Web search allows models to access up-to-date information from the internet and provide answers with sourced citations. To enable this, use the web search tool in the Responses API or, in some cases, Chat Completions.
There are three main types of web search available with OpenAI models:
- Non‑reasoning web search: The non-reasoning model sends the user’s query to the web search tool, which returns the response based on top results. There’s no internal planning and the model simply passes along the search tool’s responses. This method is fast and ideal for quick lookups.
- Agentic search with reasoning models is an approach where the model actively manages the search process. It can perform web searches as part of its chain of thought, analyze results, and decide whether to keep searching. This flexibility makes agentic search well suited to complex workflows, but it also means searches take longer than quick lookups. For example, you can adjust reasoning levels on models like
gpt-5.5to change both the depth and latency of the search. - Deep research is a specialized, agent-driven method for in-depth, extended investigations by reasoning models. The model conducts web searches as part of its chain of thought, often tapping into hundreds of sources. Deep research can run for several minutes and is best used with background mode. Use
gpt-5.5with reasoning set tohighorxhigh.
Choose an integration
| Use case | Recommended path | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| New web search integration | Responses API with web_search and gpt-5.5 | Supports hosted web search controls such as filters, sources, live-access control, and longer research runs |
| Existing Chat Completions search integration | Chat Completions with gpt-5-search-api | Use this only when you need to preserve a Chat Completions integration |
| Multi-step research or long-running reporting | gpt-5.5 with high or xhigh reasoning | Use background mode for reports that can take several minutes |
Using the Responses API, you can enable web search by configuring it in the tools array in an API request to generate content. Like any other tool, the model can choose to search the web or not based on the content of the input prompt.
For new Responses API integrations, use { "type": "web_search" }. The earlier web_search_preview tool remains available for legacy integrations, but it does not support newer controls such as filters, external_web_access, and return_token_budget.
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import OpenAI from "openai";
const client = new OpenAI();
const response = await client.responses.create({
model: "gpt-5.5",
tools: [
{ type: "web_search" },
],
input: "What was a positive news story from today?",
});
console.log(response.output_text);Output and citations
Model responses that use the web search tool will include two parts:
- A
web_search_calloutput item with the ID of the search call, along with the action taken inweb_search_call.action. The action is one of:search, which represents a web search. It will usually (but not always) includes the searchquerieswhich were searched. Search actions incur a tool call cost (see pricing).open_page, which represents a page being opened. Supported in reasoning models.find_in_page, which represents searching within a page. Supported in reasoning models.
- A
messageoutput item containing:- The text result in
message.content[0].text - Annotations
message.content[0].annotationsfor the cited URLs
- The text result in
By default, the model’s response will include inline citations for URLs found in the web search results. In addition to this, the url_citation annotation object will contain the URL, title and location of the cited source.
When displaying web results or information contained in web results to end users, inline citations must be made clearly visible and clickable in your user interface.
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[
{
"type": "web_search_call",
"id": "ws_67c9fa0502748190b7dd390736892e100be649c1a5ff9609",
"status": "completed",
"action": {
"type": "search",
"query": "latest news about AI"
}
},
{
"id": "msg_67c9fa077e288190af08fdffda2e34f20be649c1a5ff9609",
"type": "message",
"status": "completed",
"role": "assistant",
"content": [
{
"type": "output_text",
"text": "On March 6, 2025, several news...",
"annotations": [
{
"type": "url_citation",
"start_index": 2606,
"end_index": 2758,
"url": "https://...",
"title": "Title..."
}
]
}
]
}
]Using the Chat Completions API, you can directly access the fine-tuned models and tool used by Search in ChatGPT.
When using Chat Completions, the model always retrieves information from the web before responding to your query. To let the model decide whether to search, switch to the Responses API with the web_search tool.
Currently, use this model for web search in Chat Completions:
gpt-5-search-api
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import OpenAI from "openai";
const client = new OpenAI();
const completion = await client.chat.completions.create({
model: "gpt-5-search-api",
web_search_options: {},
messages: [{
"role": "user",
"content": "What was a positive news story from today?"
}],
});
console.log(completion.choices[0].message.content);Output and citations
The API response item in the choices array will include:
message.contentwith the text result from the model, inclusive of any inline citationsannotationswith a list of cited URLs
By default, the model’s response will include inline citations for URLs found in the web search results. In addition to this, the url_citation annotation object will contain the URL and title of the cited source, as well as the start and end index characters in the model’s response where those sources were used.
When displaying web results or information contained in web results to end users, inline citations must be made clearly visible and clickable in your user interface.
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[
{
"index": 0,
"message": {
"role": "assistant",
"content": "the model response is here...",
"refusal": null,
"annotations": [
{
"type": "url_citation",
"url_citation": {
"end_index": 985,
"start_index": 764,
"title": "Page title...",
"url": "https://..."
}
}
]
},
"finish_reason": "stop"
}
]Migrating from legacy web search
| If you use | Recommended path | Notes |
|---|---|---|
web_search_preview in Responses | Migrate to web_search | web_search supports newer controls such as filters, external_web_access, and return_token_budget |
gpt-4o-search-preview or gpt-4o-mini-search-preview | Migrate to Responses web_search, or use gpt-5-search-api if you must stay on Chat Completions | The preview search models are deprecated and shut down on 2026-07-23 |
| Chat Completions search integrations | Use gpt-5-search-api, or migrate to Responses web_search for more tool controls and optional search | Chat Completions search models always search before responding; Responses search is a tool |
Search context size
search_context_size controls how much context from web search results is made available to the model before it generates a response. Use low for simple lookups, medium for a balanced default, and high when the answer may require more detail from search results. This setting does not set an exact token count or guarantee a specific number of sources or citations.
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import OpenAI from "openai";
const openai = new OpenAI();
const response = await openai.responses.create({
model: "gpt-5.5",
tools: [{
type: "web_search",
search_context_size: "low",
}],
input: "What movie won best picture in 2025?",
});
console.log(response.output_text);Run longer web research
return_token_budget controls how much web search result content the tool can return during a Responses API search run with GPT-5+ reasoning models. Keep the default for most requests. Set it to unlimited only for high-effort research or evaluation runs that need to inspect many pages and might otherwise stop at the standard returned-token cap.
Use unlimited selectively because it can increase latency and cost. For long-running multi-search tasks, use background mode (background: true) so the request can keep running asynchronously and you can retrieve the final response later.
| Value | Behavior |
|---|---|
default | Uses the standard returned-token budget for web search results. This is the same behavior as omitting return_token_budget. |
unlimited | Removes the default returned-token budget for the web search run. |
This parameter applies only to the hosted Responses API web_search tool with GPT-5+ reasoning web search. It does not change the search context window, and it does not apply to non-reasoning web search, legacy Search API paths, container web search, Chat Completions search models, or web_search_preview. Only default and unlimited are supported values; null, numbers, and other strings are rejected.
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curl "https://api.openai.com/v1/responses" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY" \
-d '{
"model": "gpt-5.5",
"reasoning": { "effort": "xhigh" },
"tools": [
{
"type": "web_search",
"return_token_budget": "unlimited"
}
],
"input": "Research the economic impact of semaglutide on global healthcare systems.\n\nDo:\n- Include specific figures, trends, statistics, and measurable outcomes.\n- Prioritize reliable, up-to-date sources: peer-reviewed research, health organizations (e.g., WHO, CDC), regulatory agencies, or pharmaceutical earnings reports.\n- Include inline citations and return all source metadata.\n\nBe analytical, avoid generalities, and ensure that each section supports data-backed reasoning that could inform healthcare policy or financial modeling."
}'Domain filtering
Domain filtering in web search lets you limit results to a specific set of domains. With the filters parameter you can configure up to 100 allowed_domains or up to 100 blocked_domains. When formatting domains, omit the HTTP or HTTPS prefix. For example, use openai.com instead of https://openai.com/. This approach also includes subdomains in the search. Note that domain filtering is only available in the Responses API with the web_search tool.
Sources
To view all URLs retrieved during a web search, use the sources field. Unlike inline citations, which show only the most relevant references, sources returns the complete list of URLs the model consulted when forming its response.
The number of sources is often greater than the number of citations. Real-time third-party feeds are also surfaced here and are labeled as oai-sports, oai-weather, or oai-finance. The sources field is available with both the web_search and web_search_preview tools.
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curl "https://api.openai.com/v1/responses" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY" \
-d '{
"model": "gpt-5.5",
"reasoning": { "effort": "low" },
"tools": [
{
"type": "web_search",
"filters": {
"allowed_domains": [
"pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov",
"clinicaltrials.gov",
"www.who.int",
"www.cdc.gov",
"www.fda.gov"
],
"blocked_domains": [
"reddit.com",
"quora.com",
"wikipedia.org"
]
}
}
],
"tool_choice": "auto",
"include": ["web_search_call.action.sources"],
"input": "Please perform a web search on how semaglutide is used in the treatment of diabetes."
}'User location
To refine search results based on geography, you can specify an approximate user location using country, city, region, and/or timezone.
- The
cityandregionfields are free text strings, likeMinneapolisandMinnesotarespectively. - The
countryfield is a two-letter ISO country code, likeUS. - The
timezonefield is an IANA timezone likeAmerica/Chicago.
Note that user location is not supported for deep research models using web search.
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import OpenAI from "openai";
const openai = new OpenAI();
const response = await openai.responses.create({
model: "gpt-5.5",
tools: [{
type: "web_search",
user_location: {
type: "approximate",
country: "GB",
city: "London",
region: "London"
}
}],
input: "What are the best restaurants near me?",
});
console.log(response.output_text);1
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import OpenAI from "openai";
const client = new OpenAI();
const completion = await client.chat.completions.create({
model: "gpt-5-search-api",
web_search_options: {
user_location: {
type: "approximate",
approximate: {
country: "GB",
city: "London",
region: "London",
},
},
},
messages: [{
"role": "user",
"content": "What are the best restaurants near me?",
}],
});
console.log(completion.choices[0].message.content);Live internet access
Control whether the web search tool fetches live content or uses only cached/indexed results in the Responses API.
- Set
external_web_access: falseon theweb_searchtool to run in offline/cache‑only mode. - Default is
true(live access) if you do not set it. - Preview variants (
web_search_preview) ignore this parameter and behave as ifexternal_web_accessistrue.
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curl "https://api.openai.com/v1/responses" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY" -d '{
"model": "gpt-5.5",
"tools": [
{ "type": "web_search", "external_web_access": false }
],
"tool_choice": "auto",
"input": "Find when the Eiffel Tower opened to the public and cite the source."
}'Limitations
Chat Completions API
The Chat Completions API supports only specialized search models for web search. These models do not support Responses API web_search features such as domain filters, complete source lists, live-access control, and returned-token budget control.
| Model | Context window | Limitation |
|---|---|---|
gpt-5-search-api | 200k | Uses the Chat Completions search model path |
gpt-4o-search-preview | 128k | Uses the Chat Completions search model path; deprecated, shutdown 2026-07-23 |
gpt-4o-mini-search-preview | 128k | Uses the Chat Completions search model path; deprecated, shutdown 2026-07-23 |
Responses API
Use the hosted web_search tool. The Responses API still accepts web_search_preview for legacy integrations, but use web_search for new integrations.
For a larger model context window, use gpt-5.5. The web search context window remains 128k.
| Model | Model context window | Limitation |
|---|---|---|
gpt-4.1 | 1M | Search context is limited to 128k |
gpt-4.1-mini | 1M | Search context is limited to 128k |
o4-mini | 200k | Search context is limited to 128k; deprecated, shutdown 2026-10-23 |
For Responses API web search, the search context window is limited to 128k, even when the model context window is larger.
- Web search does not support
gpt-5withminimalreasoning. gpt-5.4with reasoning effort set tononemay produce lower-quality results.- Responses API web search uses the underlying model’s tiered rate limits.
web_search_previewdoes not supportfiltersorreturn_token_budget, and ignoresexternal_web_access.- With
tool_choice: "auto", search is optional. Usetool_choice: "required"or a specific web search tool choice when search must run.
Usage notes
| API Availability | Rate limits | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Same as tiered rate limits for underlying model used with the tool. |