web-search

Web Search via DuckDuckGo Instant Answer API

Endpoint

GET https://api.duckduckgo.com/?q=QUERY&format=json&no_html=1&skip_disambig=1

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Take the user's query and convert it into effective search terms
2. URL-encode the query (spaces become +, special characters percent-encoded)
3. Execute the curl command below
4. Parse the JSON response to find the best answer
5. Summarize the results for the user in natural language
6. Always cite the source URL from the response

Quick Search

curl -s "https://api.duckduckgo.com/?q=QUERY&format=json&no_html=1&skip_disambig=1" | jq '{
  type: .Type,
  abstract: .AbstractText,
  abstract_source: .AbstractSource,
  abstract_url: .AbstractURL,
  answer: .Answer,
  definition: .Definition,
  definition_source: .DefinitionSource,
  redirect: .Redirect,
  related: [.RelatedTopics[:5][] | select(.Text) | {text: .Text, url: .FirstURL}]
}'

Compact Search (Best Single Answer)

curl -s "https://api.duckduckgo.com/?q=QUERY&format=json&no_html=1&skip_disambig=1" | jq -r '
  if .Redirect != "" then "Redirect: " + .Redirect
  elif .Answer != "" then .Answer
  elif .AbstractText != "" then .AbstractText + "\nSource: " + .AbstractURL
  elif .Definition != "" then .Definition + "\nSource: " + .DefinitionURL
  elif (.RelatedTopics | length) > 0 then .RelatedTopics[0].Text + "\nURL: " + .RelatedTopics[0].FirstURL
  else "No results found. Try different keywords."
  end'

Detailed Results (All Fields)

curl -s "https://api.duckduckgo.com/?q=QUERY&format=json&no_html=1&skip_disambig=1" | jq '{
  type: .Type,
  heading: .Heading,
  abstract: .AbstractText,
  abstract_source: .AbstractSource,
  abstract_url: .AbstractURL,
  answer: .Answer,
  answer_type: .AnswerType,
  definition: .Definition,
  definition_source: .DefinitionSource,
  definition_url: .DefinitionURL,
  image: .Image,
  redirect: .Redirect,
  related: [.RelatedTopics[]? | select(.Text) | {text: .Text, url: .FirstURL, icon: .Icon.URL}],
  results: [.Results[]? | {text: .Text, url: .FirstURL}],
  infobox: .Infobox
}'