Tavily Search — Enhanced Edition#

Tavily is a search API optimized for AI applications — returns structured results with relevance scores and optional AI-generated summaries.

Quick Start#

bash

# Standard search (default, 5 results, ~brave format)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "..." --format md

# Include AI short answer
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "..." --include-answer

# Advanced search (higher quality, slower)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "..." --search-depth advanced

Output Formats#

FormatDescriptionBest For--format mdHuman-readable MarkdownDirect user display--format bravetitle/url/snippet JSONStructured processing (default)--format rawFull JSON with all fieldsDebugging / advanced use

Modes#

--mode search (default)#

General web search. Good for research, finding links, fact-checking.

text

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "OpenAI GPT-5 release" --mode search

--mode news#

Fresh news headlines (past N days). Good for current events, breaking news.

text

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "US Iran war" --mode news --days 7

--mode qna#

Direct Q&A — asks Tavily to answer a specific question from web sources.

text

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "What happened at Nvidia GTC 2026?" --mode qna

--mode images#

Image search results.

text

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "Tesla Cybertruck" --mode images

--mode context#

Research-oriented — includes related topics, better for deep dives.

text

python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "Claude AI agent architecture" --mode context

Common Options#

FlagDefaultDescription--max-results N5Number of results (max 10)--include-answeroffAdd AI-generated short answer--search-depthbasicbasic (fast) or advanced (better quality)--days N3Freshness for news mode (1-7)--domainsnoneRestrict to domain(s), e.g. --domains reuters.com bbc.com

Environment Variables#

VariableDescriptionTAVILY_API_KEYAPI key (from tavily.io)TAVILY_SEARCH_DEPTHDefault: basic or advanced

Examples#

text

# Quick fact-check
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "Charlie Kirk death September 2025" --include-answer

# Latest news on a topic
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "AI agents March 2026" --mode news --days 7 --format md

# Deep research with related topics
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "Claude Opus 4.6 capabilities" --mode context --search-depth advanced

# Domain-restricted search
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/tavily_search.py --query "China EV market 2026" --domains reuters.com bloomberg.com

Notes#

• Keep --max-results small (3–5) by default to reduce token/reading load
• Prefer --format md when displaying results directly to users
• Use --include-answer for quick summaries without reading all results
• Dev plan: 1000 searches/month. Pro plan: unlimited.