openclaw/skills/grounding-lite/SKILL.md

name	description	homepage	metadata
grounding-lite	Google Maps Grounding Lite MCP for AI-powered location search, weather, and routes via mcporter.	https://developers.google.com/maps/ai/grounding-lite	clawdbot emoji requires primaryEnv 🗺️ bins env mcporter GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY

Grounding Lite

Google Maps Grounding Lite provides AI-grounded location data via MCP. Use mcporter to call tools directly.

Status: Experimental (pre-GA), free during preview.

Rate limits: search_places (100 QPM, 1K QPD), lookup_weather (300 QPM), compute_routes (300 QPM).

Setup

1. Install mcporter: npm install -g mcporter
2. Set GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY environment variable
3. Configure the MCP server (one-time):

mcporter config add grounding-lite \
  --url https://mapstools.googleapis.com/mcp \
  --header "X-Goog-Api-Key: $GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY"

API Key Security

1. Restrict your API key in Google Cloud Console:

   • API restrictions: Allow only mapstools.googleapis.com
   • Application restrictions: Use IP restriction if on a fixed server

2. Never hardcode keys - use environment variables

3. For production: Consider OAuth 2.0 (better audit trails)

See: https://developers.google.com/maps/api-security-best-practices

Search Places

Find places by text query with AI summaries:

mcporter call grounding-lite.search_places text_query="coffee shops near Central Park"

With location bias:

mcporter call grounding-lite.search_places \
  text_query="pizza" \
  location_bias='{"center":{"latitude":40.7829,"longitude":-73.9654},"radius":2000}'

JSON output:

mcporter call grounding-lite.search_places text_query="sushi in Tokyo" --output json

Response includes: place IDs, names, addresses, coordinates, Google Maps links, and AI summary.

Lookup Weather

Get current weather:

mcporter call grounding-lite.lookup_weather location='{"address":"Tokyo, Japan"}' units_system=METRIC

By coordinates:

mcporter call grounding-lite.lookup_weather \
  location='{"lat_lng":{"latitude":35.6762,"longitude":139.6503}}'

By place ID:

mcporter call grounding-lite.lookup_weather location='{"place_id":"ChIJ..."}'

Forecast for a specific date/hour:

mcporter call grounding-lite.lookup_weather \
  location='{"address":"Paris, France"}' \
  date='{"year":2026,"month":1,"day":28}' \
  hour=14

Units: METRIC (Celsius, km/h) or IMPERIAL (Fahrenheit, mph).

Compute Routes

Calculate distance and duration:

mcporter call grounding-lite.compute_routes \
  origin='{"address":"San Francisco, CA"}' \
  destination='{"address":"Los Angeles, CA"}' \
  travel_mode=DRIVE

Walking route:

mcporter call grounding-lite.compute_routes \
  origin='{"address":"Times Square, NYC"}' \
  destination='{"address":"Central Park, NYC"}' \
  travel_mode=WALK

Travel modes: DRIVE (default) or WALK.

Note: Returns distance/duration only. No step-by-step directions or real-time traffic.

Ad-hoc Usage (without config)

Call directly without configuring first:

mcporter call "https://mapstools.googleapis.com/mcp.search_places" \
  --header "X-Goog-Api-Key: $GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY" \
  text_query="restaurants near me"

List Available Tools

mcporter list grounding-lite --schema

vs goplaces / local-places

Feature	Grounding Lite	goplaces	local-places
Setup	mcporter + API key	Homebrew + API key	Python + API key
AI Summaries	Built-in	None	None
Weather	Yes	No	No
Routes	Yes (basic)	No	No
Place Details	Limited	Full	Full
Photos/Reviews	No	Yes	Yes

Use Grounding Lite for quick AI-grounded queries. Use goplaces or local-places for detailed place info.

Notes

• Free during preview; pricing TBD after GA
• Some features may have EEA restrictions
• Attribution required per Google Maps Platform ToS
• Responses contain Google Maps links - include in user-facing output