Custom Search (CSE-compatible)

For apps moving off the Google Custom Search JSON API: same query params (key, cx, q, start, num…), same items[] and searchInformation shape.


      GET
      https://api.serpkite.com/customsearch/v1

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For apps moving off the Google Custom Search JSON API, which Google shuts down on January 1, 2027. Same query parameters, same items[] and searchInformation shape. Change the host and the key, keep your parser.

cx is accepted and ignored: results come from the whole web, not a programmable search engine. Use siteSearch or a site: operator to restrict to a domain. This endpoint keeps Google's own parameter names (gl, hl, lr…) and is not under /v1.

Query parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`q` required	string		The search query. Required.
`key`	string		Your SerpKite API key (or send `Authorization: Bearer`).
`cx`	string		Accepted and ignored.
`start`	integer	`1`	Index of the first result, 1–91 (1, 11, 21…).
`num`	integer	`10`	Results per call, 1–10.
`gl`	string		Country code (Google CSE name).
`hl`	string		Interface language (Google CSE name).
`lr`	string		Language restrict, e.g. `lang_de`.
`safe`	string		SafeSearch. One of: `active`, `off`.
`dateRestrict`	string		Recency, e.g. `d7`, `w2`, `m6`, `y1`.
`siteSearch`	string		Restrict to a site.
`searchType`	string		`image` for image results. One of: `image`.

Example request

Pass your key as ?key= like Google's API, or send Authorization: Bearer $SERPKITE_API_KEY.

GET /customsearch/v1

cURL

Python

Node.js

curl "https://api.serpkite.com/customsearch/v1?q=site%3Adocs.python.org+asyncio&cx=any" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SERPKITE_API_KEY"

Response fields

Field	Type	Description
`kind`	string	`customsearch#search`.
`searchInformation`	object	`searchTime`, `formattedSearchTime`, `totalResults`, `formattedTotalResults`.
`items[]`	array	`kind`, `title`, `htmlTitle`, `link`, `displayLink`, `snippet`, `htmlSnippet`, `formattedUrl`, `htmlFormattedUrl`, `pagemap`, `image`.
`queries`	object	`request[]` and `nextPage[]` as in the CSE API.

Example response

200 OK · illustrative

{
  "kind": "customsearch#search",
  "searchInformation": {
    "searchTime": 0.94,
    "formattedSearchTime": "0.94",
    "totalResults": "1240000",
    "formattedTotalResults": "1,240,000"
  },
  "items": [
    {
      "kind": "customsearch#result",
      "title": "asyncio — Asynchronous I/O",
      "htmlTitle": "<b>asyncio</b> — Asynchronous I/O",
      "link": "https://docs.python.org/3/library/asyncio.html",
      "displayLink": "docs.python.org",
      "snippet": "asyncio is a library to write concurrent code using the async/await syntax."
    }
  ],
  "queries": {
    "request": [
      {
        "searchTerms": "site:docs.python.org asyncio",
        "count": 10,
        "startIndex": 1
      }
    ]
  }
}

Errors

Errors use one shape: {"error":{"code","message","request_id"}}. Errors are never billed. Full list in Errors.

Status	Code	Meaning
400	`invalid_request`	A parameter is missing or invalid.
401	`unauthorized`	The API key is missing, invalid or revoked.
402	`insufficient_credits`	Your balance is too low. Buy a pack or wait for the monthly free grant.
429	`rate_limited`	Too many requests per second for your plan. Retry after the Retry-After header.
503	`upstream_error`	Google could not be fetched or parsed. Not billed; retry after Retry-After.

Notes

Errors use SerpKite's error shape ({"error":{"code","message","request_id"}}), not Google's.