modbender Grounding Lite
Google Maps Grounding Lite MCP provides AI-grounded location data. Experimental (pre-GA), free during preview.
Setup
- Enable the API:
gcloud beta services enable mapstools.googleapis.com - Get an API key from Cloud Console
- Set env:
export GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY="YOUR_KEY" - Configure mcporter:
mcporter config add grounding-lite \ --url https://mapstools.googleapis.com/mcp \ --header "X-Goog-Api-Key=$GOOGLE_MAPS_API_KEY" \ --system
Tools
- search_places: Find places, businesses, addresses. Returns AI summaries with Google Maps links.
- lookup_weather: Current conditions and forecasts (hourly 48h, daily 7 days).
- compute_routes: Travel distance and duration (no turn-by-turn directions).
Commands
# Search places
mcporter call grounding-lite.search_places textQuery="pizza near Times Square NYC"
# Weather
mcporter call grounding-lite.lookup_weather location='{"address":"San Francisco, CA"}' unitsSystem=IMPERIAL
# Routes
mcporter call grounding-lite.compute_routes origin='{"address":"SF"}' destination='{"address":"LA"}' travelMode=DRIVE
# List tools
mcporter list grounding-lite --schema
Parameters
search_places: textQuery (required), locationBias, languageCode, regionCode
lookup_weather: location (required: address/latLng/placeId), unitsSystem, date, hour
compute_routes: origin, destination (required), travelMode (DRIVE/WALK)
Notes
- Rate limits: search_places 100 QPM (1k/day), lookup_weather 300 QPM, compute_routes 300 QPM
- Include Google Maps links in user-facing output (attribution required)
- Only use with models that don't train on input data