@googlemaps/js-api-loader

Google Maps JavaScript API Loader

Description

Load the Google Maps JavaScript API script dynamically. This is an npm version of the Dynamic Library Import script.

Requirements

• Sign up with Google Maps Platform
• A Google Cloud Platform project with the Maps JavaScript API enabled
• An API key associated with the project above

Installation

Install @googlemaps/js-api-loader with:

npm install --save @googlemaps/js-api-loader

# or
yarn add @googlemaps/js-api-loader

# or
pnpm add @googlemaps/js-api-loader

TypeScript users should additionally install the types for the Google Maps JavaScript API:

npm install --save-dev @types/google.maps

Usage

import { setOptions, importLibrary } from "@googlemaps/js-api-loader";

// Set the options for loading the API.
setOptions({ key: "your-api-key-here" });

// Load the needed APIs.
// Note: once the returned promise is fulfilled, the libraries are also
//       available in the global `google.maps` namespace.
const { Map } = await importLibrary("maps");
const map = new Map(mapEl, mapOptions);

// Alternatively:
await importLibrary("maps");
const map = new google.maps.Map(mapEl, mapOptions);

// Or, if you prefer using callbacks instead of async/await:
importLibrary("maps").then(({ Map }) => {
  const map = new Map(mapEl, mapOptions);
});

If you use custom HTML elements from the Google Maps JavaScript API (e.g. <gmp-map>, and <gmp-advanced-marker>), you need to import them as well. Note that you do not need to await the result of importLibrary() in this case. The custom elements will upgrade automatically once the library is loaded and you can use the whenDefined() method to wait for the upgrade to complete.

import { setOptions, importLibrary } from "@googlemaps/js-api-loader";

// Set the options for loading the API.
setOptions({ key: "your-api-key-here" });

// Start loading the libraries needed for custom elements.
importLibrary("maps"); // needed for <gmp-map>
importLibrary("marker"); // needed for <gmp-advanced-marker>

// Wait for gmp-map to be upgraded and interact with it.
await customElements.whenDefined("gmp-map");
const map = document.querySelector("gmp-map");
// ...

Documentation

This package exports just two functions, setOptions() and importLibrary().

// Using named exports:
import { setOptions, importLibrary } from "@googlemaps/js-api-loader";

setOptions({ key: GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY });
await importLibrary("core");

setOptions(options: APIOptions): void

Sets the options for loading the Google Maps JavaScript API and installs the global google.maps.importLibrary() function that is used by the importLibrary() function of this package.

This function should be called as early as possible in your application and should only be called once. Any further calls will not have any effect and log a warning to the console.

Below is a short summary of the accepted options, see the documentation for full descriptions and additional information:

• key: string: Your API key. This is the only required option.
• v: string: The version of the Maps JavaScript API to load.
• language: string: The language to use.
• region: string: The region code to use.
• libraries: string[]: Additional libraries to preload.
• authReferrerPolicy: string: Set the referrer policy for the API requests.
• mapIds: string[]: An array of map IDs to preload.
• channel: string: Can be used to track your usage.
• solutionChannel: string: Used by the Google Maps Platform to track adoption and usage of examples and solutions.

importLibrary(library: string): Promise

Loads the specified library. Returns a promise that resolves with the library object when the library is loaded. In case of an error while loading the library (might be due to poor network conditions and other unforseeable circumstances), the promise is rejected with an error.

Calling this function for the first time will trigger loading the Google Maps JavaScript API itself.

The following libraries are available:

• core: google.maps.CoreLibrary
• maps: google.maps.MapsLibrary
• maps3d: google.maps.Maps3DLibrary
• places: google.maps.PlacesLibrary
• geocoding: google.maps.GeocodingLibrary
• routes: google.maps.RoutesLibrary
• marker: google.maps.MarkerLibrary
• geometry: google.maps.GeometryLibrary
• elevation: google.maps.ElevationLibrary
• streetView: google.maps.StreetViewLibrary
• journeySharing: google.maps.JourneySharingLibrary
• visualization: google.maps.VisualizationLibrary
• airQuality: google.maps.AirQualityLibrary
• addressValidation: google.maps.AddressValidationLibrary
• drawing: google.maps.DrawingLibrary (deprecated)

Migrating from v1 to v2

See the migration guide.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome and encouraged! If you'd like to contribute, send us a pull request and refer to our code of conduct and contributing guide.

Terms of Service

This library uses Google Maps Platform services. Use of Google Maps Platform services through this library is subject to the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service.

This library is not a Google Maps Platform Core Service. Therefore, the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service (e.g. Technical Support Services, Service Level Agreements, and Deprecation Policy) do not apply to the code in this library.

European Economic Area (EEA) developers

If your billing address is in the European Economic Area, effective on 8 July 2025, the Google Maps Platform EEA Terms of Service will apply to your use of the Services. Functionality varies by region. Learn more.

Support

This library is offered via an open source license. It is not governed by the Google Maps Platform Support Technical Support Services Guidelines, the SLA, or the Deprecation Policy. However, any Google Maps Platform services used by the library remain subject to the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service.

This library adheres to semantic versioning to indicate when backwards-incompatible changes are introduced.

If you find a bug, or have a feature request, please file an issue on GitHub. If you would like to get answers to technical questions from other Google Maps Platform developers, ask through one of our developer community channels. If you'd like to contribute, please check the contributing guide.

You can also discuss this library on our Discord server.

Changelog

2.0.2 (2025-10-29)

Bug Fixes

• replace __DEV__ with process.env.NODE_ENV for environment checks (e7279fe)

Similar packages

Other packages similar to @googlemaps/js-api-loader

google-maps

The 'google-maps' npm package is another library for loading the Google Maps API. It is similar to @googlemaps/js-api-loader but has a different API design and may not be as up-to-date with the latest Google Maps API features.

load-google-maps-api

The 'load-google-maps-api' package is an alternative to @googlemaps/js-api-loader. It provides a function to load the Google Maps API, but it might not offer the same level of configuration and error handling as @googlemaps/js-api-loader.