Nearest

Overview

Nearest API snaps a single coordinate to the road network and returns the nearest n segments. Useful for validating whether a coordinate is routable, getting the exact snapped position, and obtaining hint values that speed up subsequent requests. Powered by the OSRM Nearest service.

Endpoint

GET https://api.justrouting.tech/nearest/v1/{profile}/{coordinates}

URL parameter	Description
`profile`	`driving` or `motorcycle`
`coordinates`	A single `{lng},{lat}` pair

Request Parameters

Service options

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`number`	int	`1`	Number of nearest segments to return

General options

These options apply to all routing services. Options that take one value per coordinate use the array-like encoding {option}={element};{element}[;...] — the number of elements must match the number of coordinates (except generate_hints and exclude). Pass an empty element to use the default for that coordinate, e.g. bearings=;90,20;.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`bearings`	string	—	Limit snapping to segments with the given bearing; each element is `{value},{range}` with value 0–360° clockwise from true north and range 0–180°
`radiuses`	string	—	Limit snapping to the given radius in meters per coordinate, `unlimited` for no limit
`generate_hints`	bool	`true`	Add a `hint` to each response waypoint for reuse in later requests via `hints`
`hints`	string	—	Base64 `hint` from a previous response; speeds up snapping significantly
`approaches`	string	—	Restrict the road direction at a waypoint; per element `curb` / `opposite` / `unrestricted` (default)
`exclude`	string	—	Additive list of road classes to avoid, e.g. `exclude=motorway`
`snapping`	string	`default`	`any` snaps to any edge in the graph; `default` avoids edges that cannot be used as start/end points
`skip_waypoints`	bool	`false`	Remove waypoints from the response (they are still calculated, just not serialized)

Nearest returns only waypoints — with skip_waypoints=true the response contains just the code field. Technically possible, but not useful.

Quickstart

curl "https://api.justrouting.tech/nearest/v1/driving/103.708362,1.357371?number=2" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Response

response-example.json

{
  "code": "Ok",
  "waypoints": [
    {
      "name": "Bayfront Avenue",
      "location": [103.708799, 1.357033],
      "distance": 4.15,
      "hint": "KSoKADRYroqUBAEAEAAAABkAAAAGAAAAAAAAABhnCQCLtwAA_0vMAKlYIQM8TMwArVghAwEAAQH1a66g",
      "nodes": [2264199819, 0]
    },
    {
      "name": "Temasek Boulevard",
      "location": [103.709782, 1.357132],
      "distance": 11.81,
      "hint": "KSoKADRYroqUBAEABgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKQAAABhnCQCLtwAA7kvMAAxZIQM8TMwArVghAwAAAQH1a66g",
      "nodes": [0, 2045820592]
    }
  ]
}

Response fields

Field	Description
`waypoints[]`	Snap results, sorted by distance
`waypoints[].location`	The exact snapped position `[lng, lat]`
`waypoints[].distance`	Offset from the input coordinate to the snapped point, in meters
`waypoints[].hint`	Opaque segment identifier — pass it back via the `hints` parameter of route/table to speed up snapping
`waypoints[].nodes`	Pair of OSM node ids

Typical uses

Coordinate cleanup: validate with nearest first — a large distance means the coordinate is far from any road
Speed up hot paths: cache the hint and reuse it in subsequent route/table requests

Getting Started

API Reference

MCP

OpenAPI

Guides

Overview

Endpoint

Request Parameters

Service options

General options

Quickstart

Response

Response fields

Typical uses

​Overview

​Endpoint

​Request Parameters

​Service options

​General options

​Quickstart

​Response

​Response fields

​Typical uses

​Related

Overview

Endpoint

Request Parameters

Service options

General options

Quickstart

Response

Response fields

Typical uses

Related