and solutions:

"No results found for query"

  • Solution: Try a more general search term or check spelling

"Location is ambiguous"

  • Solution: Add city, state, or country to the query

"Too many results"

  • Solution: Be more specific with your query

Integration with Weather Tools

Location search works seamlessly with weather tools:

User: "Weather at the Space Needle"
1. Searches for "Space Needle" → finds Seattle coordinates
2. Gets weather for those coordinates
3. Returns: "Current weather at Space Needle, Seattle..."

Claude handles this workflow automatically - you don't need to search locations separately unless you want the coordinates specifically.

Related Tools

Technical Details

Caching

Location searches are heavily cached:

  • Cache Key: Normalized query string
  • TTL: 86400 seconds (24 hours)
  • Rationale: Location coordinates rarely change

Data Source

  • Provider: OpenStreetMap Nominatim
  • API: Nominatim geocoding API
  • Rate Limits: Respectful (max 1 request/second)
  • Data: Open-source geographic database

Search Algorithm

  1. Query Normalization: Clean and standardize input
  2. Geocoding: Search OpenStreetMap database
  3. Result Ranking: Sort by relevance and importance
  4. Filtering: Remove duplicates and low-quality results
  5. Formatting: Structure response for Claude

Privacy

Location searches are:

  • Not logged (unless analytics are enabled)
  • Not associated with your identity
  • Cached locally to reduce API calls
  • Processed server-side (not sent to Claude/Anthropic)

Best Practices

  1. Be Specific: Include country or state for common names
  2. Use Official Names: Official place names work better than nicknames
  3. Check Results: Verify coordinates are correct before using
  4. Format Addresses: Use standard address format for best results
  5. Landmarks: Famous landmarks work better than obscure locations

Next Steps