openai_tool_web_search: OpenAI web search tool

In ellmer: Chat with Large Language Models

OpenAI web search tool

Description

Enables OpenAI models to search the web for up-to-date information. The search behavior varies by model: non-reasoning models perform simple searches, while reasoning models can perform agentic, iterative searches.

Learn more at https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/tools-web-search

Usage

openai_tool_web_search(
  allowed_domains = NULL,
  user_location = NULL,
  external_web_access = TRUE
)

Arguments

allowed_domains	Character vector. Restrict searches to specific domains (e.g., c("nytimes.com", "bbc.com")). Maximum 20 domains. URLs will be automatically cleaned (http/https prefixes removed).
user_location	List with optional elements: country (2-letter ISO code), city, region, and timezone (IANA timezone) to localize search results.
external_web_access	Logical. Whether to allow live internet access (TRUE, default) or use only cached/indexed results (FALSE).

See Also

Other built-in tools: claude_tool_web_fetch(), claude_tool_web_search(), google_tool_web_fetch(), google_tool_web_search()

Examples

## Not run: 
chat <- chat_openai()
chat$register_tool(openai_tool_web_search())
chat$chat("Very briefly summarise the top 3 news stories of the day")
chat$chat("Of those stories, which one do you think was the most interesting?")

## End(Not run)

ellmer documentation built on July 14, 2026, 1:07 a.m.