SillyTavern web search

Two fields, and nothing to host

SillyTavern's SearXNG source takes two values: Base URL and SearXNG preferences string. SpecStream answers at the base address and reads the preferences string as your API key, so there is no SearXNG server, no Docker container and no public instance that blocks you after a few searches.

# SillyTavern: Extensions, Web Search
Sources                       SearXNG
Base URL                      https://api.specstream.ai/searxng
SearXNG preferences string    YOUR_SPECSTREAM_KEY

Why the key goes in the preferences string

SillyTavern's server first opens the Base URL to check that the instance answers. Then it builds the search address from the host alone and adds /search, so any path or key you write after the host is dropped. The one value it sends with every search is the SearXNG preferences string, as preferences= in the address.

On a real SearXNG instance this field holds the settings string you copy from that instance's Preferences page. SpecStream has no such settings to copy, and it reads the field as your API key. This is the call SillyTavern's server sends:

curl -H "Accept: text/html" "https://api.specstream.ai/search?q=latest+SillyTavern+release&preferences=$SPECSTREAM_API_KEY"

Image search through the same address

When Include Images is on, SillyTavern asks the same address with categories=images. SpecStream answers with an image results page in SearXNG's markup, which SillyTavern reads and attaches to the chat. An image search is charged as a web search for the results it returns.

$0.001 a search, from a balance that never expires

Each search your chat makes through this address returns up to 10 results and costs $0.001, which is $1 per 1,000. There is no monthly plan and no credit that resets. Credit you buy never expires, and a call stopped by a 429 charges nothing. A new account starts with $10 of credit, which covers 10,000 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.

You decide what is kept, on each key

Give SillyTavern 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": "sillytavern", "scopes": ["account:read", "finds:spend"], "spend_cap_cents": 1000, "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.

SerpApi

Google results sold by monthly plan: 250 searches free, then $25 a month for 1,000 on Starter and $75 for 5,000 on Developer. Searches you do not use are gone when the month ends. SpecStream costs $1 per 1,000 from a balance that never expires.

Serper

Google results 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. SpecStream credit never expires, and every search reads the live web at the moment of the call.

Tavily

Search 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. SillyTavern sends a basic search, which is 1 credit. SpecStream charges $0.001 a search.

Selenium Plugin and Extras API

Both drive a web browser on your own machine to read Google or DuckDuckGo. The Selenium Plugin needs an official server plugin installed, and the Extras API needs its websearch module and Chrome or Firefox on the host. SpecStream needs no browser and no plugin, only the two fields.