SerpApi

Use SerpApi via direct curl calls to scrape search engine results from Google, Bing, YouTube, and more.

Official docs: https://serpapi.com/search-api

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When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

• Scrape Google search results (organic, ads, knowledge graph)
• Search Google Images, News, Videos, Shopping
• Get local business results from Google Maps
• Scrape other search engines (Bing, YouTube, DuckDuckGo, etc.)
• Monitor SERP rankings for SEO analysis

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Prerequisites

1. Sign up at SerpApi
2. Go to Dashboard and copy your API key
3. Store it in the environment variable SERPAPI_API_KEY

export SERPAPI_API_KEY="your-api-key"

Pricing

• Free tier: 100 searches/month
• API key is passed as a query parameter api_key

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Important: When using $VAR in a command that pipes to another command, wrap the command containing $VAR in bash -c '...'. Due to a Claude Code bug, environment variables are silently cleared when pipes are used directly.

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.example.com" -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"'

How to Use

All examples below assume you have SERPAPI_API_KEY set.

Base URL: https://serpapi.com/search

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1. Basic Google Search

Search Google and get structured JSON results:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google&q=artificial+intelligence&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.organic_results[:3] | .[] | {title, link, snippet}

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2. Search with Location

Search from a specific location:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google&q=best+coffee+shops&location=San+Francisco,+California&gl=us&hl=en&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.organic_results[:3]'

Parameters:

• location: City, state, or address
• gl: Country code (us, uk, de, etc.)
• hl: Language code (en, de, fr, etc.)

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3. Google Image Search

Search for images:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google_images&q=sunset+beach&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.images_results[:3] | .[] | {title, original, thumbnail}

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4. Google News Search

Search news articles:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google_news&q=technology&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.news_results[:3] | .[] | {title, link, source, date}

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5. Google Shopping Search

Search products:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google_shopping&q=wireless+headphones&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.shopping_results[:3] | .[] | {title, price, source}

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6. YouTube Search

Search YouTube videos:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=youtube&search_query=python+tutorial&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.video_results[:3] | .[] | {title, link, channel, views}

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7. Google Maps / Local Results

Search local businesses:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google_maps&q=restaurants&ll=@40.7128,-74.0060,15z&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.local_results[:3] | .[] | {title, rating, address}

Parameters:

• ll: Latitude, longitude, and zoom level (e.g., @40.7128,-74.0060,15z)

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8. Pagination

Get more results using the start parameter:

# First page (results 1-10)
bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google&q=machine+learning&start=0&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.organic_results | length'

# Second page (results 11-20)
bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google&q=machine+learning&start=10&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.organic_results | length'

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9. Check Account Info

Check your API usage and credits:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/account?api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '{plan_name, searches_per_month, this_month_usage}

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Supported Engines

Engine	Parameter	Description
Google Search	engine=google	Web search results
Google Images	engine=google_images	Image search
Google News	engine=google_news	News articles
Google Shopping	engine=google_shopping	Product search
Google Maps	engine=google_maps	Local businesses
YouTube	engine=youtube	Video search
Bing	engine=bing	Bing web search
DuckDuckGo	engine=duckduckgo	Privacy-focused search

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Common Parameters

Parameter	Description
q	Search query (required)
engine	Search engine to use
location	Geographic location for search
gl	Country code (e.g., us, uk)
hl	Language code (e.g., en, de)
start	Pagination offset (0, 10, 20...)
num	Number of results (max 100)
safe	Safe search (active or off)
device	Device type (desktop, mobile, tablet)

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Guidelines

1. Use specific engines: Use google_images, google_news etc. instead of tbm parameter for cleaner results
2. Add location for local searches: Use location and gl for geo-targeted results
3. Cache results: SerpApi caches results by default; use no_cache=true for fresh data
4. Monitor usage: Check /account endpoint to track API credits
5. Use jq filters: Filter large JSON responses to extract only needed data