Skip to main content
Glide Browser allows you to add custom search engines programmatically, giving you quick access to any search service directly from the address bar.

​
Adding a Search Engine

Use the glide.search_engines.add() API to register custom search engines: 
await glide.search_engines.add({
  name: "Discogs",
  keyword: "disc",
  search_url: "https://www.discogs.com/search/?q={searchTerms}",
  favicon_url: "https://www.discogs.com/favicon.ico",
});
Now you can search Discogs by typing disc <query> in the address bar.

​
Search Engine Configuration

The configuration format matches the WebExtension chrome_settings_overrides.search_provider manifest specification.

​
Required Properties

​
name
string
required
The display name of the search engine
​
search_url
string
required
The URL to use for searches. Must contain {searchTerms} as a placeholder for the search query.

​
Optional Properties

​
keyword
string | string[]
Keyword(s) to trigger this search engine. Can be a single string or array of strings.
keyword: "@wiki"           // Single keyword
keyword: ["@w", "@wiki"]  // Multiple keywords
​
suggest_url
string
URL for search suggestions. Must contain {searchTerms} placeholder.
suggest_url: "https://example.com/suggest?q={searchTerms}"
​
favicon_url
string
URL to the search engine’s favicon
​
is_default
boolean
Set this search engine as the default. Queries without a keyword will use this engine.
is_default: true
​
search_url_get_params
string
Additional GET parameters for the search URL
search_url: "https://example.com/search",
search_url_get_params: "q={searchTerms}&format=json&lang=en"
// Results in: https://example.com/search?q=<query>&format=json&lang=en
​
search_url_post_params
string
Use POST method instead of GET, with these parameters in the request body
search_url: "https://example.com/search",
search_url_post_params: "q={searchTerms}&format=json"
​
suggest_url_get_params
string
Additional GET parameters for the suggestion URL
suggest_url: "https://example.com/suggest",
suggest_url_get_params: "q={searchTerms}&type=json"

​
Examples

​
Basic Search Engine

await glide.search_engines.add({
  name: "GitHub",
  keyword: "gh",
  search_url: "https://github.com/search?q={searchTerms}",
});
Usage: Type gh glide browser in the address bar

​
With Suggestions

await glide.search_engines.add({
  name: "DuckDuckGo",
  keyword: "ddg",
  search_url: "https://duckduckgo.com/?q={searchTerms}",
  suggest_url: "https://duckduckgo.com/ac/?q={searchTerms}",
  favicon_url: "https://duckduckgo.com/favicon.ico",
});

​
Multiple Keywords

await glide.search_engines.add({
  name: "Wikipedia",
  keyword: ["@wiki", "@w", "wiki"],
  search_url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search={searchTerms}",
  suggest_url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=opensearch&search={searchTerms}",
});
Usage: Any of these will work:
  • @wiki quantum physics
  • @w quantum physics
  • wiki quantum physics

​
Default Search Engine

await glide.search_engines.add({
  name: "Brave Search",
  keyword: "brave",
  search_url: "https://search.brave.com/search?q={searchTerms}",
  suggest_url: "https://search.brave.com/api/suggest?q={searchTerms}",
  is_default: true,
});
Now typing a query without a keyword will use Brave Search.

​
POST Method Search

await glide.search_engines.add({
  name: "API Search",
  keyword: "api",
  search_url: "https://api.example.com/search",
  search_url_post_params: "q={searchTerms}&format=json&key=secret",
});

​
GET Parameters

await glide.search_engines.add({
  name: "YouTube",
  keyword: "yt",
  search_url: "https://www.youtube.com/results",
  search_url_get_params: "search_query={searchTerms}&sp=CAI%253D",
});
// Results in: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=<query>&sp=CAI%253D

​
Dynamic Search Engines

Add search engines conditionally based on context: 
// Add different search engines based on OS
if (glide.ctx.os === "macosx") {
  await glide.search_engines.add({
    name: "macOS Apps",
    keyword: "app",
    search_url: "https://apps.apple.com/search?term={searchTerms}",
  });
}

// Add based on environment variable
const apiKey = glide.env.get("SEARCH_API_KEY");
if (apiKey) {
  await glide.search_engines.add({
    name: "Private API",
    keyword: "priv",
    search_url: `https://api.example.com/search?key=${apiKey}&q={searchTerms}`,
  });
}

​
Managing Search Engines

​
Updating an Existing Engine

Calling glide.search_engines.add() with an existing name will update it: 
// Initial configuration
await glide.search_engines.add({
  name: "Example",
  keyword: "@old",
  search_url: "https://old.example.com/search?q={searchTerms}",
});

// Update it (same name)
await glide.search_engines.add({
  name: "Example",  // Same name = update
  keyword: "@new",
  search_url: "https://new.example.com/search?q={searchTerms}",
});
// Old keyword and URL are replaced

​
Removing Search Engines

Search engines added via the API are not automatically removed when you remove the code. You must manually remove them through Firefox’s preferences at about:preferences#search.

​
Best Practices

​
Use ConfigLoaded Autocmd

Register search engines in a ConfigLoaded autocmd to ensure they’re added on both initial load and config reload: 
glide.autocmds.create("ConfigLoaded", async () => {
  await glide.search_engines.add({
    name: "My Search",
    keyword: "ms",
    search_url: "https://example.com/search?q={searchTerms}",
  });
});

​
Organize Multiple Engines

const searchEngines = [
  {
    name: "GitHub",
    keyword: "gh",
    search_url: "https://github.com/search?q={searchTerms}",
  },
  {
    name: "Stack Overflow",
    keyword: "so",
    search_url: "https://stackoverflow.com/search?q={searchTerms}",
  },
  {
    name: "npm",
    keyword: "npm",
    search_url: "https://www.npmjs.com/search?q={searchTerms}",
  },
];

glide.autocmds.create("ConfigLoaded", async () => {
  for (const engine of searchEngines) {
    await glide.search_engines.add(engine);
  }
});

​
Site-Specific Search Shortcuts

Create shortcuts for searching within specific sites: 
const siteSearches = [
  { name: "Reddit", keyword: "r", domain: "reddit.com" },
  { name: "MDN", keyword: "mdn", domain: "developer.mozilla.org" },
  { name: "Rust Docs", keyword: "rust", domain: "doc.rust-lang.org" },
];

glide.autocmds.create("ConfigLoaded", async () => {
  for (const { name, keyword, domain } of siteSearches) {
    await glide.search_engines.add({
      name,
      keyword,
      search_url: `https://www.google.com/search?q=site:${domain}+{searchTerms}`,
    });
  }
});

​
Common Search Engines

Here are some popular search engines ready to use: 
await glide.search_engines.add({
  name: "MDN",
  keyword: "mdn",
  search_url: "https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/search?q={searchTerms}",
});

await glide.search_engines.add({
  name: "Stack Overflow",
  keyword: "so",
  search_url: "https://stackoverflow.com/search?q={searchTerms}",
});

await glide.search_engines.add({
  name: "GitHub",
  keyword: "gh",
  search_url: "https://github.com/search?q={searchTerms}",
});

​
Troubleshooting

Make sure:
  • The code is inside a ConfigLoaded autocmd
  • You’ve reloaded the config with :config_reload
  • The name is unique
  • The search_url contains {searchTerms}
  • Check that another search engine isn’t using the same keyword
  • Keywords are case-sensitive
  • Try using @ prefix to avoid conflicts: @gh instead of gh
  • Ensure suggest_url contains {searchTerms}
  • Check browser console for CORS errors
  • Not all search APIs support CORS from browser context
The search engine API is defined in glide.d.ts:778-804. Test examples can be found in test/search/browser_search_engines.ts:33-312.

​
Reference

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us