hermes-agent/skills/research/duckduckgo-search/SKILL.md

name	description	version	author	license	metadata	prerequisites
duckduckgo-search	Free web search via DuckDuckGo — text, news, images, videos. No API key needed. Use the Python DDGS library or CLI to search, then web_extract for full content.	1.2.0	gamedevCloudy	MIT	hermes tags related_skills fallback_for_toolsets search duckduckgo web-search free fallback arxiv web	commands ddgs

DuckDuckGo Search

Free web search using DuckDuckGo. No API key required.

Preferred when web_search tool is unavailable or unsuitable (no FIRECRAWL_API_KEY set). Can also be used as a standalone search tool.

Setup

# Install the ddgs package (one-time)
pip install ddgs

Python API (Primary)

Use the DDGS class in execute_code for structured results with typed fields.

Important: max_results must always be passed as a keyword argument — positional usage raises an error on all methods.

Text Search

Best for: general research, companies, documentation.

from ddgs import DDGS

with DDGS() as ddgs:
    for r in ddgs.text("python async programming", max_results=5):
        print(r["title"])
        print(r["href"])
        print(r.get("body", "")[:200])
        print()

Returns: title, href, body

News Search

Best for: current events, breaking news, latest updates.

from ddgs import DDGS

with DDGS() as ddgs:
    for r in ddgs.news("AI regulation 2026", max_results=5):
        print(r["date"], "-", r["title"])
        print(r.get("source", ""), "|", r["url"])
        print(r.get("body", "")[:200])
        print()

Returns: date, title, body, url, image, source

Image Search

Best for: visual references, product images, diagrams.

from ddgs import DDGS

with DDGS() as ddgs:
    for r in ddgs.images("semiconductor chip", max_results=5):
        print(r["title"])
        print(r["image"])       # direct image URL
        print(r.get("thumbnail", ""))
        print(r.get("source", ""))
        print()

Returns: title, image, thumbnail, url, height, width, source

Video Search

Best for: tutorials, demos, explainers.

from ddgs import DDGS

with DDGS() as ddgs:
    for r in ddgs.videos("FastAPI tutorial", max_results=5):
        print(r["title"])
        print(r.get("content", ""))       # video URL
        print(r.get("duration", ""))       # e.g. "26:03"
        print(r.get("provider", ""))       # YouTube, etc.
        print(r.get("published", ""))
        print()

Returns: title, content, description, duration, provider, published, statistics, uploader

Quick Reference

Method	Use When	Key Fields
text()	General research, companies	title, href, body
news()	Current events, updates	date, title, source, body, url
images()	Visuals, diagrams	title, image, thumbnail, url
videos()	Tutorials, demos	title, content, duration, provider

CLI (Alternative)

Use the ddgs command via terminal when you don't need structured field access.

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

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

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

# Video search
ddgs videos -k "python tutorial" -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

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

Workflow: Search then Extract

DuckDuckGo returns titles, URLs, and snippets — not full page content. To get full 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

from ddgs import DDGS

with DDGS() as ddgs:
    results = list(ddgs.text("fastapi deployment guide", max_results=3))
    for r in results:
        print(r["title"], "->", r["href"])

# Then use web_extract tool on the best URL

Limitations

• Rate limiting: DuckDuckGo may throttle after many rapid requests. Add a short delay between searches if needed.
• No content extraction: ddgs returns 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 wait a few seconds.
• Field variability: Return fields may vary between results or ddgs versions. Use .get() for optional fields to avoid KeyError.

Pitfalls

• max_results is keyword-only: ddgs.text("query", 5) raises an error. Use ddgs.text("query", max_results=5).
• Don't confuse -k and -m (CLI): -k is for keywords, -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.

Validated With

Smoke-tested with ddgs==9.11.2 on Python 3.13. All four methods (text, news, images, videos) confirmed working with keyword max_results.