For AI agents: docs.octen.ai/capabilities/deep-research.md
Some questions aren't answered by a page of results. They need dozens of sources, several rounds of digging, and a structured write-up. Octen Deep Research is an autonomous research agent: it plans the research, searches and reads over multiple rounds, and streams back a cited report, illustrated with charts, images, and videos from its sources. One call replaces hours of reading, sifting, and writing. For the full list of parameters, see the [Deep Research API reference](/api-reference/deep-research). ## Why Deep Research * **Autonomous planning.** Complex topics break down into a structured research plan. When the question is ambiguous, the plan pauses for your confirmation. * **Multi-round exploration.** Successive rounds of searching and reading build comprehensive coverage, adjusting as evidence comes in. * **Cited reports.** Long-form answers with inline citations linking back to the original sources. * **Depth tiers.** Choose lite, standard, pro, or pro-visual to trade depth against cost and time. * **Multimodal reports.** Text combined with images and videos relevant to each finding, in one ready-to-use report. For a quick grounded answer instead of a report, use [Answer](/capabilities/answer). ## How It Works 1. Send a research question. Octen drafts a research plan; if the plan is ambiguous, the stream pauses and waits for your confirmation. 2. Octen runs successive rounds of searching and reading, following the plan. 3. The final report streams back as server-sent events, with citations linking to the sources. ## Scenarios ### Run a research task Send the research question and pick a tier; the report streams back over SSE. ```bash theme={null} curl -N -X POST https://api.octen.ai/v1/research \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \ -d '{ "tier": "standard", "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "state of solid-state battery technology in 2026" }] }' ``` ### Confirm an ambiguous plan When the plan event returns `requires_selection: true`, call the endpoint again with the plan ID and your selections; the research then proceeds. ```json theme={null} { "tier": "standard", "plan_id": "PLAN_ID_FROM_PHASE_1", "selections": [{ "term": "Apollo", "chosen": "nasa_program" }] } ``` ### Skip straight to research Skip the planning pause when no confirmation loop is wanted, such as in unattended pipelines. ```json theme={null} { "tier": "lite", "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "overview of the humanoid robotics market" }], "skip_plan_confirm": true } ``` ### Illustrate a report with images and videos For topics that live in charts and footage, pick the pro-visual tier; the report comes back illustrated with relevant images and videos. ```json theme={null} { "tier": "pro-visual", "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "2025 global smartphone shipments by vendor" }] } ``` ### Add background and constraints Pass extra context to steer the research direction without changing the question. ```json theme={null} { "tier": "pro", "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "evaluate vector database options" }], "extra_context": "We run on AWS, need hybrid search, and expect 100M vectors." } ``` ## Next StepsLast modified on July 31, 2026
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