Connecting to Foursquare

Using API Key Authentication

Foursquare Places API uses Service Key (Bearer token) authentication. To obtain a Service Key:

1. Go to the Foursquare Developer Console at https://foursquare.com/developers/
2. Create a new project or select an existing one
3. Navigate to the API Keys section
4. Generate a new Service Key for the Places API

After setting the following connection properties, you are ready to connect:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• ServiceKey: Set this to your Foursquare Service Key obtained from the Developer Console.
• XPlacesApiVersion: (Optional) Set this to the API version date. Defaults to 2025-06-17.

Example APIKey connection string

Profile=C:\profiles\Foursquare.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_personal_access_token';

Available Tables

The Foursquare API Profile provides access to the following tables:

• Places: Search and retrieve place information including location, categories, ratings, and business details.
• PlacePhotos: Photos associated with Foursquare places.
• PlaceTips: Tips and reviews associated with Foursquare places.
• GeotaggingCandidates: Nearby place candidates for geotagging based on device location.
• Autocomplete: Autocomplete suggestions for places, addresses, searches, and geographic locations.
• SuggestionStatus: Status tracking for place edit suggestions submitted via Placemaker.

API Rate Limits

Foursquare Places API has the following rate limits:

• Pay-as-you-go: 50 queries per second (QPS)
• Enterprise: 100 queries per second (QPS)

Usage Examples

Autocomplete:

SELECT * FROM Autocomplete WHERE Query = 'abc'

GeotaggingCandidates:

SELECT * FROM GeotaggingCandidates WHERE Ll = '41.8781,87.6298'

PlacePhotos:

SELECT * FROM PlacePhotos WHERE PlaceId = '4d806d0e551ea1cd3d1d1ac5'

Places:

SELECT * FROM Places

PlaceTips:

SELECT * FROM PlaceTips WHERE PlaceId = '4d806d0e551ea1cd3d1d1ac5'

SuggestionStatus:

SELECT * FROM SuggestionStatus

Connection Properties

The connection string properties are the various options that can be used to establish a connection. This section provides a complete list of the options you can configure in the connection string for this provider.

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Property	Description
APIKey	The Foursquare Service Key for API authentication.
AuthScheme	The scheme used for authentication. Accepted entries are APIKey or None. Allowed values are: BASIC, NONE, NTLM, OAUTH, APIKEY, OAUTH_CLIENT
XPlacesApiVersion	The API version date for the X-Places-Api-Version header.