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Version: 0.2.0-alpha

Web search for agents

Some built-in agents can search the web while they work, for a recent fact, a statistic, or a name or date they need to check. The agent writes a short search query, gets back a few results (title, link and a short snippet), and uses them as reference.

Turning it on​

Web search is off until an admin adds a provider for it.

  1. Open Admin, then Inference providers, and add a provider with the Web search capability.
  2. Choose DeepSeek, Google Gemini or OpenAI. For OpenAI, the endpoint must be https://api.openai.com/v1.
  3. Make it the default for Web search.

Steps are in Inference providers. If no provider is set, agents still run: the search simply reports that it is unavailable and the agent carries on without it.

Which agents use it​

The Scriptwriter, the Director, the Shot Director and the Narration Writer. Custom agents do not get web search. See Agents.

What it costs​

Each search query is billed on its own, at the provider's price plus a markup, in the same credits as the rest of the run. For OpenAI and Google, the model's own usage for the search is billed as well, where the model has a price. An agent can make a limited number of searches per step and per run, so cost has a ceiling. A step that searched is never stored in the cache, because the web changes; a step that could search but did not may be cached. If you use your own provider connection, ReelBolt does not charge for the searches.

Google Gemini is not available for shared use yet​

Google's terms restrict how search results may be stored and shown. Until ReelBolt can show the required Google search suggestions, results from a Google Gemini connection are refused and the agent carries on without them. Use DeepSeek or OpenAI for web search today.

How to treat the results​

Search results come from third-party web pages and may be wrong or out of date. ReelBolt marks them as untrusted, so an agent will not follow instructions found in a page. Links are shown so you can check a source yourself; agents do not open them. The search query leaves ReelBolt and is sent to the provider you chose, and it can contain words from your project. See Your data.