A lightweight Promise-returning helper for loading the Google Maps JavaScript API

• The Promise’s fulfilled callback is passed the google.maps object
• Optionally set a timeout, an API key, the language, and more

Editable demo (CodePen)

const loadGoogleMapsApi = require('load-google-maps-api')

loadGoogleMapsApi().then(function (googleMaps) {
  new googleMaps.Map(document.querySelector('.map'), {
    center: {
      lat: 40.7484405,
      lng: -73.9944191
    },
    zoom: 12
  })
}).catch(function (error) {
  console.error(error)
})

N.B. Just like the Google Maps API itself, this module is client-side only.

Without this module, you would need to specify a named global callback, and pass said callback’s name as a parameter in the script tag’s src. For example:

<script>
window.googleMapsOnLoad = function () {
  // `window.google.maps` available here
}
</script>
<script async defer src="https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/js?callback=googleMapsOnLoad"></script>

This module abstracts this ceremony away, and fits better with modern bundlers like Browserify or Webpack.

const loadGoogleMapsApi = require('load-google-maps-api')

Returns a Promise.

• Fulfilled if loading was successful. The fulfilled callback is passed the google.maps object. If loadGoogleMapsApi is called multiple times on a page, the fulfilled callback will be passed the previously-loaded google.maps object.
• Rejected if we weren’t able to load the Google Maps API after options.timeout.

See Usage.

options is an optional object literal:

$ yarn add load-google-maps-api

MIT