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Web Search

Perform web searches to find real-time information from the internet.

Parameters​

NameTypeRequiredDefaultDescription
querystring✅ Yes-The search query.
maxResultsnumber❌ No5Maximum results to return (1–20).
searchDepthenum (basic | advanced)❌ NobasicTavily search depth. advanced uses better extraction at 2× the upstream cost; recommended when includeRawContent is true.
includeRawContentboolean❌ NofalseWhen true, each result includes a rawContent field with the full cleaned page body. No extra credit cost; expect a small latency increase.

Cost​

ModeCredits per call
searchDepth: "basic" (default)0.01
searchDepth: "advanced"0.02

includeRawContent is free at any search depth — it only adds latency. The credit cost is reported per call via _meta.creditCost on the MCP response, so dashboards and the agent-service trace ledger pick up the right amount automatically.

Required Integrations​

  • tavily

Use Cases​

  • General research
  • Current events
  • Supplemental data gathering
  • Real-time information

Example Usage​

MCP Client (default — basic, snippets only)​

{
  "tool": "web_search",
  "parameters": {
    "query": "example-value"
  }
}

MCP Client (full content + advanced extraction)​

{
  "tool": "web_search",
  "parameters": {
    "query": "Phoenix MCP architecture changelog",
    "searchDepth": "advanced",
    "includeRawContent": true
  }
}

This call costs 0.02 credits and returns each result with rawContent populated for downstream RAG / extraction workflows.

Claude Desktop​

Use the web_search tool to perform web searches to find real-time information from the internet.

Response Format​

The tool returns a structured JSON response with:

  • data: The actual result data
  • metadata: Execution metadata including timing and provider information

When includeRawContent: true, each entry in data.results carries a rawContent string (otherwise null).

Error Handling​

Common errors:

  • Missing Integration: Required integration not configured
  • Invalid Parameters: Parameters don't match the schema
  • Rate Limit: API rate limit exceeded
  • Not Found: Resource not found (e.g., company domain doesn't exist)

Next Steps​