Web search

Search the web (or a bound search connection) once per record.

When to use it

Search once for each input record. Choose a stored search connection or the configured search route, a query or query template, language, and date window. Provider failures can appear on individual records while the step completes. Check those records before treating the absence of results as definitive.

Add and configure

Add Web search from the workflow step picker.
Give the step a recognisable name and connect its required inputs.
Set the options below. Nested names identify fields within an object or a list item.
Validate the recipe, inspect the test result, then run it on the intended data.

The step identifier used in the editor’s code view is web_search.

Settings

Setting	Accepted value	Required	Default	What it controls
Catalog Slug (`catalog_slug`)	string; pattern `^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9._-]{0,199}$` or null	No	null	Catalog slug the bound connection is expected to have (`platform_search`, `reddit`, `huggingface`, `hackernews`). Set together with `connection_id` or `connection_id_field`. The provider is chosen by the slug the connection actually resolves to.
Connection Id (`connection_id`)	string; format uuid or null	No	null	Search through this connection (a Platform Search, Reddit, Hugging Face or Hacker News connection). Requires `catalog_slug`; exclusive with `connection_id_field`.
Connection Id Field (`connection_id_field`)	string; pattern `^[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_](\.[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_])*$` or null	No	null	Dotted path into each input record holding the connection id to search through (e.g. `connectors.platform_search.connection_id` on an App config record). Requires `catalog_slug`; exclusive with `connection_id`. A record without an id degrades to a per-record error — it never falls back to the unbound provider.
Language (`language`)	string; pattern `^[a-z]{2}(-[A-Z]{2})?$` or string; pattern `^\$\{[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_.]*\}$` or null	No	null	Result language as `xx` or `xx-YY` (e.g. `en`, `en-US`), or a `${field}` placeholder rendered per record (e.g. `${params.language}`).
Max Results (`max_results`)	integer; minimum 1; maximum 10	No	5	Maximum results per record (1-10).
Query (`query`)	string or null	No	null	Literal search query, applied to every input record. Provide this OR `query_template`.
Query Template (`query_template`)	string or null	No	null	Per-record query template. `${field}` placeholders are replaced with values from the record (dotted paths supported, e.g. `${company.name}`). Takes precedence over `query` when both are set.
Time Range (`time_range`)	"day" / "week" / "month" / "year" or string; pattern `^\$\{[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_.]*\}$` or null	No	null	Only results from the last day / week / month / year, or a `${field}` placeholder rendered per record (e.g. `${params.time_range}`).
Topic (`topic`)	"general" / "news" / "finance"	No	"general"	Search topic — steers the provider's ranking.

Inputs and outputs

Direction	Port	Content	Required	Multiple records
Inputs	`in`	records	Yes	Yes
Outputs	`out`	records	Yes	Yes

Effects, testing, and recovery

Reads an external source.

The declared preview behaviour is to execute this step. Reads, processing, or model usage can therefore be real. Read dry runs before using a preview with live connections.

No duplicate-prevention key is declared for this step. Do not assume that manually repeating the step is free of repeated effects.

When step caching is available, the declared cache lifetime is 3600 seconds. Eligible successful results can be reused; bypass caching when the task requires a fresh read.

Example: Latest news about each record's company

Step settings:

{
  "max_results": 5,
  "query_template": "${company} latest news",
  "time_range": "week",
  "topic": "news"
}

Example: One literal query through a bound Platform Search connection