Cloudflare’s Web Search API is in beta. It gives an agent or application one search interface through AI Gateway, rather than requiring the developer to integrate each search provider separately. At launch, the actual search providers are Ceramic.ai, Exa, and Linkup. This is a routing, billing, and observability layer over their results—not a new Cloudflare-owned web index or a source of magically verified answers.

  • How to call it: Send a POST to https://api.cloudflare.com/client/v4/accounts/{account_id}/ai/websearch/ with a query, optional provider (ceramic, exa, or linkup), limit (1–10), and a gateway ID. A Worker can instead call env.AI.websearch({ gatewayId, query, provider, limit }). The default provider is Ceramic.
  • What comes back: Search-result items with URLs, titles, and descriptions, plus request metadata. The agent still has to inspect sources and cite them; the endpoint does not itself produce a researched answer.
  • Billing and controls: Requests flow through AI Gateway logs. Cloudflare says gateway credits are charged at each provider’s listed API price without markup, or you can bring your own provider key. The docs list Ceramic at $0.25, Linkup at $5, and Exa at $7 per 1,000 requests. No free tier is claimed here; check the current pricing before using it at scale.
  • Setup cost: A Cloudflare account, an AI Gateway, funded gateway credits or a stored provider key, and—when calling the REST endpoint—a Cloudflare token with Workers AI Read and AI Gateway Read permissions. A Workers AI binding covers the Worker-side path.
  • Privacy caveat: The launch announcement says all three providers support zero data retention for requests made through Cloudflare, but Cloudflare’s provider comparison marks Exa: Zero Data Retention = No while Ceramic and Linkup are marked Yes. Those documents conflict. Do not assume Exa requests are ZDR without clarification from Cloudflare and the provider.

Why it matters: If you already use AI Gateway and want to switch search providers or inspect agent search traffic in one place, this removes some integration work. If you already have a satisfactory SearXNG or Firecrawl-based workflow, this is another metered API dependency—not an automatic upgrade. Cloudflare’s announcement does not provide comparative quality, freshness, or latency benchmarks, and this capture is based on the launch docs rather than a hands-on test.

Cloudflare’s usage guide · Provider comparison