SerpApi Official

Get live Google Search data and more from SerpApi's official node

Actions72

Search Actions

Overview

This node performs live web searches using the DuckDuckGo search engine via SerpApi's official API. It allows users to send a search query and retrieve structured search results directly within an n8n workflow. This is useful for automating data gathering, monitoring trends, or integrating search results into other processes without manual browsing.

Practical examples include:

Automatically fetching the latest information on a topic (e.g., "Coffee") for content creation.
Monitoring search results in specific regions or languages.
Filtering adult content or adjusting search result freshness.
Retrieving raw HTML or JSON formatted results for further processing.

Properties

Name	Meaning
Search Query (q)	The main search term or phrase you want to look up on DuckDuckGo. Example: "Coffee".
Additional Fields	A collection of optional parameters to customize the search:
- Region (kl)	Defines the region and language for the search results. Options include many country-language codes like "us-en" (United States - English), "fr-fr" (France - French), "jp-jp" (Japan - Japanese), etc.
- Adult Content Filtering (safe)	Sets the level of filtering for adult content: "Strict", "Moderate", or "Off".
- Filter By Date (df)	Filters results by date. Accepts a string defining the date filter criteria.
- Result Offset (start)	Skips a number of results for pagination purposes. For example, setting this to "10" skips the first 10 results.
- Disable Caching (no_cache)	Boolean flag to force fetching fresh results instead of cached ones. Cached results are free and expire after 1 hour. Cannot be used together with async mode.
- Async (async)	Boolean flag to perform the search asynchronously. If true, the search is submitted and results must be retrieved later via a separate API call. Cannot be used with no_cache and not recommended for accounts with special speed features.
- ZeroTrace Mode (zero_trace)	Enterprise-only option to disable storing search parameters and metadata on SerpApi servers for privacy.
- Output (output)	Defines the output format: "json" (default) returns structured JSON results; "html" returns raw HTML from the search page.
- JSON Restrictor (json_restrictor)	Allows restricting the JSON response fields to specific parts, e.g., limiting organic results to the first three with only title and snippet fields.

Output

The node outputs a JSON object containing the search results returned by the DuckDuckGo engine through SerpApi. The structure includes various fields such as organic search results, ads, related questions, and more depending on the query and parameters.

If the output property is set to "html," the node returns the raw HTML content of the search results page instead of JSON.

No binary data output is produced by this node.

Dependencies

Requires an active SerpApi account with a valid API key credential configured in n8n.
Internet access to reach SerpApi's endpoint at https://serpapi.com/search.json.
Proper configuration of the API key credential in n8n to authenticate requests.

Troubleshooting

Common issues:
- Missing or invalid API key will cause authentication errors.
- Using incompatible combinations of parameters, such as enabling both no_cache and async, will lead to request failures.
- Exceeding the monthly search quota on SerpApi may result in rate limiting or blocked requests.
- Incorrect region codes or unsupported values in options may yield unexpected or empty results.
Error messages:
- Authentication errors typically indicate problems with the API key setup.
- Parameter validation errors occur if required fields like the search query are missing or malformed.
- Network errors suggest connectivity issues or incorrect base URL configurations.

To resolve these:

Verify the API key credential is correctly set and active.
Ensure parameter combinations follow documented constraints.
Check network connectivity and endpoint accessibility.
Review SerpApi account limits and usage.