DuckDuckGo Search
The DuckDuckGo Search component brings web search capabilities to your flows, returning URLs and content for any query directly from DuckDuckGo.
Component description
How the DuckDuckGo Search component works
DuckDuckGoSearch Component Overview
The DuckDuckGoSearch component enables your AI workflow to perform real-time web searches using the DuckDuckGo search engine. It accepts a user-defined search query and returns relevant web results, including URLs and their content, making it a powerful tool for knowledge retrieval, research tasks, or augmenting LLMs with up-to-date information from the internet.
What Does This Component Do?
- Executes a search on DuckDuckGo using the provided keywords (query).
- Retrieves a configurable number of results (default: 3).
- Allows filtering by region, safe search level, and time period.
- Returns results as both structured URL records and plain text, suitable for further automated processing or display.
- Can be used as a standalone tool or integrated into agent-based workflows.
Inputs
| Name | Description | Type | Required | Default | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input Keywords | The keywords or query string to search. | String | Yes | (empty) | No |
| Max Results | The number of results to return. | Integer | Yes | 3 | No |
| Region | Region/language code for localized results (e.g., us-en, uk-en, ru-ru). | String | Yes | us-en | Yes |
| SafeSearch | Sets the safesearch filter: strict, moderate, or off. | String | Yes | moderate | Yes |
| Time Limit | Restricts results by time: d (day), w (week), m (month), y (year). | String | Yes | y | Yes |
| Tool Description | (Optional) Description for agents to understand how to use this tool. | String | No | (empty) | Yes |
| Tool Name | (Optional) Alias for referencing this tool within agent frameworks. | String | No | (empty) | Yes |
| Verbose | Whether to print verbose/debug output during execution. | Boolean | No | false | Yes |
Outputs
The component provides three output formats:
URL Records (
UrlRecord)- A structured list of search results, each containing the URL and its associated content. Useful for programmatic consumption or chaining to other components.
URLs as Text (
Message)- The search results formatted as readable text, suitable for direct display or integration into message-driven workflows.
DuckDuckGo Search as Tool (
Tool)- The entire search operation wrapped as a tool object, enabling its use in agent-based or tool-using AI systems.
Why Use This Component?
- Access Current Information: Lets your AI workflow query up-to-date web information, which is especially valuable when LLMs or AI agents need recent data not present in their training set.
- Flexible Configuration: Supports region, safesearch, and time filtering for tailored results.
- Multi-format Outputs: Choose the output format that best fits your downstream task, whether it’s for further automated processing or for display to end-users.
- Agent Integration: Designed to be easily referenced and described for agent-based frameworks, making it suitable for complex AI orchestration.
Example Use Cases
- Answer Augmentation: Enhance LLM answers with real-time web search results.
- Knowledge Extraction: Gather recent web content for summarization or analysis.
- Research Automation: Automate information gathering for specific topics, areas, or timeframes.
This component is a versatile and essential building block for workflows that require external knowledge and up-to-date web data.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the DuckDuckGo Search component do?
It performs real-time searches on DuckDuckGo using your input keywords and returns relevant URLs and their content, allowing your workflows to access fresh web information.
- What kind of output can I get from this component?
It provides results as structured URL records, plain text messages, or as a tool for agent-based flows—giving flexibility in how you use search results.
- Can I control the number or type of search results?
Yes, you can set the maximum number of results, adjust region and safesearch settings, and define time limits for the results.
- Is this component suitable for building knowledge-augmented chatbots?
Absolutely. It’s ideal for chatbots and flows that need up-to-date information from the web, enhancing their answers with real-time search data.
- Does DuckDuckGo Search store or cache my searches?
No, searches are performed in real time, and results are not stored outside your current flow unless you choose to do so.
Try DuckDuckGo Search in FlowHunt
Enhance your workflows with live web search. Start using DuckDuckGo Search in FlowHunt for smarter, more dynamic automations.