NConnect
DocsWeb search

04 / FEATURES

Web search with Tavily

Give Claude Code and Codex live, cited web search on open models. NConnect backs their built-in web_search tool with Tavily, the search API built for AI agents.

Claude Code and Codex both ship a built-in web_search tool, but they expect their own provider to run the search. Nebius serves models, not search, so on its own that tool has nothing behind it. NConnect fills the gap: when your agent searches, the local daemon runs the query through Tavily and hands back real results with source URLs.

About Tavily

Tavily is a web search API built for AI agents. A normal search engine returns a page of links for a person to click through. Tavily returns ranked results with the relevant page text already extracted, so a model can read the sources directly and cite them.

Search is one of several Tavily APIs, alongside Extract, Crawl, Map and Research. NConnect uses Search only.

Set it up

  1. Get a Tavily API key

    Sign up at app.tavily.com and copy your API key.

  2. Add it to NConnect

    Run configuration and paste the key when asked. Exporting TAVILY_API_KEY works too.

    nconnect configure

  3. Start a new session and ask something current

    Keys are read at launch, so open a fresh agent session.

    nclaude -p "What changed in the latest Node.js release? Cite sources."

Which harnesses use it

HarnessWeb search
Claude CodeBuilt-in web_search tool, backed by Tavily.
Codex CLIBuilt-in web_search tool, backed by Tavily.
Other harnessesKeep their own web tools, if they have any. NConnect doesn't change them.

What happens when your agent searches

  1. The agent calls web_search with a query.
  2. The local daemon sends one Tavily Search request: basic depth, up to five results, plus Tavily's short answer.
  3. The model receives each result's title, URL and a snippet of the page, and is told to answer from those sources and include their URLs.
What the model sees
Web search results for "node.js latest release" via Tavily:

Answer: ...

1. Node.js — Release notes
URL: https://nodejs.org/en/blog/release/...
Snippet: ...
  • Domain filters carry over. Allowed and blocked domains set on the agent's search tool are passed to Tavily as include and exclude lists.
  • Search is capped per request. NConnect honours the tool's max_uses limit, five searches by default, so a runaway loop can't drain your credits.

Where your data goes

Searches go straight from your machine to api.tavily.com with your key. Only the search query and any domain filters are sent, never your code or conversation. Your key is stored in ~/.nconnect/config.json. Tavily's own privacy policy covers the queries it receives.

Troubleshooting

The agent says "TAVILY_API_KEY is not set"

No key was found when the session started. Add one with nconnect configure and start a new session. A Nebius key alone does not enable search.

Searches fail with a 429 error from Tavily

You've hit Tavily's rate limit or used your monthly credits. Check usage in your Tavily dashboard, wait, or move to a larger plan.