Search Depth

The search_depth parameter controls the tradeoff between latency, cost, and content richness. Pick the right depth for each query instead of over-fetching.

Overview

Depth	Latency	Content	Best For
`lite`	Lowest	Titles, URLs, snippets	Quick factual questions, high-volume monitoring, filtering
`fast` (default)	Low	Rich content	RAG, chatbots, AI agent loops
`deep`	Higher	Full real-time page extraction	Research, due diligence, knowledge bases

When to use each depth

Lite — short snippets for simple questions

Use lite when a one-sentence snippet answers the question on its own, or you need to scan many results without reading full pages. Good for:

Quick factual questions (“when was X founded”, “what’s the latest release of Y”)
High-volume monitoring where you only need to detect new mentions
Scanning and filtering before deciding what’s worth going deeper on

{
  "query": "competitor product launches 2026",
  "search_depth": "lite",
  "max_results": 20
}

Fast — rich content for AI agents

Use fast when you need enough content to answer questions or feed an LLM, without the latency of scraping every page in real time. Returns rich content optimized for AI consumption. It’s the default depth when a request omits search_depth. Good for:

RAG pipelines and chatbot grounding
Real-time agent workflows where latency matters
Q&A systems that need context beyond snippets
Any AI application that needs content, not just links

{
  "query": "python async best practices",
  "search_depth": "fast",
  "max_results": 5
}

Deep — full page extraction

Use deep when you need complete source material from every result. Each page is scraped in real time and returned as full content. Good for:

Research and due diligence requiring complete source text
Building comprehensive knowledge bases
Content analysis where snippets are insufficient
Legal or compliance workflows needing full page archives

{
  "query": "GDPR compliance requirements for SaaS",
  "search_depth": "deep",
  "max_results": 5,
  "output_format": "markdown"
}

Cost optimization

Start lite, go deeper when needed

The most cost-effective pattern: search with lite first, then use Extract on the specific URLs that matter.

from nimble_python import Nimble

nimble = Nimble(api_key="YOUR-API-KEY")

# Step 1: Lite search to find relevant URLs
results = nimble.search(
    query="AI agent frameworks comparison",
    search_depth="lite",
    max_results=20
)

# Step 2: Extract full content from the top results only
for item in results.results[:3]:
    page = nimble.extract.run(
        url=item.url,
        formats=["markdown"]
    )
    print(page.data.markdown)

import Nimble from '@nimble-way/nimble-js';

const nimble = new Nimble({ apiKey: "YOUR-API-KEY" });

// Step 1: Lite search to find relevant URLs
const results = await nimble.search({
  query: "AI agent frameworks comparison",
  search_depth: "lite",
  max_results: 20
});

// Step 2: Extract full content from the top results only
for (const item of results.results.slice(0, 3)) {
  const page = await nimble.extract.run({
    url: item.url,
    formats: ["markdown"]
  });
  console.log(page.data?.markdown);
}

# Step 1: Lite search
curl -X POST 'https://sdk.nimbleway.com/v2/search' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-API-KEY>' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
    "query": "AI agent frameworks comparison",
    "search_depth": "lite",
    "max_results": 20
}'

# Step 2: Extract specific URLs from the results
curl -X POST 'https://sdk.nimbleway.com/v2/extract' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-API-KEY>' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
    "url": "https://example.com/ai-frameworks",
    "formats": ["markdown"]
}'

Choose depth by query type

Not every query needs the same depth. Match depth to intent:

Query intent	Recommended depth	Why
”Find URLs about X”	`lite`	Only need links, not content
”What is X?”	`fast`	Rich content is enough for a summary
”Summarize everything about X”	`deep`	Need full page text for comprehensive analysis
”Monitor mentions of X”	`lite`	High-volume, only need detection
”Research X for a report”	`deep`	Need complete source material

Combining depth with other features

Depth + domain filtering

Narrow your search to trusted sources before extracting content:

{
  "query": "kubernetes best practices",
  "search_depth": "deep",
  "max_results": 5,
  "include_domains": ["kubernetes.io", "cloud.google.com", "docs.aws.amazon.com"]
}

Depth + time filtering

Combine depth with recency filters for targeted research:

{
  "query": "AI regulation updates",
  "search_depth": "lite",
  "max_results": 20,
  "time_range": "week"
}

Getting Started

Search Tools

Web Search Agent

Extraction Tools

Extract Template

Extract Jobs

Guides

SDKs

Admin

Proxy

Overview

When to use each depth

Lite — short snippets for simple questions

Fast — rich content for AI agents

Deep — full page extraction

Cost optimization

Start lite, go deeper when needed

Choose depth by query type

Combining depth with other features

Depth + domain filtering

Depth + time filtering

Next steps

Quickstart

API Reference

​Overview

​When to use each depth

​Lite — short snippets for simple questions

​Fast — rich content for AI agents

​Deep — full page extraction

​Cost optimization

​Start lite, go deeper when needed

​Choose depth by query type

​Combining depth with other features

​Depth + domain filtering

​Depth + time filtering

​Next steps

Quickstart

API Reference

Overview

When to use each depth

Lite — short snippets for simple questions

Fast — rich content for AI agents

Deep — full page extraction

Cost optimization

Start lite, go deeper when needed

Choose depth by query type

Combining depth with other features

Depth + domain filtering

Depth + time filtering

Next steps