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Web search

The training data for large language models has a knowledge cutoff date, preventing them from answering real-time questions. Enabling web search lets the model retrieve real-time data and accurately answer time-sensitive questions, such as stock prices, weather forecasts, and breaking news.

Usage

You can enable web search using the three API calls below, each requiring different parameters.
For web search with models such as qwen3.7-max, use the web search feature of the Responses API.
  • OpenAI-compatible: Responses API
  • OpenAI-compatible: Chat Completions API
  • DashScope
Add the web_search tool to the tools parameter to enable web search.
The Responses API only supports the Qwen3.8, Qwen3.7, Qwen3.6, Qwen3.5, qwen3-max, qwen3-max-2026-01-23, deepseek-v4-flash, deepseek-v4-flash-0731, deepseek-v4-pro, and glm-5.2 models. 
# Import dependencies and create a client...
response = client.responses.create(
    model="qwen3.8-max",
    input="Hangzhou weather",
    tools=[
        {"type": "web_search"},
        {"type": "web_extractor"},
        {"type": "code_interpreter"}
    ],
    extra_body={"enable_thinking": True}
)

Web search with multimodal models

Models such as qwen3.5-plus, qwen3.5-flash, and the qwen3.5-omni series accept multimodal input (images, video) and are multimodal models. Call these models through the multimodal API (the multimodal-generation endpoint): use MultiModalConversation in both Python and Java, not Generation (the text-generation endpoint), which is for text-only models. For the basics of calling multimodal models, see the Visual reasoning and Image and video understanding topics.
Calling the multimodal models above with Generation (the text-generation endpoint) returns 400 url error, please check url. Use MultiModalConversation (the multimodal-generation endpoint) instead.In the Java SDK, MultiModalConversationParam provides enableSearch(true) to enable web search, but does not provide a searchOptions() method. Inject the search strategy and other options through the generic parameter("search_options", ...) method. In Python, MultiModalConversation.call accepts search_options directly.Web search on multimodal models requires streaming calls (use streamCall in Java, or set stream=True in Python); otherwise the request returns a Non-streaming mode does not support Web Search error.
Python
import os
import dashscope
from dashscope import MultiModalConversation
# The following uses the Singapore region. Replace {WorkspaceId} with your actual workspace ID; the configuration differs by region.
dashscope.base_http_api_url = "https://{WorkspaceId}.ap-southeast-1.maas.aliyuncs.com/api/v1"
responses = MultiModalConversation.call(
    api_key=os.getenv("DASHSCOPE_API_KEY"),
    # Use a multimodal model that supports web search.
    model="qwen3.5-plus",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": [{"text": "What is the weather in Hangzhou today?"}]}],
    # The multimodal API accepts enable_search and search_options directly.
    enable_search=True,
    search_options={
        # For multimodal models, the search strategy must be set to agent.
        "search_strategy": "agent",
        "enable_source": True,
    },
    # Streaming is required when web search is enabled for multimodal models.
    stream=True,
    incremental_output=True,
)
for response in responses:
    print(response.output.choices[0].message.content)

Supported models

  • Singapore
  • China (Beijing)
  • Qwen-Plus
    • Qwen3.7-Plus: qwen3.7-plus, qwen3.7-plus-2026-05-26 and later snapshots
    • Qwen3.6-Plus: qwen3.6-plus, qwen3.6-plus-2026-04-02 and later snapshots
    • Qwen3.5-Plus: qwen3.5-plus, qwen3.5-plus-2026-02-15 and later snapshots
  • Qwen-Flash
    • Qwen3.7-Flash: qwen3.7-flash, qwen3.7-flash-2026-07-15 and later snapshots
    • Qwen3.6-Flash: qwen3.6-flash, qwen3.6-flash-2026-04-16 and later snapshots
    • Qwen3.5-Flash: qwen3.5-flash, qwen3.5-flash-2026-02-23 and later snapshots
  • Qwen-Max
    • Qwen3.8-Max: qwen3.8-max
    • Qwen3.8-Flash: qwen3.8-flash
    • Qwen3.7-Max: qwen3.7-max, qwen3.7-max-preview, qwen3.7-max-2026-05-17 and later snapshots
    • Qwen3.6-Max: qwen3.6-max-preview
    • qwen3-max and qwen3-max-2026-01-23
      • In non-thinking mode, the search strategy must be set to agent.
      • In thinking mode, the search strategy must be set to agent or agent_max (which adds web extractor support).
    • qwen3-max-2025-09-23: The search strategy must be set to agent.
  • Qwen open-source: qwen3.8-2.4t-a95b, qwen3.8-27b
  • Qwen-Omni: qwen3.5-omni-plus, qwen3.5-omni-plus-2026-03-15, qwen3.5-omni-flash, qwen3.5-omni-flash-2026-03-15 The search strategy must be set to agent.
  • Qwen-Omni-Realtime: qwen3.5-omni-plus-realtime, qwen3.5-omni-plus-realtime-2026-03-15, qwen3.5-omni-flash-realtime, qwen3.5-omni-flash-realtime-2026-03-15 The search strategy must be set to agent.
  • Role-playing: qwen-plus-character, qwen-flash-character
  • Third-party models
    • DeepSeek: deepseek-v4-flash, deepseek-v4-flash-0731, deepseek-v4-pro (supported only by the Responses API)
    • GLM: glm-5.2 (supported only by the Responses API)

Quick start

The following examples show how to query stock information using web search.
  • OpenAI compatible
  • DashScope
The OpenAI-compatible protocol does not support returning search sources in the response.
  • Python
  • Node.js
  • curl
import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    # If the environment variable is not set, provide your Model Studio API key directly, for example: api_key="sk-xxx"
    api_key=os.getenv("DASHSCOPE_API_KEY"),
    # The following configuration is for the Asia Pacific SE 1 (Singapore) region. Replace {WorkspaceId} with your workspace ID. Configurations differ by region.
    base_url="https://{WorkspaceId}.ap-southeast-1.maas.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1",
)
completion = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="qwen-plus",
    messages=[
        {"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful assistant."},
        {"role": "user", "content": "What is the stock price of Alibaba?"},
    ],
    extra_body={
        "enable_search": True,
        "search_options": {
            # Specify the web search strategy. Only 'agent' is supported.
            "search_strategy": "agent"
        }
    }
)
print(completion.choices[0].message.content)
Sample response 
According to the latest market data, Alibaba's stock price in different markets is as follows:

*   US Stock (BABA): The latest price is approximately 159.84 USD.
*   Hong Kong Stock (09988.HK): The latest price is approximately 158.00 HKD.

Please note that stock prices fluctuate in real time, and this information is for reference only.

Web search with Responses API

You can enable web search by adding the web_search tool to the tools array of the tools parameter.
This feature is supported only for Qwen3.5 and later Max, Plus, Flash series; and for qwen3-max and qwen3-max-2026-01-23 in thinking mode.
For best results, we recommend enabling the web_search, web_extractor, and code_interpreter tools together.
For usage instructions, code examples, and migration guides for the Responses API, see OpenAI-compatible - Responses. 
from openai import OpenAI
import os

client = OpenAI(
    # If you have not configured an environment variable, replace the following line with your Model Studio API key: api_key="sk-xxx",
    api_key=os.getenv("DASHSCOPE_API_KEY"),
    # This configuration is for the Singapore region. Replace {WorkspaceId} with your actual workspace ID. Configurations vary by region.
    base_url="https://{WorkspaceId}.ap-southeast-1.maas.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1"
)

response = client.responses.create(
    model="qwen3.7-max",
    input="Singapore weather",
    tools=[
        {"type": "web_search"},
        {"type": "web_extractor"},
        {"type": "code_interpreter"}
    ],
    extra_body={"enable_thinking": True}
)

print("="*20 + "Response content" + "="*20)
print(response.output_text)

print("="*20 + "Tool call count" + "="*20)
usage = response.usage
if hasattr(usage, 'x_tools') and usage.x_tools:
    print(f"Web search count: {usage.x_tools.get('web_search', {}).get('count', 0)}")
# Uncomment the following lines to view the intermediate output
# for r in response.output:
#     print(r.model_dump_json())

Get search sources

After a web search runs, the search sources are returned in the response. They appear in the element whose type is web_search_call within the output array, and its action.sources field is the list of source links. You can extract them from the response in the example above as follows:
The Responses API does not support the enable_source, enable_citation, or citation_format parameters, and does not insert [1] citation markers into the response content. To use citation markers, use the DashScope API. 
# Extract search sources from the response above
print("=" * 20 + "Search sources" + "=" * 20)
for item in response.output:
    if item.type == "web_search_call":
        for i, source in enumerate(item.action.sources, start=1):
            print(f"[{i}] {source.url}")

Billing

The web search described in this topic refers to the model's built-in web search feature, which is billed as described below and does not include a free call quota. It is separate from the Web Search MCP service offered in the Model Studio MCP marketplace, and the two are billed independently: the Web Search MCP service provides a free quota of 2,000 calls for all users, after which it is billed at CNY 29 per 1,000 calls. For more information, see Add web search MCP.
Charges for web search consist of two components:
  • model call fees: The web search feature appends retrieved web content to the prompt, increasing the number of input tokens. These tokens are billed at the model's standard rate. For pricing details, see the Model Studio console. When you use the Responses API, the web search tool is billed at the same rate as the agent policy.
  • search policy fees:
    • agent policy:
      • The fee per 1,000 calls is as follows:
        • For the China (Beijing) region: $0.573411.
        • For the Singapore region: $10.00.
    • agent_max policy (Limited-time offer): This policy covers both the web search and the web extractor tool.
      • Fee per 1,000 calls for the web search tool:
        • For the China (Beijing) deployment scope: $0.573411.
        • For the Singapore region: $10.00.
      • The web extractor tool is free for a limited time.

Error messages

To troubleshoot errors, see Error codes.
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