Bright Data Local Search

Run powerful web searches locally using Bright Data's SERP API. This skill sets up the unfancy-search pipeline — a local search engine with query expansion, multi-engine SERP retrieval, RRF reranking, deduplication, and domain clustering.

Important: This skill uses the LOCAL version only. Do not use the hosted endpoint.

Prerequisites

• Bright Data account with SERP API access
• Anthropic API key (for query expansion, optional)
• Docker (recommended) or Node.js 18+ with pnpm

Setup

Step 1: Clone and Configure

git clone https://github.com/yaronbeen/unfancy-search.git
cd unfancy-search
cp .env.example .env

Step 2: Set Environment Variables

Edit .env with your credentials:

BRIGHT_DATA_API_TOKEN=your_brightdata_token
BRIGHT_DATA_SERP_ZONE=serp_api1
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_anthropic_key   # Optional: enables AI query expansion

Get your Bright Data token from: https://brightdata.com (SERP API section)

Step 3: Start the Local Server

Docker (recommended):

docker compose up -d
# Server runs at http://localhost:3000

Node.js:

pnpm install
pnpm dev
# Server runs at http://localhost:3000

API Endpoints

All requests go to http://localhost:3000:

Endpoint	Method	Description
/api/search	POST	Start a search job
/api/search-status/{jobId}	GET	Poll for results
/api/baseline	POST	Trigger baseline collection
/api/baseline-status/{id}	GET	Poll baseline progress

Running a Search

Step 1: Submit Search

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/search \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "your search term"}'

The response returns a jobId.

Step 2: Poll for Results

curl http://localhost:3000/api/search-status/{jobId}

Poll every 3 seconds until status is "done".

Search Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
query	string	required	Search query
expand	boolean	false	Enable AI query expansion via Claude
research	boolean	false	Research mode (12 sub-queries for max coverage)
engines	string[]	all	SERP engines to use
geo	string	—	Geographic region filter
count	number	10	Max results (up to 10)
includeDomains	string[]	—	Only include results from these domains
excludeDomains	string[]	—	Exclude results from these domains

Search Modes

• Basic (expand: false): Single query, fastest, no AI cost
• Expanded (expand: true): Claude Haiku generates 3 sub-queries for broader coverage
• Research (research: true): 12 sub-queries for maximum coverage

Usage Examples

Basic Search from an Agent

# Start search
JOB_ID=$(curl -s -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/search \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "best practices for API rate limiting"}' | jq -r '.jobId')

# Poll until done
while true; do
  RESULT=$(curl -s http://localhost:3000/api/search-status/$JOB_ID)
  STATUS=$(echo $RESULT | jq -r '.status')
  if [ "$STATUS" = "done" ]; then
    echo $RESULT | jq '.results'
    break
  fi
  sleep 3
done

Research Mode with Domain Filtering

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/api/search \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "query": "kubernetes scaling strategies",
    "research": true,
    "excludeDomains": ["pinterest.com", "quora.com"]
  }'

Adding Search to an Existing Agent

To give your Claude Code agent search capabilities:

1. Ensure the local server is running (docker compose up -d in the unfancy-search directory)
2. Your agent can use curl or fetch to query http://localhost:3000/api/search
3. Parse the ranked results to ground responses with real web data

Response Format

Results include:

• Ranked URLs with RRF scores
• Domain clustering (grouped by source)
• Cost transparency (per-search expense breakdown)
• Raw and unique result counts
• Search duration

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Server won't start	Verify Docker is running or Node.js 18+ installed
No results returned	Check BRIGHT_DATA_API_TOKEN is valid and SERP API zone is active
Query expansion not working	Verify ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set and valid
Slow responses	Disable expand mode for faster single-query searches
Port 3000 in use	Stop other services or modify the port in docker-compose.yml