Search the web

Ask Vera to search for a topic. In ask and auto, a search runs without a prompt. Readonly refuses it. The included search tool returns titles, URLs, and snippets. Vera uses a separate fetch tool to read a returned page.

Search supports Brave and Exa, which both need an API key. Other extensions can add providers. With no provider ready, a search fails and says so: connect Brave or Exa, or install the DuckDuckGo example from examples/extensions/duckduckgo-search.

Connect a search provider

Run /search-providers, or choose Search providers from Ctrl+P.
Choose Connect provider, then a service.
For a keyed service, paste its API key and press Enter to save.
Open the provider’s actions and choose Verify to try a small search.

Key input is masked and saved privately in your Vera home’s credential store. Verification can incur service charges. Escape cancels it.

Provider actions are grouped: key actions, then move up and move down, then enable, disable, and remove. A dashed line separates the groups. A provider that needs no key has no key actions.

You can also reach these settings through /extensions, then vera.web-search, then Search providers. Changes apply to the next search without restarting Vera.

Set the search order

Vera tries enabled providers from top to bottom. Open a provider’s actions and choose Move up, Move down, Enable, or Disable.

Before you customize the list, connected services are ordered Brave, then Exa. Your saved order replaces that initial order. A provider from an extension joins at the bottom and leaves when the extension is removed.

What causes fallback

A missing key skips a provider. A timeout, rejected key, rate limit, or service failure tries the next one. Results identify the service used and any earlier failures. If all services fail, Vera reports them.

Zero results is a successful search and stops fallback. Cancellation stops the search too.

Change or remove a key

Open a provider’s actions to set or remove its saved key. Remove provider removes the list entry but preserves the key. Remove saved key deletes it.

BRAVE_API_KEY and EXA_API_KEY can also supply credentials through the host environment. A saved key takes precedence; removing it allows the exported key to be used again.

Search limits

The tool accepts a query and 1 to 10 results, defaulting to 5. Queries are limited to 600 characters and 75 words. A search has a 15-second deadline, with at most 5 seconds for each provider.

Install the DuckDuckGo example

DuckDuckGo Lite needs no key and is not included. Install the example, then restart the host, because the provider runs there:

/extension install ~/Projects/vera/examples/extensions/duckduckgo-search

Use the path to your own Vera checkout. It then appears at the bottom of /search-providers. It reads DuckDuckGo’s HTML page, so a block or a changed page is reported as a failure rather than as zero results. Keep the volume low. /extension remove example.duckduckgo-search removes it and its provider.

Add a provider from an extension

An extension adds a provider by declaring search.providers.register in its manifest and calling vera.search.registerProvider(...) from activate. The provider runs on the host, both for searches and for Verify.

A provider has an id, a label, requiresKey, an optional keyEnv, and a search({ query, count, key, signal }) function that returns titles, URLs, and snippets. Keys are saved in the credential store and passed in as key. examples/extensions/duckduckgo-search is a working example.