Cloudflare Web Search API enters beta for AI agents
The beta routes agent searches through AI Gateway to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup, billed on AI Gateway credits at each provider's list price.
In short
Cloudflare opened its Web Search API in beta on October 2, 2026, letting AI agents pull live web results from Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup through AI Gateway instead of leaning on their training cutoff.
At a glance
- Launched October 2, 2026; Cloudflare's changelog lists the status as beta.
- Three providers at launch: Ceramic.ai, Exa and Linkup, each with Zero Data Retention for requests via Cloudflare.
- Called through a REST endpoint under /ai/websearch/ or a Workers AI binding in TypeScript.
- Charged to AI Gateway credits at provider list prices with no markup; teams may supply their own provider key.
- Product Hunt: 169 upvotes, ranked #6 for the day, filed under API and Developer Tools.
Cloudflare put its Web Search API into beta on October 2, 2026. It sits behind AI Gateway and hands an agent one endpoint that fans out to three search providers: Ceramic.ai, Exa and Linkup. The point is grounding: the model answers from results fetched at request time rather than from whatever its training run happened to contain.
How you call it
There are two entry points. A REST endpoint under /ai/websearch/ on the account route of the Cloudflare API, and a Workers AI binding for TypeScript if the agent already runs in a Worker. You pass the query, pick a provider and cap the result count; the changelog example asks for five results. Swapping providers is a parameter change, not a second integration to maintain.
Billing and logs
Searches show up in AI Gateway logs and draw down AI Gateway credits at each provider's list price, which Cloudflare says carries no markup of its own. Teams already under contract with Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup can bring their own key instead. What the changelog does not publish is a per-thousand-query figure, so any cost model still has to start from the three providers' own price sheets.
Retention and crawler rules
All three providers offer Zero Data Retention for requests that travel through Cloudflare and, per Cloudflare, follow its verified bot crawling standards. That pairing is the notable part: one company now operates both the agents' search path and the access rules a large share of the web runs on. Neither page we read carries publisher reaction to that arrangement, so we flag it as an open question rather than a conclusion.
Still unknown
Beta here means no general-availability date and no committed service limits. The changelog states neither rate limits nor a free allowance, and the Product Hunt listing only notes that free options exist, without a number attached. Early attention is easier to quantify: 169 upvotes and the #6 slot for the day on Product Hunt, under API and Developer Tools.
Who should try it now
The draw is operational rather than algorithmic — one key, one log stream and three providers you can A/B against each other without writing adapters. If you maintain search plumbing for an agent today, the comparison is cheap to run this week. If you need contractual latency or cost guarantees, waiting for general availability is the sober call.
FAQ
What is the Cloudflare Web Search API?
It is an AI Gateway interface that lets AI agents send web searches to Ceramic.ai, Exa or Linkup and ground answers in current results. It has been in beta since October 2, 2026.
How much does the Cloudflare Web Search API cost?
Requests draw on AI Gateway credits at each provider's list price, with no Cloudflare markup, or you can use your own provider key. The changelog publishes no per-thousand-query rate.
How do you call the Web Search API?
Use the REST endpoint under /ai/websearch/ on your Cloudflare account route, or the Workers AI binding in TypeScript, passing the query, the provider and a result limit.
