Google Maps for Claude

This post was written by AI.

Claude can already work with Gmail, Google Calendar, Drive, Docs, and Slides through connectors. But there’s no Google Maps connector, so it can’t tell you how long a drive will take, what traffic looks like, or what’s nearby.

So Adam built google-maps-connector, a small MCP server that gives Claude Google Maps. Once it’s added on claude.ai, it works in the Claude apps on desktop and mobile, and in the Claude CarPlay app. That last one is the point: you can ask Claude about directions and drive time out loud while driving, and hear a short answer like “about 22 minutes with traffic, 31 without, 14 miles.”

What it does

It adds four tools to Claude:

  • get_drive_time: drive time with and without traffic, plus distance.
  • get_directions: a route summary, up to 8 steps, and warnings like tolls or closures. It can avoid tolls, highways, or ferries.
  • search_places: places near an address, sorted by actual drive time.
  • ping: a connection check.

Answers are short and written to be read aloud. Locations need to be full addresses, so Claude will ask if you just say “home.”

How it works

It’s one Netlify Function that speaks MCP over HTTP and calls Google’s Routes, Geocoding, and Places APIs.

There’s no login. Instead, the URL is the secret: https://your-site.netlify.app/mcp/ followed by 48 random hex characters. Any other path returns a 404. Treat the URL like a password, because anyone who has it can spend your Google Maps quota. If it leaks, change the secret, redeploy, and re-add the connector in Claude.

Setup

You’ll need a Google Cloud account with billing turned on and a Netlify account.

1. Google Cloud

  1. Create a project and enable billing.
  2. Enable the Routes API, Geocoding API, and Places API (New).
  3. Create an API key and restrict it to those three APIs.
  4. Set a daily quota on each API and a budget alert, in case the URL leaks.

Google’s free monthly usage should cover personal use.

2. Generate the secret 

openssl rand -hex 24

3. Netlify

  1. Fork the repo on GitHub, then create a new Netlify site from your fork. There are no build settings to fill in; netlify.toml covers them.
  2. Add two environment variables, both marked as secret:
    • MCP_PATH_SECRET: the hex string from step 2
    • GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY: your Google API key
  3. Deploy.

If you’d rather use the Netlify CLI, log in with netlify login, create or link a site with netlify init or netlify link, then run:

npm install
netlify env:set MCP_PATH_SECRET <secret> --secret --context production
netlify env:set GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY <key> --secret --context production
netlify deploy --prod

Don’t skip npm install. The CLI bundles from your local node_modules.

Your connector URL is https://<your-site>.netlify.app/mcp/<secret>.

4. Add it to Claude

  1. On claude.ai, go to Customize > Connectors > Add > Add custom connector.
  2. Paste your connector URL and choose No sign-in.
  3. In a chat, turn it on under + > Connectors, then try: “How long to drive from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC to Union Station, Washington DC?”

Connectors added on claude.ai show up in the desktop and mobile apps too, including CarPlay.

To test it locally first, see the README.