Strava route builder API

The Strava Route Builder lets you build cycling and running routes. It’s backed by an API at https://www.strava.com/routemaster/route. I wanted to use this API for my own purposes, but it’s undocumented, so here are some hints.

The Route Builder takes as input a set of waypoints. You draw these on the map by clicking. For the route between two waypoints, the app makes a call to the API. Given two points, like { lat: 51, lng: 0 }, you can get the route between them with this JS:

function routeBetweenPoints(a, b) {
  return fetch('https://www.strava.com/routemaster/route', {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json; charset=utf-8',
      'X-CSRF-Token': document.getElementsByName('csrf-token')[0].getAttribute('content')
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      elements: [
        { element_type: 1, waypoint: { point: a } },
        { element_type: 1, waypoint: { point: b } }
      ],
      preferences: {
        popularity: 1,
        elevation: 0,
        route_type: 1,
        straight_line: false
      }
    })
  }).then(response => response.json());
}

This will only work within the Route Builder, because it needs access to csrf-token in the DOM. You can paste it into the console on the Route Builder page. Alternatively, you can get your own CSRF token, and call the API from a script. I leave this to you to achieve.

Tagged #programming. All content copyright James Fisher 2018. This post is not associated with my employer. Found an error? Edit this page.

Jim Fisher

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