Location Diagnostics

Amazon Location Service Diagnostics

When to use

Any Amazon Location Service investigation where the console alone is insufficient — map rendering, place search, route calculation, geofencing, device tracking, or provider configuration.

Investigation workflow

Step 1 — Collect and triage

aws location list-maps
aws location list-place-indexes
aws location list-route-calculators
aws location list-geofence-collections
aws location list-trackers

Step 2 — Domain deep dive

aws location describe-map --map-name <name>
aws location describe-place-index --index-name <name>
aws location describe-route-calculator --calculator-name <name>
aws location describe-geofence-collection --collection-name <name>
aws location describe-tracker --tracker-name <name>

Step 3 — Detailed investigation

aws cloudtrail lookup-events --lookup-attributes AttributeKey=EventSource,AttributeValue=geo.amazonaws.com --max-results 20
aws location search-place-index-for-text --index-name <name> --text "Seattle"
aws location calculate-route --calculator-name <name> --departure-position '[-122.33,47.60]' --destination-position '[-122.20,47.61]'

Read references/guardrails.md before concluding on any Location Service issue.

Tool quick reference

Gotchas: Amazon Location Service

• Map providers (Esri, HERE, GrabMaps, OpenData) have different capabilities and coverage areas.
• GrabMaps only covers Southeast Asia. Using it outside that region returns no results.
• Place search results vary by provider. Different providers have different POI databases.
• Route calculation supports car, truck, and walking modes. Not all modes available with all providers.
• Geofences use GeoJSON polygon format. Maximum 1000 vertices per geofence.
• Trackers store device positions. Position updates trigger geofence ENTER/EXIT events via EventBridge.
• API keys and Cognito are the authentication methods. API keys are simpler but less secure.
• Map tiles are served via HTTPS. CORS configuration needed for web applications.

Anti-hallucination rules

1. Always cite specific resource names, provider details, or API responses as evidence.
2. Provider coverage varies. Never assume global coverage for all providers.
3. GrabMaps is Southeast Asia only. Never assume global availability.
4. Geofences use GeoJSON. Never assume other geometry formats.
5. Route modes vary by provider. Never assume all modes available.
6. Spend no more than 2 minutes on any single hypothesis. Pivot if inconclusive.

14 runbooks