DuckDuckGo Search Node for n8n

A professional-grade n8n community node for DuckDuckGo search with enterprise-level error handling, validation, and quality assurance. Search the web, find images, discover news, and explore videos with privacy-focused, reliable results.

✨ Features

🔍 Complete Search Coverage

• Web Search: Comprehensive web search with clean results
• Image Search: High-quality image discovery with metadata
• News Search: Real-time news from diverse sources worldwide
• Video Search: Video content discovery across multiple platforms

🚀 Simple & Fast

• Lightweight Design: Simplified codebase for better performance
• Essential Parameters: Only the settings you actually need
• No Extra Overhead: Removed complex features for speed
• Clean Results: Focused on delivering quality search results

🛡️ Privacy-Focused

• No API Keys Required: Completely free to use without registration
• Privacy-First: No user tracking or data collection
• Direct Integration: Uses DuckDuckGo's search directly

📦 Installation

Via npm

npm install n8n-nodes-duckduckgo-search

Via n8n Interface

1. Go to Settings → Community Nodes
2. Enter: n8n-nodes-duckduckgo-search
3. Click Install
4. Restart n8n if required

🚀 Quick Start

1. Add Node: Drag the DuckDuckGo Search node into your workflow
2. Choose Operation: Select Web, Image, News, or Video search
3. Enter Query: Type your search terms
4. Configure Options: Set result limits, language, and filters
5. Execute: Run your workflow and get results!

🔧 Usage Examples

Web Search

{
  "operation": "search",
  "query": "artificial intelligence trends 2026",
  "locale": "en-us",
  "maxResults": 20,
  "region": "us-en", 
  "safeSearch": -1,
  "timePeriod": ""
}

Sample Output:

[
  {
    "position": 1,
    "title": "AI Trends 2026: What to Expect",
    "description": "Comprehensive overview of artificial intelligence trends...",
    "url": "https://example.com/ai-trends-2026",
    "hostname": "example.com",
    "sourceType": "web"
  }
]

Image Search

{
  "operation": "searchImages",
  "query": "sunset mountains landscape",
  "locale": "en-us",
  "maxResults": 15,
  "region": "us-en",
  "safeSearch": -1
}

Sample Output:

[
  {
    "title": "Beautiful Mountain Sunset",
    "url": "https://example.com/page",
    "imageUrl": "https://example.com/mountain-sunset.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://example.com/thumb.jpg",
    "height": 1080,
    "width": 1920,
    "source": "example.com",
    "sourceType": "image"
  }
]

News Search

{
  "operation": "searchNews",
  "query": "renewable energy breakthrough",
  "locale": "en-us",
  "maxResults": 10,
  "region": "us-en",
  "safeSearch": -1,
  "timePeriod": "d"
}

Sample Output:

[
  {
    "title": "Major Breakthrough in Solar Energy Efficiency",
    "description": "Scientists announce 40% efficiency improvement...",
    "url": "https://news.example.com/solar-breakthrough",
    "imageUrl": "https://news.example.com/solar.jpg",
    "date": "2026-01-13T10:30:00.000Z",
    "relativeTime": "2 hours ago",
    "syndicate": "Tech News Daily",
    "sourceType": "news"
  }
]

Video Search

{
  "operation": "searchVideos",
  "query": "machine learning tutorial",
  "locale": "en-us",
  "maxResults": 12,
  "region": "us-en",
  "safeSearch": -1
}

Sample Output:

[
  {
    "title": "Complete Machine Learning Tutorial",
    "description": "Learn machine learning from scratch...",
    "url": "https://video.example.com/ml-tutorial",
    "imageUrl": "https://video.example.com/thumb.jpg",
    "duration": "15:30",
    "published": "2026-01-10",
    "publisher": "Educational Channel",
    "viewCount": "125000",
    "sourceType": "video"
  }
]

⚙️ Configuration Options

Parameters

Search Types

🌍 Supported Languages & Regions

The node supports 18 locale options:

• English: en-us, uk-en
• Spanish: es-es
• French: fr-fr
• German: de-de
• Italian: it-it
• Japanese: jp-jp
• Russian: ru-ru
• Chinese: zh-cn
• Portuguese: br-pt
• Dutch: nl-nl
• Polish: pl-pl
• Swedish: se-sv
• Korean: kr-ko
• Turkish: tr-tr
• Arabic: sa-ar
• Hebrew: il-he
• Persian: ir-fa

Region options include 56 geographic regions from worldwide to country-specific.

💡 Use Cases

Content Marketing

• Research trending topics and keywords
• Find images for blog posts and social media
• Monitor news about your industry
• Discover video content for inspiration

Data Analysis

• Gather web content for analysis
• Build datasets from search results
• Monitor brand mentions
• Track competitor content

Research & Development

• Academic research and literature review
• Technical documentation discovery
• Industry trend analysis
• Competitive intelligence gathering

Automation Workflows

• Automated content curation
• News monitoring and alerts
• Image collection for projects
• SEO research and optimization

📊 Performance & Limits

Result Limits

• Web Search: Up to 50 results per request
• Image Search: Up to 50 images per request
• News Search: Up to 50 articles per request
• Video Search: Up to 50 videos per request

Performance Tips

• Use specific queries for better, faster results
• Set appropriate result limits for your use case
• Leverage region settings for localized results
• Use time period filters to narrow results

🔒 Privacy & Security

Privacy-First Design

• No user tracking or data collection
• No API keys required - completely free
• Direct DuckDuckGo integration without third-party services

Data Handling

• Minimal data retention - results processed and returned immediately
• No persistent storage of search queries or results
• Clean HTTP requests without unnecessary headers or tracking

🆘 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Empty Results

• Check your search query for typos
• Try broader search terms
• Verify region/language settings
• Ensure safe search settings are appropriate

Slow Performance

• Reduce the number of results requested
• Use more specific search queries
• Check your network connection

Configuration Errors

• Verify all required parameters are provided
• Check parameter data types and formats
• Ensure region codes are valid

📚 API Reference

Node Properties

Required Parameters

• operation: The search operation to perform
• query: The search terms

Optional Parameters

• locale: Language/region code (default: en-us)
• maxResults: Number of results to return 1-50 (default: 10)
• region: Geographic region (default: wt-wt)
• safeSearch: Safe search filtering level (default: -1)
• timePeriod: Time range for results (default: '')

Output Format

All operations return an array of result objects with operation-specific fields but consistent structure for easy processing in your workflows.

🤝 Support & Contributing

Getting Help

• Documentation: This README covers most use cases
• GitHub Issues: Report bugs or request features
• Community: Join the n8n community for discussions

Contributing

This is an open-source project. Contributions are welcome:

• Bug Reports: Help us improve reliability
• Feature Requests: Suggest new capabilities
• Code Contributions: Submit pull requests
• Documentation: Help improve guides and examples

📄 License

MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Ready to get started? Install the node and begin searching with DuckDuckGo's powerful, privacy-focused search capabilities in your n8n workflows today!