LibreChat

The change is one address in the config you already have

LibreChat's web search reads its search provider from librechat.yaml, and the instance URL from .env. SpecStream answers SearXNG's JSON, so LibreChat's SearXNG provider runs on SpecStream with the key inside the address.

# librechat.yaml
webSearch:
  searchProvider: searxng
  searxngInstanceUrl: '${SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL}'
  # your scraper and reranker stay as they are

# .env: the two Google lines go, one line comes in
# GOOGLE_SEARCH_API_KEY=...
# GOOGLE_CSE_ID=...
SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL=https://api.specstream.ai/searxng/YOUR_SPECSTREAM_KEY

LibreChat adds /search to the instance URL and asks for JSON. This is the call it sends, and SpecStream answers results[] with title, url and content:

curl "https://api.specstream.ai/searxng/$SPECSTREAM_API_KEY/search?q=latest+LibreChat+release&format=json"

The key is in the address, so leave SEARXNG_API_KEY empty. The LibreChat web search setup page shows the scraper side on the same key.

What you see when the Google key fails

GoogleSearch.js sends the key and cx to https://www.googleapis.com/customsearch/v1. When Google refuses the call, the tool throws Request failed with status followed by the status code and Google's error message, and the agent gets no results.

Google closed the API to new customers, so a new Google Cloud project gets no key to put in GOOGLE_SEARCH_API_KEY. Moving to the SearXNG provider ends the dependency on that key.

Let each user bring a key

Leave SEARXNG_INSTANCE_URL out of .env and LibreChat asks each user for it in the chat interface. Each user pastes https://api.specstream.ai/searxng/ followed by their own SpecStream key, and each search is billed to that key.

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

A search of up to 10 results costs $0.005, and each started block of 10 more results adds $0.006. 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.

The most accurate web search API in the world

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

About one second a search, measured under load

The SearXNG route runs on the fast search. On November 9, 2026 production took 1, 5, 10 and 20 fast searches a second and answered 718 of 720. The median was 0.82 s at 1 search a second and 1.07 s at 20 a second, and the 95th percentile stayed between 1.09 and 1.73 s. One account can send up to 8,800 searches a minute; a call over that is answered with Retry-After and is not charged.

You decide what is kept, on each key

Give LibreChat a key with zero_retention and a search made with it keeps no request text and no answer after the reply. The charge keeps the account, the key, the request ID, the price and the time. spend_cap_cents is 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": "production", "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 takes a request in plain words and returns every match on the live web as structured rows, at 5¢, 15¢ or $1 a row, with a source URL on every value. The most a run can cost is quoted before it starts.

Google, until January 1, 2027

Existing customers can keep the google tool until Google ends the API: $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, and takes a new account today.

Vertex AI Search

Google's named alternative, for searching up to 50 domains, at $1.50 per 1,000 queries on Standard and $4.00 on Enterprise. For full web search Google asks you to contact it. SpecStream searches the whole live web from LibreChat's SearXNG setting.

Serper

Search sold in credit packs: $1.00 per 1,000 in the pack of 50,000, with credits valid for 6 months and 2,500 free queries to start. LibreChat fixes Serper's search address in its code. SpecStream credit never expires.

Tavily

Search and extract billed in credits at $0.008 each on pay as you go, with 1,000 free credits a month that reset on the first day of each month. SpecStream charges $0.005 a search from a balance that never resets.

Firecrawl

The scraper LibreChat names first. Its search costs 2 credits per 10 results and the Hobby plan is $19 a month. On SpecStream the search and the page reads run on one key, at $0.005 a search and $0.80 per 1,000 pages.