mirror of
https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent.git
synced 2026-05-08 03:01:47 +00:00
111 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
111 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
name: duckduckgo-search
|
|
description: Free web search via DuckDuckGo when Firecrawl is unavailable. No API key needed. Use ddgs CLI or Python library to find URLs, then web_extract for content.
|
|
version: 1.1.0
|
|
author: gamedevCloudy
|
|
license: MIT
|
|
metadata:
|
|
hermes:
|
|
tags: [search, duckduckgo, web-search, free, fallback]
|
|
related_skills: [arxiv]
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
# DuckDuckGo Search (Firecrawl Fallback)
|
|
|
|
Free web search using DuckDuckGo. **No API key required.**
|
|
|
|
## When to Use This
|
|
|
|
Use this skill ONLY when the `web_search` tool is not available (i.e., `FIRECRAWL_API_KEY` is not set). If `web_search` works, prefer it — it returns richer results with built-in content extraction.
|
|
|
|
Signs you need this fallback:
|
|
- `web_search` tool is not listed in your available tools
|
|
- `web_search` returns an error about missing FIRECRAWL_API_KEY
|
|
|
|
## Setup
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
# Install the ddgs package (one-time)
|
|
pip install ddgs
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Web Search (Primary Use Case)
|
|
|
|
### Via Terminal (ddgs CLI)
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
# Basic search — returns titles, URLs, and snippets
|
|
ddgs text -k "python async programming" -m 5
|
|
|
|
# With region filter
|
|
ddgs text -k "best restaurants" -m 5 -r us-en
|
|
|
|
# Recent results only (d=day, w=week, m=month, y=year)
|
|
ddgs text -k "latest AI news" -m 5 -t w
|
|
|
|
# JSON output for parsing
|
|
ddgs text -k "fastapi tutorial" -m 5 -o json
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### Via Python (in execute_code)
|
|
|
|
```python
|
|
from hermes_tools import terminal
|
|
|
|
# Search and get results
|
|
result = terminal("ddgs text -k 'python web framework comparison' -m 5")
|
|
print(result["output"])
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
### CLI Flags
|
|
|
|
| Flag | Description | Example |
|
|
|------|-------------|---------|
|
|
| `-k` | Keywords (query) — **required** | `-k "search terms"` |
|
|
| `-m` | Max results | `-m 5` |
|
|
| `-r` | Region | `-r us-en` |
|
|
| `-t` | Time limit | `-t w` (week) |
|
|
| `-s` | Safe search | `-s off` |
|
|
| `-o` | Output format | `-o json` |
|
|
|
|
## Other Search Types
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
# Image search
|
|
ddgs images -k "landscape photography" -m 10
|
|
|
|
# News search
|
|
ddgs news -k "artificial intelligence" -m 5
|
|
|
|
# Video search
|
|
ddgs videos -k "python tutorial" -m 5
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Workflow: Search → Extract
|
|
|
|
DuckDuckGo finds URLs. To get full page content, follow up with `web_extract`:
|
|
|
|
1. **Search** with ddgs to find relevant URLs
|
|
2. **Extract** content using the `web_extract` tool (if available) or curl
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
# Step 1: Find URLs
|
|
ddgs text -k "fastapi tutorial" -m 3
|
|
|
|
# Step 2: Extract full content from a result URL
|
|
# (use web_extract tool if available, otherwise curl)
|
|
curl -s "https://example.com/article" | head -200
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Limitations
|
|
|
|
- **Rate limiting**: DuckDuckGo may throttle after many rapid requests. Add `sleep 1` between searches if needed.
|
|
- **No content extraction**: ddgs only returns titles, URLs, and snippets — not full page content. Use `web_extract` or curl for that.
|
|
- **Results quality**: Generally good but less configurable than Firecrawl's search.
|
|
- **Availability**: DuckDuckGo may block requests from some cloud IPs. If searches return empty, try different keywords or add a short delay.
|
|
|
|
## Pitfalls
|
|
|
|
- **Don't confuse `-k` and `-m`**: `-k` is for keywords (the query), `-m` is for max results count.
|
|
- **Package name**: The package is `ddgs` (was previously `duckduckgo-search`). Install with `pip install ddgs`.
|
|
- **Empty results**: If ddgs returns nothing, it may be rate-limited. Wait a few seconds and retry.
|