GPT Researcher retriever

Two variables, and the code stays as it is

GPT Researcher's searx retriever adds a / and search to SEARX_URL, asks for format=json and reads results[] with url and content. Its serper retriever posts to SERPER_API_BASE plus /search with the key in X-API-KEY and reads organic[] with link and snippet. SpecStream answers both calls in those shapes.

# GPT Researcher .env: the SearXNG retriever
RETRIEVER=searx
SEARX_URL=https://api.specstream.ai/searxng/YOUR_SPECSTREAM_KEY

# or the Serper retriever
RETRIEVER=serper
SERPER_API_BASE=https://api.specstream.ai/serper
SERPER_API_KEY=<YOUR_SPECSTREAM_KEY>

These are the calls each retriever sends:

# What the searx retriever sends: it adds /search to SEARX_URL
curl -H "Accept: application/json" \
  "https://api.specstream.ai/searxng/$SPECSTREAM_API_KEY/search?q=state+of+solid+state+batteries+2026&format=json"

# What the serper retriever sends: it adds /search to SERPER_API_BASE
curl -X POST https://api.specstream.ai/serper/search \
  -H "X-API-KEY: $SPECSTREAM_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"q": "state of solid state batteries 2026", "num": 10}'

The reply your retriever already parses

The Serper route returns organic[] with title, link, snippet and position, as Serper does, so GPT Researcher's parser reads it unchanged. The same call from Python:

import os, requests

reply = requests.post(
    "https://api.specstream.ai/serper/search",
    headers={"X-API-KEY": os.environ["SPECSTREAM_API_KEY"]},
    json={"q": "state of solid state batteries 2026", "num": 10},
).json()

for row in reply["organic"]:
    print(row["position"], row["title"], row["link"])

$5 per 1,000 searches, with no plan to buy

A search of up to 10 results costs $0.005, and each started block of 10 more results adds $0.006. The SearXNG route always asks for 10 results, at $0.005. A call stopped by a 429 charges nothing, and credit you top up never expires.

Tavily's monthly credits stop requests when they run out. A SpecStream balance has no monthly reset and no daily limit, and one account takes up to 8,800 searches a minute.

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

Every drop-in route runs on the fast search. On November 9, 2026 production took 1, 5, 10 and 20 searches a second through it 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 gets a 429 with Retry-After and is not charged.

You decide what is kept, on each key

Give GPT Researcher a key with zero_retention and a search made with it keeps no request text and no answer after the reply. It is not in the history and its log lines carry neither. 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.

Tavily

GPT Researcher's default retriever, 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. Its address is fixed in GPT Researcher's code. With RETRIEVER=searx and SpecStream, a search costs $0.005 from a balance that never resets.

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. Keep RETRIEVER=serper and set SERPER_API_BASE to https://api.specstream.ai/serper: the same retriever reads the live web, with top-up credit that never expires.

Bing

Microsoft retired the Bing Search APIs on August 11, 2025, and GPT Researcher's bing retriever still calls that address. Microsoft's replacement, Grounding with Bing Search, costs $14 per 1,000 transactions inside Azure AI Agents. SpecStream answers GPT Researcher at $5 per 1,000 through searx or serper.

Google

The google retriever calls the Custom Search JSON API, which is closed to new customers and ends for existing customers on January 1, 2027. It costs $5 per 1,000 queries and stops at 10,000 a day. SpecStream costs the same $5 per 1,000 with no daily limit.

Exa

A search API priced at $7 per 1,000 requests for auto and fast search. SpecStream costs $5 per 1,000 searches and scores 64.0 item F1 on all 200 WideSearch tasks.