Web Search Connector

The Web Search connector gives your agent the ability to search the web, perform AI-powered research via Perplexity, and retrieve news articles. It supports multiple search backends and requires no ETL ingestion -- all tools operate in real time.

Authentication

Configuration varies by search provider. Some providers (DuckDuckGo) require no API key, while others need credentials.

json

{
  "name": "Web Search",
  "source_type": "websearch",
  "config": {
    "web_search_provider": "tavily",
    "web_search_api_key": "tvly-..."
  }
}

Variable	Required	Description
`web_search_provider`	Yes	Search backend: `duckduckgo`, `bing`, `google`, `perplexity`, `tavily`, `searxng`
`web_search_api_key`	Depends	API key for the selected provider (not required for DuckDuckGo)
`google_cx`	Google only	Google Programmable Search Engine ID
`perplexity_api_key`	No	Perplexity API key (for `web_search_perplexity` tool)
`perplexity_model`	No	Perplexity model to use (default: `sonar`)
`searxng_base_url`	SearXNG only	Self-hosted SearXNG instance URL

TIP

You can configure multiple providers simultaneously. Set web_search_provider for the primary web_search tool, and add perplexity_api_key separately to enable the AI research tool.

Live Tools (3)

Tool	Description	Arguments
`web_search`	Search the web using the configured provider	`query`, `num_results?`, `region?`
`web_search_perplexity`	AI-powered research using Perplexity (returns synthesized answers with citations)	`query`, `model?`
`web_search_news`	Search recent news articles	`query`, `num_results?`, `days?`

Example: Agent Using Web Search Tools

User: "What are the latest developments in Rust async?"

Agent: Let me search for recent information.
→ Calls web_search(query: "Rust async latest developments 2026")
→ Returns top 5 results with titles, URLs, and snippets
→ Summarizes: "Key recent developments:
  1. Async closures stabilized in Rust 1.85
  2. New async iterator trait RFC merged
  3. tokio 2.0 release with structured concurrency"

User: "Give me a deep analysis of the tokio 2.0 changes"

Agent: I'll use Perplexity for a deeper analysis.
→ Calls web_search_perplexity(query: "tokio 2.0 release changes analysis")
→ Returns synthesized answer with citations from multiple sources

ETL Ingestion

This connector does not support ETL ingestion. All tools operate as live search queries with no data stored in the knowledge graph.

Configuration Reference

json

{
  "name": "Web Search",
  "source_type": "websearch",
  "config": {
    "web_search_provider": "tavily",
    "web_search_api_key": "tvly-...",
    "google_cx": null,
    "perplexity_api_key": "pplx-...",
    "perplexity_model": "sonar",
    "searxng_base_url": null
  }
}

Field	Type	Default	Description
`web_search_provider`	string	required	Search backend to use
`web_search_api_key`	string	--	API key for the search provider
`google_cx`	string	--	Google Programmable Search Engine ID
`perplexity_api_key`	string	--	Perplexity API key for AI research
`perplexity_model`	string	`sonar`	Perplexity model
`searxng_base_url`	string	--	SearXNG instance URL

Troubleshooting

Error	Cause	Fix
`Invalid API key`	API key is missing or incorrect	Verify the API key for the selected provider
`Quota exceeded`	Provider rate limit or quota reached	Upgrade your plan or switch to a different provider
`Connection refused` (SearXNG)	SearXNG instance is unreachable	Verify `searxng_base_url` and that the instance is running
`No results`	Query returned no matches	Try a broader search query
`Perplexity unavailable`	Missing `perplexity_api_key`	Add a Perplexity API key to use the `web_search_perplexity` tool

Web Search Connector ​

Authentication ​

Live Tools (3) ​

Example: Agent Using Web Search Tools ​

ETL Ingestion ​

Configuration Reference ​