duckduckgo-search

DuckDuckGo Search

Free web search using DuckDuckGo. No API key required.

Preferred when web_search is unavailable or unsuitable (for example when FIRECRAWL_API_KEY is not set). Can also be used as a standalone search path when DuckDuckGo results are specifically desired.

Detection Flow

Check what is actually available before choosing an approach:

# Check CLI availability
command -v ddgs >/dev/null && echo "DDGS_CLI=installed" || echo "DDGS_CLI=missing"

Decision tree:

1. If ddgs CLI is installed, prefer terminal + ddgs
2. If ddgs CLI is missing, do not assume execute_code can import ddgs
3. If the user wants DuckDuckGo specifically, install ddgs first in the relevant environment
4. Otherwise fall back to built-in web/browser tools

Important runtime note:

• Terminal and execute_code are separate runtimes
• A successful shell install does not guarantee execute_code can import ddgs
• Never assume third-party Python packages are preinstalled inside execute_code

Installation

Install ddgs only when DuckDuckGo search is specifically needed and the runtime does not already provide it.

# Python package + CLI entrypoint
pip install ddgs

# Verify CLI
ddgs --help

If a workflow depends on Python imports, verify that same runtime can import ddgs before using from ddgs import DDGS.

Method 1: CLI Search (Preferred)

Use the ddgs command via terminal when it exists. This is the preferred path because it avoids assuming the execute_code sandbox has the ddgs Python package installed.

# Text search
ddgs text -q "python async programming" -m 5

# News search
ddgs news -q "artificial intelligence" -m 5

# Image search
ddgs images -q "landscape photography" -m 10

# Video search
ddgs videos -q "python tutorial" -m 5

# With region filter
ddgs text -q "best restaurants" -m 5 -r us-en

# Recent results only (d=day, w=week, m=month, y=year)
ddgs text -q "latest AI news" -m 5 -t w

# JSON output for parsing
ddgs text -q "fastapi tutorial" -m 5 -o json