cyberbro Google search after January 1, 2027

The change is one line in .env

cyberbro is "a simple application that extracts your IoCs from garbage input and checks their reputation using multiple services", and its Google engine finds pages that mention each one. The engine calls GOOGLE_CSE_URL when it is set and Google's address when it is empty. Before and after, in .env:

# .env, before
GOOGLE_CSE_CX=<your engine ID>
GOOGLE_CSE_KEY=<your Google key>
GOOGLE_CSE_URL=https://www.googleapis.com/customsearch/v1

# .env, after
GOOGLE_CSE_CX=any
GOOGLE_CSE_KEY=<your SpecStream key>
GOOGLE_CSE_URL=https://api.specstream.ai/customsearch/v1

The engine needs both a key and an engine ID before it runs, so give GOOGLE_CSE_CX any value: SpecStream accepts cx and does not use it. Restart cyberbro so it reads .env again.

Google's JSON, so the engine's parser reads it

For each observable the engine sends key, cx and q, with the observable in quotes after any dorks. It reads items[], taking title, snippet and link from each, and searchInformation.totalResults for the count. SpecStream returns those fields in Google's shape, and a search operator such as site: in q holds on every result.

The call the engine makes for a domain, in Python with requests:

import os, requests

reply = requests.get(
    "https://api.specstream.ai/customsearch/v1",
    params={"key": os.environ["SPECSTREAM_API_KEY"], "cx": "any", "q": '"example.com"'},
).json()

print(reply["searchInformation"]["totalResults"])
for item in reply["items"]:
    print(item["title"], item["link"], item["snippet"])

The route honours q, num, start, hq, exactTerms, orTerms, excludeTerms, siteSearch and siteSearchFilter. Every parameter and field is in the Google Custom Search guide.

$5 per 1,000 searches, with no daily limit

A search of up to 10 results costs $0.005, so a batch of 200 observables costs $1. There is no monthly plan and no daily limit. Credit you buy never expires, and a new account starts with $10 of credit, which covers 2,000 searches. A call stopped by a 429 charges nothing.

The most accurate web search API

The SpecStream Search API scores 97.9 F-score on all 1,000 official SimpleQA Verified questions, with 978 correct, and 64.0 item F1 and 43.4 row F1 on all 200 official WideSearch tasks. The Extract API scores 0.908 F1 on WCXB. Each score and its method is on the benchmarks page.

Nothing kept from an investigation, on a key you choose

Observables from an incident are sensitive. A key made with zero_retention keeps no request text and no answer after the reply, and spend_cap_cents sets the most the key can spend.

curl -X POST https://api.specstream.ai/v1/account/keys \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "cyberbro", "scopes": ["account:read", "finds:spend"], "spend_cap_cents": 500000, "zero_retention": true}'

Search, pages and rows on one key

The same key reads up to 20 pages or documents a call with the Extract API at $0.80 per 1,000 pages, and a page with no text is not charged. Deep Search returns every match for a request in plain words as structured rows, at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, with a source URL on every value, and the most a run can cost is approved before it starts. More Custom Search clients are on the open-source apps page.

Google Custom Search, until January 1, 2027

Existing customers can keep Google's address in GOOGLE_CSE_URL until the API ends: $5 per 1,000 queries after 100 free a day, up to 10,000 a day. A new project gets no key. SpecStream costs the same $5 per 1,000, with no daily limit, behind one line.

Agent Search (Vertex AI Search)

Google's named alternative, for searching up to 50 domains, at $1.50 per 1,000 queries on Standard Edition. It is a different API, so cyberbro's engine cannot call it. SpecStream searches the whole live web for an observable and answers the call the engine already sends.

Gemini API grounding

A Gemini model searches Google and writes an answer, at $14 per 1,000 search requests after 5,000 free a month, with 1,500 requests a day per project by default. cyberbro needs a list of pages to show, and SpecStream returns that list at $5 per 1,000.