Troubleshooting AWS Places API v2 Pagination Issues — When NextToken Doesn't Appear

Troubleshooting AWS Places API v2 Pagination Issues — When NextToken Doesn't Appear

Aaron Rose    

Software Engineer & Technology Writer

Problem

You're using the AWS Places API v2 SearchText endpoint and experiencing pagination issues. Despite the API documentation indicating that NextToken should be returned when more results are available, you're getting exactly MaxResults items (20, 100, etc.) but no NextToken in the response — even when you suspect more results should exist.

This creates a pagination dead-end where you cannot retrieve additional results beyond the first page.

Clarifying the Issue

Some developers have reported getting exactly the MaxResults number of results (100 when MaxResults=100, 20 when MaxResults=20) for the same query, but receiving no NextToken in the response. This suggests the API may be incorrectly truncating results without providing pagination tokens.

According to AWS documentation, the SearchText endpoint should return a NextToken when more results are available, enabling proper pagination through large result sets. However, in practice, some users are experiencing scenarios where this behavior doesn't work as expected.

Why It Matters

Proper pagination is crucial for location-based applications that need to:

• Retrieve complete datasets for comprehensive search results
• Support infinite scroll or "load more" interfaces in mobile and web applications
• Ensure data completeness for business-critical location searches
• Provide reliable user experiences when searching for places, restaurants, or points of interest

When pagination fails, applications may present incomplete results to users, potentially missing relevant locations or creating inconsistent search experiences.

Key Terms

• AWS Places API v2: Part of AWS Location Service that enables geospatial search using categories or free text queries
• SearchText endpoint: The specific API method for querying places based on text input and optional geographic filters
• MaxResults: Request parameter that sets the maximum number of results to return (1-100)
• NextToken: Pagination token that should be provided when more results are available beyond the current page
• Pagination: The process of retrieving large result sets in manageable chunks across multiple API calls

Steps at a Glance

1. Test the API with a query guaranteed to have more results than your MaxResults setting
2. Verify the response structure and check for NextToken presence
3. Confirm the issue by testing different MaxResults values
4. Document the exact query parameters and response behavior
5. Implement workarounds while the issue is being addressed

Detailed Steps

Step 1: Test with a broad query guaranteed to exceed MaxResults

Use a query that should return significantly more results than your MaxResults setting. Test in a dense urban area with a broad search term: 

bash

curl -X POST "https://places.geo.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/v2/search-text?key={api-key}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "QueryText": "restaurants",
    "Filter": {
      "Circle": {
        "Center": [-80.8431, 35.2271],
        "Radius": 10000
      }
    },
    "MaxResults": 20
  }'

Step 2: Examine the response structure

Check the response carefully for the presence of NextToken: 

json

{
  "ResultItems": [
    // ... exactly 20 results
  ]
  // NextToken should appear here if more results exist
}

According to AWS documentation, if you receive exactly MaxResults items and more results are available, you should see:

json

{
  "NextToken": "string",
  "ResultItems": [
    // ... your results
  ]
}

Step 3: Test with different MaxResults values

Repeat the same query with different MaxResults values to confirm the pattern: 

bash

# Test with MaxResults=100
curl -X POST "https://places.geo.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/v2/search-text?key={api-key}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "QueryText": "restaurants",
    "Filter": {
      "Circle": {
        "Center": [-80.8431, 35.2271],
        "Radius": 10000
      }
    },
    "MaxResults": 100
  }'

If you're experiencing the reported issue, you'll get exactly 100 results but still no NextToken.

Step 4: Document the issue

• Record the specific details:
• Exact query parameters used
• Geographic region and coordinates
• API endpoint and version
• Response structure (presence/absence of NextToken)
• Expected vs. actual behavior

Step 5: Implement temporary workarounds

While awaiting a fix, consider these approaches:

• Geographic partitioning: Divide large search areas into smaller geographic regions
• Query refinement: Use more specific search terms to reduce result sets
• Category filtering: Narrow searches using specific place categories
• Radius reduction: Use smaller search radii to ensure complete coverage of smaller areas

Example of geographic partitioning: 

javascript

// Instead of one large search, break into quadrants const searches = [ { center: [-80.85, 35.23], radius: 5000 }, { center: [-80.83, 35.23], radius: 5000 }, { center: [-80.85, 35.21], radius: 5000 }, { center: [-80.83, 35.21], radius: 5000 } ];

Conclusion

While AWS Places API v2 documentation indicates that NextToken should be provided for pagination when more results are available, some users are experiencing cases where this doesn't occur as expected. This appears to be an implementation issue rather than a fundamental API design flaw.

If you encounter this problem:

• Document your specific use case and report it through AWS Support channels
• Implement workarounds using geographic partitioning or query refinement
• Monitor AWS service updates for fixes to pagination behavior
• Test periodically to see if the issue has been resolved

The official AWS documentation suggests pagination should work correctly, so this issue may be resolved in future updates to the service. Until then, designing your application with the assumption that you may not receive more than 100 results per query will help ensure reliable functionality.

---

Aaron Rose is a software engineer and technology writer at tech-reader.blog.