Tavily Search API
Returns ranked web search results for a query, and optionally a written answer put together from the top sources.
GET /v1/tavily/searchLast updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team
When to use the Tavily Search API
Use it when you want search results you can narrow by domain, date, or topic, with a short written answer alongside them if you ask for one.
From the API reference
Runs a web search via Tavily and returns ranked results plus an optional LLM-generated answer synthesised from the top sources. Set include_answer=true to enable answer synthesis. Use search_depth=advanced for higher-relevance results (also unlocks chunks_per_source). Filter results to specific domains via include_domains (comma-separated), or exclude via exclude_domains. Time-bounded queries via time_range (d / w / m / y) or explicit start_date / end_date (YYYY-MM-DD). When Tavily cannot answer, a second web index serves the call in the same shape at the same price: its results carry score: null, and it does not serve include_answer, include_raw_content, include_images or topic=finance.
Searching 69 platforms in parallel
What can you do with the Search API?
The Search endpoint gives you structured Tavily data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.
Example Request
# GET /v1/tavily/search: 1 credit per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
# --max-time 10: this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
# --retry 3: retries timeouts, 429 and 5xx, honoring Retry-After.
# -o response.json keeps only the final attempt's body.
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY=$(od -An -N16 -tx1 /dev/urandom | tr -d ' \n')
curl -sS --max-time 10 --retry 3 -o response.json \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tavily/search?query=claude+opus+4.7+release+notes" && cat response.json# GET /v1/tavily/search: 1 credit per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
import os
import random
import time
import uuid
import requests
API_KEY = os.environ.get("SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY")
TIMEOUT_S = 10 # this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tavily/search"
def backoff(attempt):
# Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
return 2 ** attempt * (0.5 + random.random() / 2)
def socialcrawl(params):
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
idempotency_key = str(uuid.uuid4())
for attempt in range(MAX_RETRIES + 1):
try:
res = requests.get(
URL,
params=params,
headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY, "Idempotency-Key": idempotency_key},
timeout=TIMEOUT_S,
)
body = res.json()
except (requests.RequestException, ValueError):
# A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise
time.sleep(backoff(attempt))
continue
if body["success"]:
return body
error = body["error"]
# Branch on error["type"], never on the message text.
if error["type"] == "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND":
return None # refunded: nothing to read
retry_after = res.headers.get("Retry-After")
# SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
permanent = error["type"] == "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" and retry_after is None
if not error.get("retryable") or permanent or attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise RuntimeError(f"{error['type']}: {error['message']} (request_id {body['request_id']})")
# Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
time.sleep(float(retry_after) if retry_after else backoff(attempt))
params = {
"query": "claude opus 4.7 release notes",
}
body = socialcrawl(params)
if body is not None:
print(body["data"])// GET /v1/tavily/search: 1 credit per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
// Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
const API_KEY = process.env.SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY ?? "YOUR_API_KEY";
const TIMEOUT_MS = 10_000; // this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
const MAX_RETRIES = 3;
type Page = { next_cursor: string | null; has_more: boolean };
type SocialCrawlResponse =
| { success: true; data: any; pagination?: Page; credits_used: number; request_id: string }
| { success: false; error: { type: string; message: string; retryable: boolean }; request_id: string };
const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
// Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
const backoffMs = (attempt: number) => 2 ** attempt * 1000 * (0.5 + Math.random() / 2);
async function socialcrawl(url: URL) {
// One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
const idempotencyKey = crypto.randomUUID();
for (let attempt = 0; ; attempt++) {
let res: Response;
let body: SocialCrawlResponse;
try {
res = await fetch(url, {
headers: {
"x-api-key": API_KEY,
"Idempotency-Key": idempotencyKey,
},
signal: AbortSignal.timeout(TIMEOUT_MS),
});
body = (await res.json()) as SocialCrawlResponse;
} catch (error) {
// A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if (attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) throw error;
await sleep(backoffMs(attempt));
continue;
}
if (body.success) return body;
// Branch on error.type, never on the message text.
if (body.error.type === "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND") return null; // refunded: nothing to read
const retryAfter = res.headers.get("Retry-After");
// SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
const permanent = body.error.type === "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" && retryAfter === null;
if (!body.error.retryable || permanent || attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) {
throw new Error(`${body.error.type}: ${body.error.message} (request_id ${body.request_id})`);
}
// Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
await sleep(retryAfter ? Number(retryAfter) * 1000 : backoffMs(attempt));
}
}
const url = new URL("https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tavily/search");
url.searchParams.set("query", "claude opus 4.7 release notes");
const body = await socialcrawl(url);
if (body) console.log(body.data);Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| query | Yes | The search query: natural-language free text. |
| search_depth | No | Latency-vs-relevance tradeoff. `basic` is the default; `advanced` unlocks `chunks_per_source` and higher-relevance ranking. (basic | advanced | fast | ultra-fast) |
| topic | No | Search category. Defaults to `general`. Use `news` for time-sensitive queries and `finance` for market data. (general | news | finance) |
| time_range | No | Time window relative to now. Accepts `day` / `week` / `month` / `year` (or shorthand `d` / `w` / `m` / `y`). (day | week | month | year | d | w | m | y) |
| max_results | No | Number of results to return (1-20). Defaults to 5. |
| chunks_per_source | No | Max relevant chunks returned per source (1-5). Only honoured when `search_depth=advanced`. Defaults to 3. |
| include_images | No | Include images alongside the result content. |
| include_image_descriptions | No | Include AI-generated descriptions for the returned images. |
| include_answer | No | Include an LLM-generated answer string synthesised from the top sources. |
| include_raw_content | No | Include the raw HTML/text alongside the cleaned content. |
| include_domains | No | Comma-separated list of domains to restrict results to (e.g. `nytimes.com,reuters.com`). |
| exclude_domains | No | Comma-separated list of domains to exclude from results. |
| country | No | ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code to bias results toward. |
| start_date | No | Inclusive lower bound on result publish date (YYYY-MM-DD). |
| end_date | No | Inclusive upper bound on result publish date (YYYY-MM-DD). |
What does the Tavily Search API return?
Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"platform": "instagram",
"endpoint": "/v1/instagram/engagement",
"data": {
"engagement_rate_percentages": 38.33,
"recent_posts": 12,
"followers": 87608035,
"comments": 528912,
"likes": 33049046,
"recent_posts_explanation": "Statistics based on the last 12 posts",
"id_user": "2278169415",
"username": "mrbeast",
"is_private": false,
"posts_details": [
{
"likes": 5636982,
"comments": 69484,
"taken_at": 1781457954,
"datetime": "2026-06-14 20:25:54",
"hours_since_post": 461,
"time_ago": "19 days ago",
"likes_per_hour": 12228,
"comments_per_hour": 151
},
{
"likes": 20000768,
"comments": 223510,
"taken_at": 1732824650,
"datetime": "2024-11-28 23:10:50",
"hours_since_post": 13971,
"time_ago": "2 years ago",
"likes_per_hour": 1432,
"comments_per_hour": 16
},
{
"likes": 929226,
"comments": 30633,
"taken_at": 1782232475,
"datetime": "2026-06-23 19:34:35",
"hours_since_post": 246,
"time_ago": "10 days ago",
"likes_per_hour": 3777,
"comments_per_hour": 125
},
{
"likes": 487761,
"comments": 22482,
"taken_at": 1781799425,
"datetime": "2026-06-18 19:17:05",
"hours_since_post": 366,
"time_ago": "15 days ago",
"likes_per_hour": 1333,
"comments_per_hour": 61
},
{
"likes": 712265,
"comments": 15716,
"taken_at": 1781366405,
"datetime": "2026-06-13 19:00:05",
"hours_since_post": 487,
"time_ago": "20 days ago",
"likes_per_hour": 1463,
"comments_per_hour": 32
},
{
"likes": 1475116,
"comments": 35386,
"taken_at": 1781277094,
"datetime": "2026-06-12 18:11:34",
"hours_since_post": 512,
"time_ago": "21 days ago",
"likes_per_hour": 2881,
"comments_per_hour": 69
},
{
"likes": 1108220,
"comments": 26632,
"taken_at": 1780160249,
"datetime": "2026-05-30 19:57:29",
"hours_since_post": 822,
"time_ago": "1 months ago",
"likes_per_hour": 1348,
"comments_per_hour": 32
},
{
"likes": 542948,
"comments": 28476,
"taken_at": 1779375582,
"datetime": "2026-05-21 17:59:42",
"hours_since_post": 1040,
"time_ago": "1 months ago",
"likes_per_hour": 522,
"comments_per_hour": 27
},
{
"likes": 698514,
"comments": 24401,
"taken_at": 1779120014,
"datetime": "2026-05-18 19:00:14",
"hours_since_post": 1111,
"time_ago": "2 months ago",
"likes_per_hour": 629,
"comments_per_hour": 22
},
{
"likes": 468000,
"comments": 13548,
"taken_at": 1778947209,
"datetime": "2026-05-16 19:00:09",
"hours_since_post": 1159,
"time_ago": "2 months ago",
"likes_per_hour": 404,
"comments_per_hour": 12
},
{
"likes": 526594,
"comments": 24411,
"taken_at": 1777737719,
"datetime": "2026-05-02 19:01:59",
"hours_since_post": 1495,
"time_ago": "2 months ago",
"likes_per_hour": 352,
"comments_per_hour": 16
},
{
"likes": 462652,
"comments": 14233,
"taken_at": 1777580305,
"datetime": "2026-04-30 23:18:25",
"hours_since_post": 1538,
"time_ago": "2 months ago",
"likes_per_hour": 301,
"comments_per_hour": 9
}
]
},
"credits_used": 5,
"credits_remaining": 9999,
"request_id": "req-8Kq2ZmR4vT9xLb3P",
"cached": false,
"redacted": true
}Example captured from the Instagram API. Every SocialCrawl endpoint returns this same unified schema, so your Tavily Search response has the same fields.
How does the Tavily Search API work?
Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.
Method
GET
Response
JSON
How do you scrape social media data in seconds?
The fastest social media scraping API for developers. Scrape profiles, posts, comments, and analytics from 69 platforms covering 10B+ monthly active users.
One schema, every platform
Query 69 platforms with identical response structures. Write your integration once.
Computed fields, not just scraped
When an endpoint supports these metrics and the source provides the required inputs, the normalized record includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language. Ready to use.
See your data before you code
Visual Data Explorer. Paste any URL, get rich result cards, sortable tables, CSV export.
import requests
response = requests.get(
'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json(){
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"data": {
"author": {
"username": "charlidamelio",
"followers": 152400000
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 12400000000,
"engagement_rate": 0.087
},
"metadata": {
"language": "en",
"content_category": "lifestyle"
}
}
}Have a question? We got answers
Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.
Contact usHow do I run a Tavily web search with an API?
Can Tavily search return an LLM-generated answer?
What filters does the Tavily search endpoint support?
Is this a Tavily alternative or the real Tavily?
How much does the Tavily Search API cost?
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