duckduckgo-search

Duckduckgo_search

Search for words, documents, images, videos, news, maps and text translation using the DuckDuckGo.com search engine. Downloading files and images to a local hard drive.

Table of Contents

• Install
• CLI version
• Duckduckgo search operators
• Regions
• DDGS and AsyncDDGS classes
• Proxy
• Exceptions
• 1. chat() - AI chat
• 2. text() - text search
• 3. answers() - instant answers
• 4. images() - image search
• 5. videos() - video search
• 6. news() - news search
• 7. maps() - map search
• 8. translate() - translation
• 9. suggestions() - suggestions
• Disclaimer

Install

pip install -U duckduckgo_search

[!NOTE] you can install lxml to use the text function with backend='html' or backend='lite' (size ≈ 12Mb)
pip install -U duckduckgo_search[lxml]

CLI version

ddgs --help

CLI examples:

# AI chat
ddgs chat
# text search
ddgs text -k "Assyrian siege of Jerusalem"
# find and download pdf files via proxy
ddgs text -k "Economics in one lesson filetype:pdf" -r wt-wt -m 50 -p https://1.2.3.4:1234 -d -dd economics_reading
# using Tor Browser as a proxy (`tb` is an alias for `socks5://127.0.0.1:9150`)
ddgs text -k "'The history of the Standard Oil Company' filetype:doc" -m 50 -d -p tb
# find and save to csv
ddgs text -k "'neuroscience exploring the brain' filetype:pdf" -m 70 -o neuroscience_list.csv
# don't verify SSL when making the request
ddgs text -k "Mississippi Burning" -v false
# find and download images
ddgs images -k "beware of false prophets" -r wt-wt -type photo -m 500 -d
# get news for the last day and save to json
ddgs news -k "sanctions" -m 100 -t d -o json

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Duckduckgo search operators

Keywords example	Result
cats dogs	Results about cats or dogs
"cats and dogs"	Results for exact term "cats and dogs". If no results are found, related results are shown.
cats -dogs	Fewer dogs in results
cats +dogs	More dogs in results
cats filetype:pdf	PDFs about cats. Supported file types: pdf, doc(x), xls(x), ppt(x), html
dogs site:example.com	Pages about dogs from example.com
cats -site:example.com	Pages about cats, excluding example.com
intitle:dogs	Page title includes the word "dogs"
inurl:cats	Page url includes the word "cats"

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Regions

expand

xa-ar for Arabia
xa-en for Arabia (en)
ar-es for Argentina
au-en for Australia
at-de for Austria
be-fr for Belgium (fr)
be-nl for Belgium (nl)
br-pt for Brazil
bg-bg for Bulgaria
ca-en for Canada
ca-fr for Canada (fr)
ct-ca for Catalan
cl-es for Chile
cn-zh for China
co-es for Colombia
hr-hr for Croatia
cz-cs for Czech Republic
dk-da for Denmark
ee-et for Estonia
fi-fi for Finland
fr-fr for France
de-de for Germany
gr-el for Greece
hk-tzh for Hong Kong
hu-hu for Hungary
in-en for India
id-id for Indonesia
id-en for Indonesia (en)
ie-en for Ireland
il-he for Israel
it-it for Italy
jp-jp for Japan
kr-kr for Korea
lv-lv for Latvia
lt-lt for Lithuania
xl-es for Latin America
my-ms for Malaysia
my-en for Malaysia (en)
mx-es for Mexico
nl-nl for Netherlands
nz-en for New Zealand
no-no for Norway
pe-es for Peru
ph-en for Philippines
ph-tl for Philippines (tl)
pl-pl for Poland
pt-pt for Portugal
ro-ro for Romania
ru-ru for Russia
sg-en for Singapore
sk-sk for Slovak Republic
sl-sl for Slovenia
za-en for South Africa
es-es for Spain
se-sv for Sweden
ch-de for Switzerland (de)
ch-fr for Switzerland (fr)
ch-it for Switzerland (it)
tw-tzh for Taiwan
th-th for Thailand
tr-tr for Turkey
ua-uk for Ukraine
uk-en for United Kingdom
us-en for United States
ue-es for United States (es)
ve-es for Venezuela
vn-vi for Vietnam
wt-wt for No region

---

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DDGS and AsyncDDGS classes

The DDGS and AsyncDDGS classes are used to retrieve search results from DuckDuckGo.com. To use the AsyncDDGS class, you can perform asynchronous operations using Python's asyncio library. To initialize an instance of the DDGS or AsyncDDGS classes, you can provide the following optional arguments:

class DDGS:
    """DuckDuckgo_search class to get search results from duckduckgo.com

    Args:
        headers (dict, optional): Dictionary of headers for the HTTP client. Defaults to None.
        proxy (str, optional): proxy for the HTTP client, supports http/https/socks5 protocols.
            example: "http://user:[e-mail]:3128". Defaults to None.
        timeout (int, optional): Timeout value for the HTTP client. Defaults to 10.
        verify (bool): SSL verification when making the request. Defaults to True.
    """

Here is an example of initializing the DDGS class.

from duckduckgo_search import DDGS

results = DDGS().text("python programming", max_results=5)
print(results)

Here is an example of initializing the AsyncDDGS class:

import asyncio

from duckduckgo_search import AsyncDDGS

async def aget_results(word):
    results = await AsyncDDGS(proxy=None).atext(word, max_results=100)
    return results

async def main():
    words = ["sun", "earth", "moon"]
    tasks = [aget_results(w) for w in words]
    results = await asyncio.gather(*tasks)
    print(results)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

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Proxy

Package supports http/https/socks proxies. Example: http://user:[e-mail]:3128. Use a rotating proxy. Otherwise, use a new proxy with each DDGS or AsyncDDGS initialization.

1. The easiest way. Launch the Tor Browser

ddgs = DDGS(proxy="tb", timeout=20)  # "tb" is an alias for "socks5://127.0.0.1:9150"
results = ddgs.text("something you need", max_results=50)

2. Use any proxy server (example with iproyal rotating residential proxies)

ddgs = DDGS(proxy="socks5h://user:[e-mail]:32325", timeout=20)
results = ddgs.text("something you need", max_results=50)

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Exceptions

Exceptions:

• DuckDuckGoSearchException: Base exception for duckduckgo_search errors.

• RatelimitException: Inherits from DuckDuckGoSearchException, raised for exceeding API request rate limits.

• TimeoutException: Inherits from DuckDuckGoSearchException, raised for API request timeouts.

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1. chat() - AI chat

def chat(self, keywords: str, model: str = "gpt-4o-mini", timeout: int = 30) -> str:
    """Initiates a chat session with DuckDuckGo AI.

    Args:
        keywords (str): The initial message or question to send to the AI.
        model (str): The model to use: "gpt-4o-mini", "claude-3-haiku", "llama-3.1-70b", "mixtral-8x7b".
            Defaults to "gpt-4o-mini".
        timeout (int): Timeout value for the HTTP client. Defaults to 30.

    Returns:
        str: The response from the AI.
    """

Example

results = DDGS().chat("summarize Daniel Defoe's The Consolidator", model='claude-3-haiku')

# async
results = await AsyncDDGS().achat('describe the characteristic habits and behaviors of humans as a species')

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2. text() - text search by duckduckgo.com

def text(
    keywords: str,
    region: str = "wt-wt",
    safesearch: str = "moderate",
    timelimit: str | None = None,
    backend: str = "api",
    max_results: int | None = None,
) -> list[dict[str, str]]:
    """DuckDuckGo text search generator. Query params: https://duckduckgo.com/params.

    Args:
        keywords: keywords for query.
        region: wt-wt, us-en, uk-en, ru-ru, etc. Defaults to "wt-wt".
        safesearch: on, moderate, off. Defaults to "moderate".
        timelimit: d, w, m, y. Defaults to None.
        backend: api, html, lite. Defaults to api.
            api - collect data from https://duckduckgo.com,
            html - collect data from https://html.duckduckgo.com,
            lite - collect data from https://lite.duckduckgo.com.
        max_results: max number of results. If None, returns results only from the first response. Defaults to None.

    Returns:
        List of dictionaries with search results.
    """

Example

results = DDGS().text('live free or die', region='wt-wt', safesearch='off', timelimit='y', max_results=10)
# Searching for pdf files
results = DDGS().text('russia filetype:pdf', region='wt-wt', safesearch='off', timelimit='y', max_results=10)

# async
results = await AsyncDDGS().atext('sun', region='wt-wt', safesearch='off', timelimit='y', max_results=10)
print(results)
[
    {
        "title": "News, sport, celebrities and gossip | The Sun",
        "href": "https://www.thesun.co.uk/",
        "body": "Get the latest news, exclusives, sport, celebrities, showbiz, politics, business and lifestyle from The Sun",
    }, ...
]

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3. answers() - instant answers by duckduckgo.com

def answers(keywords: str) -> list[dict[str, str]]:
    """DuckDuckGo instant answers. Query params: https://duckduckgo.com/params.
    
    Args:
        keywords: keywords for query,
    
    Returns:
        List of dictionaries with instant answers results.
    """

Example

results = DDGS().answers("sun")

# async
results = await AsyncDDGS().aanswers("sun")
print(results)
[
    {
        "icon": None,
        "text": "The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light and infrared radiation with 10% at ultraviolet energies. It is by far the most important source of energy for life on Earth. The Sun has been an object of veneration in many cultures. It has been a central subject for astronomical research since antiquity. The Sun orbits the Galactic Center at a distance of 24,000 to 28,000 light-years. From Earth, it is 1 AU or about 8 light-minutes away. Its diameter is about 1,391,400 km, 109 times that of Earth. Its mass is about 330,000 times that of Earth, making up about 99.86% of the total mass of the Solar System. Roughly three-quarters of the Sun's mass consists of hydrogen; the rest is mostly helium, with much smaller quantities of heavier elements, including oxygen, carbon, neon, and iron.",
        "topic": None,
        "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun",
    }, ...
]

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4. images() - image search by duckduckgo.com

def images(
    keywords: str,
    region: str = "wt-wt",
    safesearch: str = "moderate",
    timelimit: str | None = None,
    size: str | None = None,
    color: str | None = None,
    type_image: str | None = None,
    layout: str | None = None,
    license_image: str | None = None,
    max_results: int | None = None,
) -> list[dict[str, str]]:
    """DuckDuckGo images search. Query params: https://duckduckgo.com/params.
    
    Args:
        keywords: keywords for query.
        region: wt-wt, us-en, uk-en, ru-ru, etc. Defaults to "wt-wt".
        safesearch: on, moderate, off. Defaults to "moderate".
        timelimit: Day, Week, Month, Year. Defaults to None.
        size: Small, Medium, Large, Wallpaper. Defaults to None.
        color: color, Monochrome, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue,
            Purple, Pink, Brown, Black, Gray, Teal, White. Defaults to None.
        type_image: photo, clipart, gif, transparent, line.
            Defaults to None.
        layout: Square, Tall, Wide. Defaults to None.
        license_image: any (All Creative Commons), Public (PublicDomain),
            Share (Free to Share and Use), ShareCommercially (Free to Share and Use Commercially),
            Modify (Free to Modify, Share, and Use), ModifyCommercially (Free to Modify, Share, and
            Use Commercially). Defaults to None.
        max_results: max number of results. If None, returns results only from the first response. Defaults to None.
    
    Returns:
        List of dictionaries with images search results.
    """

Example

results = DDGS().images(
    keywords="butterfly",
    region="wt-wt",
    safesearch="off",
    size=None,
    color="Monochrome",
    type_image=None,
    layout=None,
    license_image=None,
    max_results=100,
)

# async
results = await AsyncDDGS().aimages('sun', region='wt-wt', safesearch='off', max_results=20)
print(images)
[
    {
        "title": "File:The Sun by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly of NASA's Solar ...",
        "image": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/The_Sun_by_the_Atmospheric_Imaging_Assembly_of_NASA's_Solar_Dynamics_Observatory_-_20100819.jpg",
        "thumbnail": "https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.lNgpqGl16U0ft3rS8TdFcgEsEe&pid=Api",
        "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Sun_by_the_Atmospheric_Imaging_Assembly_of_NASA's_Solar_Dynamics_Observatory_-_20100819.jpg",
        "height": 3860,
        "width": 4044,
        "source": "Bing",
    }, ...
]

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5. videos() - video search by duckduckgo.com

def videos(
    keywords: str,
    region: str = "wt-wt",
    safesearch: str = "moderate",
    timelimit: str | None = None,
    resolution: str | None = None,
    duration: str | None = None,
    license_videos: str | None = None,
    max_results: int | None = None,
) -> list[dict[str, str]]:
    """DuckDuckGo videos search. Query params: https://duckduckgo.com/params.
    
    Args:
        keywords: keywords for query.
        region: wt-wt, us-en, uk-en, ru-ru, etc. Defaults to "wt-wt".
        safesearch: on, moderate, off. Defaults to "moderate".
        timelimit: d, w, m. Defaults to None.
        resolution: high, standart. Defaults to None.
        duration: short, medium, long. Defaults to None.
        license_videos: creativeCommon, youtube. Defaults to None.
        max_results: max number of results. If None, returns results only from the first response. Defaults to None.
    
    Returns:
        List of dictionaries with videos search results.
    """

Example

results = DDGS().videos(
    keywords="cars",
    region="wt-wt",
    safesearch="off",
    timelimit="w",
    resolution="high",
    duration="medium",
    max_results=100,
)

# async
results = await AsyncDDGS().avideos('sun', region='wt-wt', safesearch='off', timelimit='y', max_results=10)
print(results)
[
    {
        "content": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6901-C73P3g",
        "description": "Watch the Best Scenes of popular Tamil Serial #Meena that airs on Sun TV. Watch all Sun TV serials immediately after the TV telecast on Sun NXT app. *Free for Indian Users only Download here: Android - http://bit.ly/SunNxtAdroid iOS: India - http://bit.ly/sunNXT Watch on the web - https://www.sunnxt.com/ Two close friends, Chidambaram ...",
        "duration": "8:22",
        "embed_html": '<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6901-C73P3g?autoplay=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>',
        "embed_url": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/6901-C73P3g?autoplay=1",
        "image_token": "6c070b5f0e24e5972e360d02ddeb69856202f97718ea6c5d5710e4e472310fa3",
        "images": {
            "large": "https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OVF.JWBFKm1u%2fHd%2bz2e1GitsQw&pid=Api",
            "medium": "https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OVF.JWBFKm1u%2fHd%2bz2e1GitsQw&pid=Api",
            "motion": "",
            "small": "https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OVF.JWBFKm1u%2fHd%2bz2e1GitsQw&pid=Api",
        },
        "provider": "Bing",
        "published": "2024-07-03T05:30:03.0000000",
        "publisher": "YouTube",
        "statistics": {"viewCount": 29059},
        "title": "Meena - Best Scenes | 02 July 2024 | Tamil Serial | Sun TV",
        "uploader": "Sun TV",
    }, ...
]

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6. news() - news search by duckduckgo.com

def news(
    keywords: str,
    region: str = "wt-wt",
    safesearch: str = "moderate",
    timelimit: str | None = None,
    max_results: int | None = None,
) -> list[dict[str, str]]:
    """DuckDuckGo news search. Query params: https://duckduckgo.com/params.
    
    Args:
        keywords: keywords for query.
        region: wt-wt, us-en, uk-en, ru-ru, etc. Defaults to "wt-wt".
        safesearch: on, moderate, off. Defaults to "moderate".
        timelimit: d, w, m. Defaults to None.
        max_results: max number of results. If None, returns results only from the first response. Defaults to None.
    
    Returns:
        List of dictionaries with news search results.
    """

Example

results = DDGS().news(keywords="sun", region="wt-wt", safesearch="off", timelimit="m", max_results=20)

# async
results = await AsyncDDGS().anews('sun', region='wt-wt', safesearch='off', timelimit='d', max_results=10)
print(results)
[
    {
        "date": "2024-07-03T16:25:22+00:00",
        "title": "Murdoch's Sun Endorses Starmer's Labour Day Before UK Vote",
        "body": "Rupert Murdoch's Sun newspaper endorsed Keir Starmer and his opposition Labour Party to win the UK general election, a dramatic move in the British media landscape that illustrates the country's shifting political sands.",
        "url": "https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/murdoch-s-sun-endorses-starmer-s-labour-day-before-uk-vote/ar-BB1plQwl",
        "image": "https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1plZil.img?w=2000&h=1333&m=4&q=79",
        "source": "Bloomberg on MSN.com",
    }, ...
]

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7. maps() - map search by duckduckgo.com

def maps(
    keywords,
    place: str | None = None,
    street: str | None = None,
    city: str | None = None,
    county: str | None = None,
    state: str | None = None,
    country: str | None = None,
    postalcode: str | None = None,
    latitude: str | None = None,
    longitude: str | None = None,
    radius: int = 0,
    max_results: int | None = None,
) -> list[dict[str, str]]:
    """DuckDuckGo maps search. Query params: https://duckduckgo.com/params.
    
    Args:
        keywords: keywords for query
        place: if set, the other parameters are not used. Defaults to None.
        street: house number/street. Defaults to None.
        city: city of search. Defaults to None.
        county: county of search. Defaults to None.
        state: state of search. Defaults to None.
        country: country of search. Defaults to None.
        postalcode: postalcode of search. Defaults to None.
        latitude: geographic coordinate (north-south position). Defaults to None.
        longitude: geographic coordinate (east-west position); if latitude and
            longitude are set, the other parameters are not used. Defaults to None.
        radius: expand the search square by the distance in kilometers. Defaults to 0.
        max_results: max number of results. If None, returns results only from the first response. Defaults to None.
    
    Returns:
        List of dictionaries with maps search results.
    """

Example

results = DDGS().maps("school", place="Uganda", max_results=50)

# async
results = await AsyncDDGS().amaps('shop', place="Baltimor", max_results=10)
print(results)
[
    {
        "title": "The Bun Shop",
        "address": "239 W Read St, Baltimore, MD 21201-4845",
        "country_code": None,
        "url": "https://www.facebook.com/TheBunShop/",
        "phone": "[phone]",
        "latitude": 39.3006042,
        "longitude": -76.6195788,
        "source": "https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60811-d4819859-Reviews-The_Bun_Shop-Baltimore_Maryland.html?m=63959",
        "image": "",
        "desc": "",
        "hours": {
            "Fri": "07:00:00–03:00:00",
            "Mon": "07:00:00–03:00:00",
            "Sat": "07:00:00–03:00:00",
            "Sun": "07:00:00–03:00:00",
            "Thu": "07:00:00–03:00:00",
            "Tue": "07:00:00–03:00:00",
            "Wed": "07:00:00–03:00:00",
            "closes_soon": 0,
            "is_open": 1,
            "opens_soon": 0,
            "state_switch_time": "03:00",
        },
        "category": "Cafe",
        "facebook": "",
        "instagram": "",
        "twitter": "",
    }, ...
]

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8. translate() - translation by duckduckgo.com

def translate(
    self,
    keywords: str,
    from_: str | None = None,
    to: str = "en",
) -> list[dict[str, str]]:
    """DuckDuckGo translate.
    
    Args:
        keywords: string or list of strings to translate.
        from_: translate from (defaults automatically). Defaults to None.
        to: what language to translate. Defaults to "en".
    
    Returns:
        List od dictionaries with translated keywords.
    """

Example

keywords = 'school'
# also valid
keywords = ['school', 'cat']
results = DDGS().translate(keywords, to="de")

# async
results = await AsyncDDGS().atranslate('sun', to="de")
print(results)
[{"detected_language": "en", "translated": "Sonne", "original": "sun"}]

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9. suggestions() - suggestions by duckduckgo.com

def suggestions(
    keywords,
    region: str = "wt-wt",
) -> list[dict[str, str]]:
    """DuckDuckGo suggestions. Query params: https://duckduckgo.com/params.
    
    Args:
        keywords: keywords for query.
        region: wt-wt, us-en, uk-en, ru-ru, etc. Defaults to "wt-wt".
    
    Returns:
        List of dictionaries with suggestions results.
    """

Example

results = DDGS().suggestions("fly")

# async
results = await AsyncDDGS().asuggestions('sun')
print(results)
[
    {"phrase": "sunshine live"},
    {"phrase": "sunexpress"},
    {"phrase": "sunday natural"},
    {"phrase": "sunrise village spiel"},
    {"phrase": "sunny portal"},
    {"phrase": "sundair"},
    {"phrase": "sunny cars"},
    {"phrase": "sunexpress online check-in"},
]

Disclaimer

This library is not affiliated with DuckDuckGo and is for educational purposes only. It is not intended for commercial use or any purpose that violates DuckDuckGo's Terms of Service. By using this library, you acknowledge that you will not use it in a way that infringes on DuckDuckGo's terms. The official DuckDuckGo website can be found at https://duckduckgo.com.

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