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Address Lookup

Global address autocomplete and resolution

Address Lookup resolves customer-supplied address fragments into verified, structured service addresses. It is designed for phone, SMS, email, and form intake where a customer may provide anything from a postcode and house number to a messy full address.

UK addresses resolve at individual flat and property level — every premise for a postcode, with sub-building, UPRN, and UDPRN. Global addresses resolve from free text with house-number precision. Ambiguous results return ranked candidates and a clarification question rather than silently guessing.

What you can do

  • lookup_postcode — validate a postal code and return every individual premise, ready for the agent to ask which one the customer means
  • resolve_address — resolve messy full address text globally, or match postcode plus spoken property detail to one exact address
  • autocomplete_address / autocomplete_postcode — typed address suggestions, or complete a partial postcode
  • reverse_geocode — turn a latitude/longitude into the nearest UK postcode and admin areas
  • validate_postcode, search_postcodes, nearest_postcodes, bulk_lookup_postcodes, lookup_outcode — UK postcode utilities for forms, batches, and area routing
  • search_places — find UK towns, suburbs, and landmarks by name
  • terminated_postcode — check whether a postcode was retired by Royal Mail

Who it's for

Voice agents, field-service teams, delivery teams, CRM intake flows, and operations software that must capture the exact service address before routing someone or saving a customer record.

How to use it

  1. Use resolve_address when the customer gives a complete or messy address in SMS, email, or chat
  2. Use autocomplete_address while the customer types an address into a form or chat UI — or autocomplete_postcode to complete just the postcode
  3. Use lookup_postcode when the customer only gives a postcode — returns every premise so you can ask "which number or flat?"
  4. Use reverse_geocode to turn a GPS coordinate (e.g. a driver's location) into the nearest postcode and area
  5. If the result is ambiguous, read back the candidate labels and ask the customer to pick one — never assume
  6. For a named business or shop, switch to the places-search tool instead

Getting started

Works with no configuration. Add a UK address credential for flat-level UK data including UPRN and UDPRN; the postcode utilities need no setup.

Lookup Postcode

Validate and locate a postal code area using a configured address provider.

Returns: Postal-code lookup candidates, UK admin hierarchy fields, centroid, and a prompt hint for the next customer question.
Resolve Address

Resolve messy full address text globally, or postcode plus property detail, to one structured address where possible.

Returns: A resolved structured address or ambiguous candidates (with coordinates), plus UK admin hierarchy fields when a postcode is known.
Autocomplete Address

Return ranked typed address suggestions from a configured provider for forms and chat flows.

Returns: Ranked short address suggestions with provider-stable IDs where available.
Reverse Geocode

Find the nearest UK postcode(s) and admin areas for a latitude/longitude coordinate.

Returns: The nearest UK postcode(s) to a coordinate, with distance and admin hierarchy.
Autocomplete Postcode

Suggest valid UK postcodes from a partial postcode as the customer spells it out.

Returns: A list of valid UK postcodes matching the partial input.
Validate Postcode

Check whether a UK postcode is real and currently in use, without a full lookup.

Returns: Whether the supplied UK postcode is valid.
Search Postcodes

Search UK postcodes by a partial string and return full records with coordinates and admin areas.

Returns: Matching UK postcodes with coordinates and admin areas.
Nearest Postcodes

Return the postcodes nearest to a given UK postcode, ordered by distance.

Returns: Postcodes near the supplied postcode with distances.
Bulk Lookup Postcodes

Look up many UK postcodes in one call — returns coordinates and admin areas for each.

Returns: A result row per input postcode, each with found flag and admin data.
Lookup Outcode

Resolve a UK outcode (the area part of a postcode, e.g. "W5") to its centre and admin areas.

Returns: The outcode area centre and the admin areas it covers.
Search Places

Search UK place names (towns, villages, suburbs, landmarks) and return their location and area.

Returns: Matching UK places with type and coordinates.
Terminated Postcode

Check whether a UK postcode has been retired by Royal Mail, and when, with its historic location.

Returns: Whether the postcode was terminated, when, and its historic location.
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v0.092026-06-05
  • New UK postcode utilities: validate a postcode, search postcodes, find the nearest postcodes, look up many at once, resolve an outcode area, search place names, and check terminated (retired) postcodes.
v0.082026-06-05
  • New: reverse geocode a latitude/longitude to the nearest UK postcode and admin areas.
  • New: autocomplete a partial UK postcode to valid full postcodes — useful for voice and form intake.
v0.072026-06-05
  • UK address lookups now fall back to a second data source if the primary is unavailable, so flat- and building-level addresses keep resolving.
v0.062026-06-05
  • Improved UK flat- and building-level address resolution — sub-building, building name, UDPRN, and precise coordinates.
  • If the UK address source is unavailable, the tool now says so clearly instead of returning a postcode-only result that looks like a complete address.
v0.052026-06-03
  • UK outcodes (the area part of a postcode, e.g. "W5" or "CR4") now resolve to that area's centre instead of being rejected — useful when only a partial postcode is known.
  • Outcode results are clearly marked as area-level (no single building), so you know to ask for a full postcode when an exact address is needed.
v0.042026-05-28
  • UK postcode lookups now include borough, ward, outcode, and region — useful for area-level routing and directory pages.
  • Non-existent UK postcodes now return a clear invalid-postcode signal instead of ambiguous candidates.
  • Ambiguous address candidates now include coordinates so distance calculations work without a separate lookup.
v0.032026-05-12
  • UK postcodes now return individual flat and premise records including sub-building, UPRN, and UDPRN when the Ordnance Survey credential is configured.
  • Added free global geocoding fallback — the tool works without any API key configured.
v0.022026-05-12
  • Resolve no longer silently substitutes a nearby address when the requested building number or sub-building cannot be confirmed — returns ambiguous with candidates instead.
  • Sub-building requests (flat, unit) that cannot be verified from provider data now return ambiguous rather than a building-level resolved result.
  • Clarified that named-business lookups should use the places-search tool.
v0.012026-05-12
  • Initial release with HERE global address resolution, postal-code lookup, and typed autocomplete.
  • Added optional Google Places Autocomplete as a secondary suggestion source.

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