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	Credits	Best For
`lite`	Lowest	Titles, URLs, snippets	1 per search	URL discovery, filtering, high-volume pipelines
`fast`	Low	Rich content	2 per search	RAG, chatbots, AI agent loops
`deep`	Higher	Full real-time page extraction	1 + 1 per page	Research, due diligence, knowledge bases

fast mode is an enterprise feature. Contact sales to enable it for your account.

When to use each depth

Lite — scan and filter

Use lite when you need to scan many results quickly without reading full content. Returns titles, URLs, and short snippets. Good for:

URL discovery before targeted extraction
Filtering results by title or domain before deeper processing
High-volume monitoring where you only need to detect new mentions
Building URL lists for downstream tools like Extract or Crawl

{
  "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. 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
}

fast mode requires an enterprise account and only works with focus: "general". Contact sales to get access.

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(
        url=item.url,
        output_format="markdown"
    )
    print(page.content)

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({
    url: item.url,
    output_format: "markdown"
  });
  console.log(page.content);
}

# Step 1: Lite search
curl -X POST 'https://sdk.nimbleway.com/v1/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/v1/extract' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-API-KEY>' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
    "url": "https://example.com/ai-frameworks",
    "output_format": "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"
}

Introduction

Web Search Agents

Web Tools

Guides

SDKs

Admin

Overview

When to use each depth

Lite — scan and filter

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

Search

API Reference

​Overview

​When to use each depth

​Lite — scan and filter

​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

Search

API Reference

Overview

When to use each depth

Lite — scan and filter

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