Search Agent

For AI agents: docs.octen.ai/capabilities/search-agent.md

A real question rarely takes one search. Answering it means a loop of planning queries, reading pages, and checking sources, and every page in that loop costs a model tokens and time. Octen Search Agent runs the whole loop on its own and returns only the result: a cited answer, as Markdown or as JSON in the schema you define. It works out a search strategy for each question and searches the web and news, with tiers from a single fact to a long report. For the full list of parameters, see the Search Agent API reference.

Why Search Agent

Depth that fits the question. Trade depth against cost and time per task, or pay only for actual usage.
Structured answers. Get JSON in the shape you define, ready to store or pass to the next step.
Cited answers. Inline citations link the answer back to the pages it stands on.
Built for long tasks. Tasks run in the background: follow each step live, or fetch the result when it is done.

For a quick grounded answer, use Answer. For long-form research reports, use Deep Research.

How It Works

Send a question and pick a tier. The call returns a task id right away, or streams the task as it runs.
The agent works out its own search strategy: it searches the web and news and reads the pages it needs.
It returns a cited answer as Markdown or as JSON in your schema. Fetch the result by task id, or read it from the stream.

Scenarios

Look up a fact

Send the question, then fetch the answer with the returned task_id.

curl -X POST https://api.octen.ai/v1/agent \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Who won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine?" }],
    "tier": "low"
  }'

The task is done when status is succeeded.

curl https://api.octen.ai/v1/agent/YOUR_TASK_ID \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Extract structured data

Define the fields you need as a JSON Schema. The answer comes back as JSON that matches it, with citations.

{
  "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Names, affiliations at the time of the award, and nationalities of the 2026 Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine" }],
  "response_format": {
    "type": "json_schema",
    "schema": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "laureates": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": {
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
              "name": { "type": "string" },
              "affiliation": { "type": "string" },
              "nationality": { "type": "string" }
            },
            "required": ["name", "affiliation", "nationality"],
            "additionalProperties": false
          }
        }
      },
      "required": ["laureates"],
      "additionalProperties": false
    }
  }
}

Show progress as it works

Stream the task to show each step in your UI. step chunks report every search and page read as it happens, and content chunks carry the answer.

{
  "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Who won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine?" }],
  "stream": true
}

If the connection drops, the task keeps running. Fetch the result by task id.

Ask a follow-up

Pass the earlier task’s id as previous_task_id. The follow-up is understood in context, so send only the new question.

{
  "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Which institutions were they at when they won?" }],
  "previous_task_id": "YOUR_TASK_ID"
}

Go deep on a complex question

For questions that need broad coverage, high searches deeper and can return a long report.

{
  "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Compare the 2026 EV purchase incentives in the US, the EU, and China" }],
  "tier": "high"
}

Next Steps

Try in Console

Run Search Agent live in the Octen console.

Search Agent API Reference

Full request/response schema.

Last modified on November 2, 2026

Overview

Capabilities

Integrations

Resources

Why Search Agent

How It Works

Scenarios

Look up a fact

Extract structured data

Show progress as it works

Ask a follow-up

Go deep on a complex question

Next Steps

Try in Console

Search Agent API Reference

​Why Search Agent

​How It Works

​Scenarios

​Look up a fact

​Extract structured data

​Show progress as it works

​Ask a follow-up

​Go deep on a complex question

​Next Steps

Try in Console

Search Agent API Reference

Why Search Agent

How It Works

Scenarios

Look up a fact

Extract structured data

Show progress as it works

Ask a follow-up

Go deep on a complex question

Next Steps