Natural-language search
Enter a query such as "vegan cafe with wifi near the park, open now" to search by category, location, and available place attributes. When OpenMapX recognizes a question, it offers a natural-language suggestion above ordinary autocomplete results. Select that suggestion to run it; choosing a normal place suggestion still opens that place.
Parsing begins when you submit a search. Editing the query, choosing a place, or opening Directions cancels that submission so a late answer cannot replace your newer action.
What it understands
| Query detail | How it is used |
|---|---|
| "cafe", "pharmacy", "EV charging" | Selects categories |
| "vegan", "with wifi", "wheelchair" | Filters supported OpenStreetMap attributes |
| "near me", "in Berlin", "near the park" | Resolves a search area |
| "open now", "open 24h", "open Monday at 9" | Applies an opening-hours filter |
| "nearest", "top-rated" | Requests a supported sort order |
| "quiet", "cozy", "cheap" | Can remain as unmapped words when no supported filter exists |
"Near me" can use the current map view; it does not guarantee a search around a fresh device-location fix. A named area that cannot be resolved can also fall back to the current view.
A parsed query is not a verified description of a place. Results depend on source coverage and the tags available for each place. Check opening hours and other details before relying on them. A model cannot make a missing source attribute reliable, and unsupported filters are removed or retained as ordinary query words.
Local and cloud parsing
The shipped configuration tries a local Ollama model, then the built-in keyword parser. The keyword parser works without a model service. Operators can configure other providers and their order; a failed attempt falls through to the next one.
Cloud providers require configuration and the instance's privacy policy must permit their use. They are absent from the shipped provider chain. The provider and API reference covers the available adapters and their settings.
Fallback behavior
You can disable AI search in Settings. Low-confidence results and queries that look like ordinary place names are not used to override normal search. Provider errors, invalid output, and timeouts can cause another parser to answer. If parsing fails or produces no plausible intent, the browser can still fall back to a plain search of the visible area. Reusing a cached parse does not authorize a new cloud request.
Privacy and consent
The model prompt contains the query and rounded map center. It excludes account identity, exact device location, and the viewport bounding box. The query itself can still contain personal information, so consider what you type before allowing cloud assistance.
The instance operator selects one of these policies:
strict: cloud parsing is disabled.consent: cloud parsing requires an explicit positive choice. This is the default.open: the operator permits cloud use after policy discovery; a remembered user decline still takes precedence.
Without remembered permission, consent mode offers cloud assistance before a cloud-authorized parse. Review the displayed processors before enabling it. Remembered acceptance can authorize later searches immediately; a remembered decline takes precedence over an open policy. In open mode, discovered policy can authorize the first parse without a preliminary local-only parse. A cloud provider still needs its configured credential.
Model processing and result retrieval are separate steps. A local parser can still search a hosted geocoder or POI provider through the OpenMapX server. The instance's privacy page describes those sources.
Configure an instance
Operators configure search-nlp under Admin → Integrations. Provider
credentials are separate from the provider-definition JSON. Local inference
requires an available model service; keyword-only parsing needs no model download.
See Provider configuration for model service resources, credentials, privacy modes, caching, and request limits.
Custom clients
The parse API accepts explicit cloud authorization and returns the validated intent, resolved area, and provider information. Clients must preserve the same consent boundary as the first-party UI.
Troubleshooting
If a sentence produces few results, try a simpler category and area, then add filters individually. A feature such as wheelchair access or opening hours may be missing in the underlying data.
If cloud assistance is unavailable, the operator may have disabled it, omitted a credential, or configured a provider that is temporarily failing. Operators can use the provider troubleshooting table and integration logs. Ordinary search remains available independently.