🌐 Announcing the Web Search API

Date: October 2, 2026
Status: Beta
Category: AI Gateway

Cloudflare has officially launched the Web Search API, a new tool designed to empower AI applications and agents. By integrating live internet access, developers can ensure their models provide responses grounded in real-time data rather than guessing URLs or being limited by a static training cutoff.

🛠️ Core Capabilities & Providers

The API allows you to select from three distinct search engines to power your agent's knowledge:

Note: All integrated providers have committed to Cloudflare's verified bot crawling standards and support ZDR for all requests routed through the platform.

🏗️ Architecture & Billing

The Web Search API is integrated directly into the AI Gateway. This means all search activity is logged within your gateway for easy monitoring.

Pricing Model: There is no additional markup from Cloudflare. You are billed via your AI Gateway credits based on the provider's standard list price. This can be represented as: $\text{Total Cost} = \sum (\text{Requests} \times \text{Provider List Price})$

Request Flow

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💻 Implementation Guide

You can trigger a search using either a standard REST call or a Cloudflare Worker binding.

Option 1: REST API

Use curl to send a POST request to the following endpoint: https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID/ai/websearch/

curl https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/$CLOUDFLARE_ACCOUNT_ID/ai/websearch/ \
 --request POST \
 --header "Authorization: Bearer $CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN" \
 --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
 --data '{
   "query": "What are some fun things to do in Salt Lake City as fall approaches?",
   "provider": "ceramic",
   "limit": 5,
   "options": {
     "gateway": {
       "id": "default"
     }
   }
 }'

Option 2: Cloudflare Workers

If you are using the AI binding, the implementation is even more streamlined:

const response = await env.websearch({
  gatewayId: "default",
  query: "What are some fun things to do in Salt Lake City as fall approaches?",
  provider: "exa",
  limit: 5,
});

const results = await response.json();

🚀 Getting Started Checklist

• Log in to your Cloudflare Dashboard.
• Configure your AI Gateway.
• Select a preferred search provider (ceramic, exa, or linkup).
• Review the official How to use Web Search API documentation.