Which API lets an AI agent search the web and return source evidence?

Web research pricing and free evaluation

Contract inspected 2026-10-26: HTTP 200, readiness reported ready. This was a metadata check, not a new search execution or paid-delivery test. Fresh payment requirements control exact terms.

curl -i 'https://squeezeos-api.onrender.com/api/web/research/info'

Inspect the free live contract · Compare research versus extraction

Can an agent inspect payment terms before spending?

Yes. Request the one-shot route without PAYMENT-SIGNATURE. On 6 Sep 2026, a no-spend production audit observed a 0.003 USDC challenge on Base mainnet for Web Research. That dated result is evidence, not permanent price authority.

See the dated x402 price audit →

How do I check the live readiness contract?

Use the button below to load the free readiness contract before spending — it returns the contract terms without a payment signature.

Ready.

What input and output should an agent expect?

Input: a research question or search query.

Output: real retrieved web evidence with source URLs when upstream search and extraction succeed. SML does not silently replace retrieval failure with invented citations.

When should I use a cheaper primitive?

If the exact source URL is already known, use URL to Markdown instead of paying for search plus extraction. If the task is only provider-domain evidence, use Provider Trust. Choose the narrowest job that produces the requested result.

What does success mean?

A real search completed and source-backed evidence was returned after successful settlement when payment was required. HTTP 402 alone is not a purchase; a payment signature alone is not settlement; an empty or failed result is not accepted delivery.

What is the machine contract and next action?

Free contract: https://squeezeos-api.onrender.com/api/web/research/info

One-shot execution: https://squeezeos-api.onrender.com/api/web/research/once?q={q}

Base mainnet · USDC · x402 v2. Read the fresh challenge before authorizing any spend.

What are the truth boundaries of Web Research?

Web Research does not promise exhaustive internet coverage, does not guarantee every source is correct, and does not turn search rank into factual certainty. It returns retrievable evidence so the caller can compare, cite, verify or reject sources using its own policy.

What did a live probe measure on 2026-10-15?

ScriptMasterLabs' web research route quoted $0.003 for a one-shot search-and-extract on 2026-10-15 — live web search plus source extraction with source-backed evidence, priced per call with no API key.

• GET /api/web/research/once?q=x402+protocol → HTTP 402 in 0.81 s; the accepts array quotes 3,000 atomic USDC = $0.003 on Base mainnet (eip155:8453).
• GET /api/web/research/info → HTTP 200, free — limits and terms inspectable before spend.
• Retrieval failure is returned as failure; it is never replaced with invented citations.

Method: unauthenticated GET probes from an external client on 2026-10-15. An HTTP 402 response is the live x402 payment challenge — the price quoted is read from its accepts array; no payment was made and nothing was charged for these probes. Response times are single measurements, not averages.

How does Web Research compare with Tavily, Valyu and Olostep?

Tavily, Valyu and Olostep are the results that currently own "web research API for AI agents" (ScriptMasterLabs authority watch, 2026-10-15), and Tavily in particular offers a mature search API with deep ecosystem integrations — for search at platform scale, that maturity wins. SML Web Research is the pay-per-call primitive: one query in, searched and extracted source evidence out, $0.003 per one-shot on x402, no API key, no subscription, and a settlement receipt (PAYMENT-RESPONSE) for every accepted call. If the source URL is already known, the cheaper tool is the $0.001 URL-to-Markdown read.