Web Search

Search plugins fill the single largest capability gap in a text-only harness. They come in two shapes: provider plugins that wire a search backend into the existing search tool, and bridge plugins that expose search to any model that lacks it, usually returning structured evidence rather than raw HTML.

When comparing them, check whether results carry citations, whether fetching a page is a separate tool call, and how the provider handles rate limits. A plugin with no API key and a public backend is convenient but can be throttled; a keyed provider is more predictable at volume.