Anthropic has launched a new API that enables its Claude AI models to search the web, allowing developers to build applications that deliver up-to-date information. According to the company’s announcement, this feature lets Claude augment its knowledge base with current, real-world data.
When the web search API is enabled, Claude uses reasoning capabilities to determine if a request would benefit from up-to-date information. The AI can generate search queries, retrieve results, analyze them, and provide answers with citations. Claude can also refine its queries and conduct multiple searches, using earlier results to inform subsequent ones.
Key features and specifications
- Pricing starts at $10 per 1,000 searches
- Compatible with Claude 3.7 Sonnet, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and Claude 3.5 Haiku models
- Developers can customize search behavior and specify allowed or blocked domains
- Organizations can enable or disable web search at the organization level
Anthropic is also bringing web search to Claude Code, its tool for coding tasks. With web search enabled, Claude Code can access current API documentation, technical articles, and information on development tools and libraries. This feature remains in beta as a research preview.
The launch comes as AI companies seek to enhance their models with features to attract customers. Last week, Anthropic introduced a tool to connect applications to Claude and expanded its “deep research” capability for enterprise searches.