Web Search API
Cloudflare launched a beta Web Search API integrating third-party search providers like Ceramic.ai, Exa, and Linkup through AI Gateway.
summary is enough The announcement is brief, but the discussion highlights crucial caveats regarding search quality, pricing, and restrictive terms of service.
summary
Cloudflare introduced a beta Web Search API to allow AI agents to ground responses using live web data via its AI Gateway. The initial launch supports three third-party providers—Ceramic.ai, Exa, and Linkup—billed at list price with no markup. However, commenters quickly raised issues regarding poor search performance from default providers, strict terms of service blocking data storage, and contradictions over zero data retention guarantees.
key points
- Providers vary widely in pricing, ranging from $0.25 per thousand requests for Ceramic.ai up to $7.00 for Exa.
- User testing of Ceramic.ai revealed significant issues with inaccurate, outdated, or missing search results.
- Provider terms of service strictly prohibit storing, aggregating, or resyndicating search results outside real-time application display.
who should read it
Developers and engineers building AI agents who are evaluating search tool integration options.
discussion skeptical
consensus
Commenters are heavily skeptical, criticizing the poor quality of the search index for default providers and warning about restrictive terms of service that prevent caching or resyndicating search output.
pushback
A minority of commenters defend Cloudflare as a reliable infrastructure provider that simplifies billing, failover, and integration compared to managing multiple separate APIs.
My number one question about search APIs is always if they allow you to store and resyndicate results you get from them.
If I'm running an agent system but I'm not allowed to store the responses - or provide a "share transcript" button - that's a pretty significant limitation.
The answer to that question is inevitably buried deep in the terms. Here's the relevant section I found for Ceramic, in their list of things you can't do:
> (n) collect, aggregate, store, or compile Output, including search results, relevance scores, or rankings, for the purpose of creating or contributing to any …
Exposes restrictive terms of service that forbid storing or resyndicating search results, a major limitation for building shareable AI agent transcripts.
Generated by an LLM from the article and thread. Check the sources before relying on it.