@cml/google-maps-scraper

This project is currently in alpha and under active development.

A powerful Node.js CLI tool and JavaScript library for scraping Google Maps business listings using Puppeteer — with automatic JSON + Excel (XLSX) export. Built and maintained by Code Media Labs.

📋 Table of Contents

• Features
• Prerequisites
• Installation
• CLI Usage
• Library Usage
• Examples
• Troubleshooting
• Development
• Contributing
• License

Features

• 🔍 Scrapes Google Maps business listings for any search query

• 📊 Extracts detailed business data:

  • Name
  • Star rating
  • Total reviews
  • Phone number
  • Google Maps URL

• 🔁 Automatically scrolls until no new results are found

• 🛡️ Deduplicates entries by Maps URL

• 📦 Multiple output formats:

  • results.json
  • results.xlsx (ExcelJS)

• 🧰 Flexible usage:

  • CLI tool
  • Importable NPM library

• ⚡ Configurable scroll limits and headless mode

• 🎯 Great for lead generation, market research, competitor analysis

Prerequisites

Required

• Node.js ≥ 18
• npm or yarn

Check versions:

node --version
npm --version

Linux / WSL Users

Install Chromium dependencies:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y \
ca-certificates fonts-liberation libappindicator3-1 libasound2 \
libatk-bridge2.0-0 libatk1.0-0 libc6 libcairo2 libcups2 libdbus-1-3 \
libexpat1 libfontconfig1 libgbm1 libgcc1 libglib2.0-0 libgtk-3-0 \
libnspr4 libnss3 libpango-1.0-0 libpangocairo-1.0-0 libstdc++6 \
libx11-6 libx11-xcb1 libxcb1 libxcomposite1 libxcursor1 libxdamage1 \
libxext6 libxfixes3 libxi6 libxrandr2 libxrender1 libxss1 libxtst6 \
lsb-release wget xdg-utils`

Check missing libraries:

ldd $(which chromium-browser) | grep not

Puppeteer & Chromium

Puppeteer automatically downloads a compatible Chromium build (≈ 170–280MB).
No configuration required for most users.

Installation

Global (for CLI)

npm install -g @cml/google-maps-scraper

Check version:

gmaps-scraper --version

Local (for library use)

npm install @cml/google-maps-scraper

CLI Usage

Basic Command

gmaps-scraper scrape -q "<your search query>"`

Example

gmaps-scraper scrape -q "Interior Designers in Bhubaneswar"

CLI Options

| Flag | Description | Default | Required | | ------------------- | ------------------------------ | -------------- | -------- | | -q, --query | Google Maps search query | — | ✅ Yes | | -o, --output | Output JSON file path | results.json | No | | -m, --max-scrolls | Maximum scroll attempts | 100 | No | | --headless | Run Puppeteer in headless mode | false | No |

Advanced Examples

Save to a custom file:

gmaps-scraper scrape -q "Restaurants in Cuttack" -o ./data/restaurants.json

Headless + limited scrolls:

gmaps-scraper scrape -q "Hotels in Puri" --headless -m 50

Library Usage (Node.js)

Basic Example

import { scrapeGoogleMaps } from "@cml/google-maps-scraper";
const results = await scrapeGoogleMaps({
  searchQuery: "Cafes in Cuttack",
  outputPath: "cafes.json",
  maxScrollAttempts: 80,
  headless: true,
});
console.log(`Found ${results.length} cafes`);
console.log(results);

TypeScript Example

import { scrapeGoogleMaps } from "@cml/google-maps-scraper";
interface Business {
  name: string;
  rating: string;
  reviews_count: string;
  phone: string;
  maps_link: string;
}
async function findBusinesses(query: string): Promise<Business[]> {
  return scrapeGoogleMaps({
    searchQuery: query,
    outputPath: `${query.replace(/\s+/g, "_")}.json`,
    maxScrollAttempts: 100,
    headless: true,
  });
}
const businesses = await findBusinesses("Gyms in Bhubaneswar");
console.log(businesses);

API Options

| Parameter | Type | Description | Default | Required | | ------------------- | --------- | ------------------------------ | ---------------- | -------- | | searchQuery | string | Google Maps search term | — | ✅ Yes | | outputPath | string | Output JSON file path | "results.json" | No | | maxScrollAttempts | number | Maximum scroll attempts | 100 | No | | headless | boolean | Run Puppeteer in headless mode | false | No |

Examples

Market Research

gmaps-scraper scrape -q "Hair Salons in Bhubaneswar" -o salons.json -m 150

Lead Generation

gmaps-scraper scrape -q "Manufacturing Companies in Cuttack" --headless

Scrape Multiple Queries (Node.js)

import { scrapeGoogleMaps } from "@cml/google-maps-scraper";
import fs from "fs/promises";
const queries = [
  "Bakeries in Puri",
  "Bookstores in Bhubaneswar",
  "Electronics Shops in Cuttack",
];
async function scrapeMultiple() {
  const allResults = [];
  for (const query of queries) {
    console.log(`Scraping: ${query}`);
    const results = await scrapeGoogleMaps({
      searchQuery: query,
      outputPath: `${query.replace(/\s+/g, "_")}.json`,
      maxScrollAttempts: 50,
      headless: true,
    });

    allResults.push({ query, count: results.length, businesses: results });
  }
  await fs.writeFile(
    "combined_results.json",
    JSON.stringify(allResults, null, 2)
  );
  console.log("✅ All queries completed!");
}
scrapeMultiple();

🔍 Troubleshooting

1. Missing TypeScript during build

npm install --save-dev typescript

2. Chromium fails to launch (Linux)

Install dependencies from the Prerequisites section.

3. No results found

• Check internet
• Check search query
• Increase maxScrollAttempts
• Disable headless mode

4. Browser crashes

• Reduce scroll limit
• Ensure 2GB+ free RAM
• Close other apps

5. Permission issues

sudo npm install -g @cml/google-maps-scraper

🛠️ Development

Clone Repo

git clone https://github.com/Code-Media-Labs/google-maps-scraper.git cd google-maps-scraper

Install Dependencies

npm install

Run Locally

node ./bin/gmaps-scraper.js scrape -q "Hotels in Puri"

Build

npm run build

Test

npm test

Project Structure

google-maps-scraper/ ├── bin/ │ └── gmaps-scraper.js ├── src/ │ ├── scraper.js │ ├── excelConverter.js │ └── index.js ├── tests/ │ └── scraper.test.js │ └── excelConverter.test.js ├── package.json ├── tsconfig.json └── README.md

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repo
2. Create a branch:

git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature

3. Commit:

git commit -m "feat: add amazing feature"

4. Push:

git push origin feature/amazing-feature

5. Open a Pull Request

Commit Types

• feat: new feature
• fix: bug fix
• docs: documentation
• refactor: internal code
• test: tests
• chore: maintenance

📄 License

MIT © Code Media Labs

🌟 Support

If you find this tool helpful:

• ⭐ Star the repo
• 🐛 Report issues
• 💡 Suggest features
• 🤝 Contribute