Cloudflare has introduced a Web Search API, now available in beta, according to the company’s changelog post. The tool is designed to let AI agents and applications search the internet and ground their responses in live information, rather than guessing URLs or depending on a model’s training cutoff, Cloudflare said.
At launch, developers can choose between three search providers: Ceramic.ai, Exa, and Linkup, according to the announcement. Cloudflare said all three providers support Zero Data Retention for requests made through Cloudflare, meaning search queries are not retained by the providers. The company also said all three have committed to Cloudflare’s verified bot crawling standards, a framework intended to identify legitimate automated crawlers.
The Web Search API runs through Cloudflare’s AI Gateway, according to the post. This means search requests made through the API will appear in a developer’s AI Gateway logs, giving visibility into usage alongside other AI traffic routed through the gateway.
On billing, Cloudflare said requests are charged to a developer’s AI Gateway credits at each provider’s list API price, with no additional markup applied by Cloudflare. Developers also have the option to bring their own API key from one of the supported providers rather than billing through Cloudflare’s credits system, according to the announcement.
Cloudflare’s post includes examples of how to call the Web Search API, noting it can be accessed either through a REST API call or from a Cloudflare Worker using an AI binding. The company pointed developers to a separate guide, “How to use Web Search API,” for further setup instructions.
The release positions Cloudflare in the growing space of infrastructure aimed at supporting AI agents that need access to current information beyond what is included in a language model’s training data. By offering a choice of three third-party search providers alongside data-retention and bot-verification commitments, Cloudflare is framing the tool as an option for developers building AI products that require real-time web grounding, according to the changelog.
No information was provided in the source material regarding specific pricing figures, availability timelines beyond the beta launch, or usage limits for the Web Search API.
Key facts
- Cloudflare’s Web Search API is now available in beta, according to the company’s changelog.
- Three search providers are available at launch: Ceramic.ai, Exa, and Linkup.
- All three providers support Zero Data Retention for requests made through Cloudflare.
- All three providers have committed to Cloudflare’s verified bot crawling standards.
- The API runs through Cloudflare’s AI Gateway, so requests appear in gateway logs.
- Requests are billed to AI Gateway credits at each provider’s list API price with no additional markup.
- Developers can also bring their own provider API key.
- The API can be called via REST API or from a Cloudflare Worker using an AI binding.