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Internet Search allows your AI to access real-time information from the web, similar to ChatGPT’s search functionality. This enables your AI to answer questions about current events, recent developments, or any information not in its training data.

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Supported Search Engines

Page Assist supports a wide variety of search providers:
No API key required:
  • Google - Most comprehensive, supports region selection
  • DuckDuckGo - Privacy-focused search
  • Bing - Microsoft’s search engine
  • Brave - Privacy-focused, independent index
  • Startpage - Anonymous Google results
  • Stract - Open-source search
  • Sogou - Chinese search engine
  • Baidu - Chinese search engine
  • Searxng - Self-hosted metasearch (requires instance URL)
  • Ollama Web Search - Search via Ollama integration
API-based search providers typically offer higher quality results, better rate limits, and additional features but require registration and API keys.

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Getting Started

1

Configure Search Provider

  1. Go to Settings → General Settings
  2. Scroll to “Manage Web Search” section
  3. Select your preferred search engine from the dropdown
  4. If using API-based search, enter your API key
  5. For regional search (Google), select your region
  6. Click “Save Settings”
2

Enable Internet Search

In Sidebar:
  • Open sidebar (Ctrl+Shift+Y)
  • Click the globe icon in the input area
  • Icon highlights when search is enabled
In Web UI:
  • Open Web UI (Ctrl+Shift+L)
  • Toggle the internet search switch (globe icon)
  • Switch shows active state
3

Start Searching

Ask questions that require current information:
  • “What’s the latest news about AI?”
  • “Current weather in New York”
  • “Recent developments in quantum computing”
  • “Bitcoin price today”

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Search Modes

Page Assist offers two search modes:
How it works:
  1. Your query is sent to the search engine
  2. Top search results are retrieved
  3. Result snippets are included in the AI prompt
  4. AI generates response using search context
Characteristics:
  • Fast response times
  • Lower token usage
  • Good for quick facts
  • Limited context per result
Enable: Settings → General Settings → “Perform Simple Internet Search” (ON)

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Configuration

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Default Search Settings

Automatically enable internet search for all new chats:
  1. Go to Settings → General Settings
  2. Under “Manage Web Search” section
  3. Enable “Internet Search ON by default”
  4. Click “Save Settings”
New chats will now start with search enabled.
Automatically extract content when URLs are sent:How it works:
  • When you send a webpage URL with search enabled
  • Page Assist visits the site and extracts text
  • Content is sent to the AI as context
Enable/Disable:
  1. Go to Settings → General Settings
  2. Find “Visit websites from messages” option
  3. Toggle on/off (enabled by default)
Customize search results by region:
  1. Go to Settings → General Settings
  2. Under “Manage Web Search”
  3. Select search provider: Google
  4. Choose your region from dropdown
  5. Results will be localized to your region

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Custom Search Prompts

Customize how search results are presented to the AI:
1

Access Prompt Settings

  1. Go to Settings → RAG Settings
  2. Scroll to “Configure RAG Prompt” section
  3. Click the Web tab
2

Edit Search Prompt

Customize the system prompt with these variables:
  • {search_results} - Search results content (required, don’t remove)
  • {current_date_time} - Current date and time
  • {query} - The user’s search query
Example:
You are a helpful assistant with access to current information.

Current date and time: {current_date_time}
User query: {query}

Search results:
{search_results}

Provide accurate, well-sourced answers based on the search results.
3

Save Changes

Click “Save” to apply your custom prompt.
Important: Never remove the {search_results} variable - it’s required for search functionality.

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API Configuration

For API-based search providers, you’ll need to configure API keys:

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Brave Search API

  1. Sign up at Brave Search API
  2. Get your API key
  3. In Page Assist: Settings → General Settings → Manage Web Search
  4. Select “Brave Search API”
  5. Enter your API key
  6. Save settings

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Tavily Search API

  1. Sign up at Tavily
  2. Get your API key
  3. In Page Assist: Settings → General Settings → Manage Web Search
  4. Select “Tavily Search API”
  5. Enter your API key
  6. Save settings

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Kagi Search API

Kagi Search API is in private beta and requires API access.
  1. Request beta access from Kagi
  2. Receive API key
  3. Configure in Page Assist settings

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Other API Providers

Follow similar steps for:
  • Perplexity Search API: Get key from Perplexity
  • Exa: Sign up at exa.ai
  • Firecrawl: Get key from firecrawl.dev

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Searxng (Self-Hosted)

  1. Deploy your own Searxng instance
  2. Get the instance URL
  3. In Page Assist: Select “Searxng”
  4. Enter your instance URL
  5. Save settings

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Advanced Usage

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Combining Features

Combine internet search with webpage analysis:
  1. Enable internet search
  2. Enable chat with webpage
  3. Ask questions that combine current page + web search
Example: “How do the claims on this page compare to recent research?”

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Search Optimization Tips

Specific Queries: More specific questions yield better search results. Instead of “AI news”, try “latest GPT-4 developments this week”.
Simple vs Deep: Use Simple Search for quick facts, Deep Search for detailed research requiring full page content.
Regional Results: For location-specific queries, use Google with appropriate region settings.
API Providers: For production use or high-volume searches, API-based providers offer better reliability and rate limits.

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Use Cases

Current Events

  • Latest news and developments
  • Breaking news analysis
  • Event summaries
  • Timeline of recent events

Research

  • Recent scientific papers
  • Academic research
  • Market research
  • Competitive analysis

Real-Time Data

  • Stock prices
  • Weather forecasts
  • Sports scores
  • Exchange rates

Fact Checking

  • Verify claims
  • Cross-reference sources
  • Get multiple perspectives
  • Find citations

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Troubleshooting

Possible causes:
  • Search provider not configured
  • API key invalid
  • Network connectivity issues
  • Rate limit exceeded
Solutions:
  • Check search provider settings
  • Verify API key if using API-based search
  • Try different search provider
  • Wait if rate limited
  • Check browser console for errors
Possible causes:
  • Deep Search mode enabled
  • Slow search provider
  • Network latency
Solutions:
  • Switch to Simple Search mode
  • Try faster search provider (Google, DuckDuckGo)
  • Use API-based providers for better performance
  • Check internet connection
Possible causes:
  • Vague query
  • Wrong search provider for query type
  • Poor search prompt
Solutions:
  • Make queries more specific
  • Try different search provider
  • Customize search prompt for better context
  • Use Deep Search for more detailed results
Possible causes:
  • Invalid API key
  • Exceeded quota
  • Service downtime
Solutions:
  • Verify API key is correct
  • Check API provider dashboard for quota
  • Switch to free search provider temporarily
  • Contact API provider support

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Privacy and Security

Search Privacy: When using search features, your queries are sent to the selected search provider. Choose privacy-focused providers like DuckDuckGo or Brave for better privacy.

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Privacy Comparison

ProviderPrivacy LevelNotes
DuckDuckGoHighNo tracking, anonymous
BraveHighNo logging, independent index
StartpageHighAnonymous Google results
SearxngHighestSelf-hosted, full control
GoogleLowTracks searches if logged in
BingLowMicrosoft data collection
API-based providers may have different privacy policies. Review their terms before use.

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Performance Optimization

  • Use Simple Search mode
  • Choose fast providers (Google, DuckDuckGo)
  • Reduce number of search results
  • Use lighter AI models
  • Use Deep Search mode for research
  • Choose API-based providers (Tavily, Brave API)
  • Customize search prompts for better context
  • Use advanced AI models (GPT-4, Claude)
  • Use DuckDuckGo, Brave, or Startpage
  • Self-host Searxng instance
  • Avoid Google and Bing when possible
  • Check API provider privacy policies

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Next Steps

Chat with Webpage

Combine search with webpage analysis

Knowledge Base

Cross-reference search with your documents

Configuration Settings

Customize search prompts and behavior

Vision

Add visual context to search queries

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