Routing API

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The Routing API calculates routes between two or more points. It supports car, bike, and foot, and returns turn-by-turn directions in JSON, GPX, or KML format.

Base URL

https://routing.maptoolkit.net/route

Authentication

Add your API key as ?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY to every request. See Authentication for details.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`point`	`lat,lng`	Yes (min. 2)	A waypoint. Add this parameter multiple times to define the route. Order matters.
`routeType`	string	Yes	Vehicle type: `car`, `bike`, or `foot`.
`language`	string	No	Language for turn instructions, as an ISO 639-1 code (e.g., `en`, `de`).
`weighting`	string	No	Bike only. Route optimization: `networks` (default), `shortest`, or `fastest`.
`voice_instructions`	`0` or `1`	No	Adds voice instruction text to each turn. Default: `0`.
`finish_instruction`	`0` or `1`	No	Adds a finish instruction at the end of the route. Default: `0`.
`format`	string	No	Response format: `json` (default), `gpx`, or `kml`.
`callback`	string	No	Wraps the response in a JSONP callback function.

Response

GET https://routing.maptoolkit.net/route?point=48.202596,16.369801&point=48.208373,16.370401&routeType=car&language=en&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY

This is a response to the HTTP GET request shown above:

{
  "info": {
    "copyrights": [
      "GraphHopper",
      "OpenStreetMap contributors"
    ],
    "took": 1,
    "road_data_timestamp": "2025-11-17T01:00:01Z"
  },
  "paths": [
    {
      "distance": 769.952,
      "weight": 168.289829,
      "time": 98995,
      "points_encoded": true,
      "bbox": [
        16.36885,
        48.202589,
        16.37053,
        48.20802
      ],
      "points": "eqeeHmf|bByD_BMCIVg@pDO`@Oj@INQ?a@OKMGIIMwAkAOC{@u@UYi@}@QU[SWIIASAG@GBIJQl@IH]nAIZy@m@uAw@k@YgBu@",
      "instructions": [
        {
          "distance": 117.483,
          "sign": 0,
          "interval": [
            0,
            2
          ],
          "text": "Continue onto Kärntner Straße",
          "time": 15105,
          "name": "Kärntner Straße",
          "distance_feet": 385,
          "distance_miles": 0.073000529193,
          "coordinate": [
            48.202589,
            16.369828
          ],
          "pushbike": false,
          "tags": {
            "highway": "street",
            "surface": "asphalt"
          },
          "speed": 27.999920556107252,
          "annotations": []
        },
        ...
      ],
      "ascend": 15.5657958984375,
      "descend": 6.759765625,
      "snapped_waypoints": "mf|bBeqeeHkC}`@",
      "ascend_feet": 51,
      "descend_feet": 22,
      "distance_feet": 2526,
      "distance_miles": 0.47842584419199996
    }
  ]
}

Response Fields

Field	Description
`paths[0].distance`	Total route distance in meters
`paths[0].time`	Total route time in milliseconds
`paths[0].points`	Encoded polyline of the full route
`paths[0].bbox`	Bounding box: `[minLon, minLat, maxLon, maxLat]`
`paths[0].instructions[].text`	Turn instruction text
`paths[0].instructions[].distance`	Distance for this step in meters
`paths[0].instructions[].time`	Duration for this step in milliseconds
`paths[0].instructions[].sign`	Turn direction code (see table below)
`paths[0].tags.highway`	Road type for this step
`paths[0].tags.surface`	Surface type for this step

Turn direction codes (`sign`)

Value	Meaning
`-3`	Sharp left
`-2`	Left
`-1`	Slight left
`0`	Continue straight
`1`	Slight right
`2`	Right
`3`	Sharp right
`4`	Finish
`5`	Via point reached
`6`	Roundabout

Highway types

motorway, primary, road, street, pedestrian, cycleway, path, hiking, mountain_hiking, other

Surface types

asphalt, paved, unpaved, natural, alpine, other

Examples

Working examples for this API, each with copyable source:

MapLibre GL JS

Route with Elevation Profile

Request a hiking route from the Routing API, add heights from the Elevation API, and show the climb with the Maptoolkit Elevation Control.

Route Display

Calculate a car route and draw it on a MapLibre GL map with turn-by-turn markers.

Route Planner

Drag A or B to reroute, and hover a step to see it on the map.

Climb Statistics

Ascent, descent and the steepest section of a hiking route.

Snap a GPS Track to the Road Network in MapLibre GL JS

Snapped GPS Track

A recorded walk, snapped to the paths it was walked on.

Route by Surface Type

A bike route colored by what it runs on, with a surface breakdown.

Color a Route by Elevation in MapLibre GL JS

Route Colored by Elevation

Color a hiking route by height with a line-gradient, and add direction arrows along the line.

Isochrone Control

Drag a marker onto the map to show the area reachable within a travel time.

Leaflet

Route Display

Calculate a car route and draw it on a Leaflet map with turn-by-turn markers.

Route Planner

Drag A or B to reroute, and hover a step to see it on the map.

Climb Statistics

Ascent, descent and the steepest section of a hiking route.

Snap a GPS Track to the Road Network in Leaflet

Snapped GPS Track

A recorded walk, snapped to the paths it was walked on.

Route by Surface Type

A bike route colored by what it runs on, with a surface breakdown.

Animate a Vehicle

A car driving a real route, turned to its heading, with a trail.

Color a Route by Elevation in Leaflet, with Direction Arrows

Route Colored by Elevation

A hiking route colored from valley to summit, with arrows for the direction.

Errors

Errors return the HTTP status code with a plain-text message in the body.

Status	Meaning
`403`	The API key is missing (`Access denied!`) or not recognized (`Api-key not found!`). See First Steps.
`400`	The request is malformed, or the routing engine rejected it.

Common `400` messages

Message	Cause
`cannot parse custom_model: {message}`	`custom_model` is not valid JSON.

Errors from the upstream routing engine are forwarded as-is, so you may see messages that are not in this table.

Rate limits

Limits are monthly request quotas tied to your plan rather than a per-second rate: the service returns no RateLimit-* or Retry-After headers. Current allowances are on the pricing page.

The free Basic plan has a hard limit, so requests are refused once it is reached. On Pro and Ultra, requests past the allowance are billed rather than refused. Enterprise plans have no request limit.

Calls to this API count toward your plan’s API request allowance, which is the smaller of the two allowances.

Pricing

Self-service plans (Basic, Pro, and Ultra) are billed through RapidAPI; see RapidAPI for how to subscribe and authenticate. Plan limits and prices are listed on the Maptoolkit pricing page. Enterprise customers call the native hosts directly with a Maptoolkit API key.