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Web Search

NEX agents can access the internet to search the web, retrieve up-to-date information, and consult recent technical documentation. This allows agents to supplement the information available in your local workspace with current external knowledge.

When using the default chipnexus LLM provider, web search is available automatically through the built-in gateway and requires no additional configuration.

If you are using a custom or local LLM provider, you must configure a Tavily API key to enable web search.

Agent Usage

When web search is available, NEX agents can use it automatically when they need to resolve unfamiliar concepts, check current standards or specifications, or consult external documentation that is not available in the local workspace.

Configuration Variables

For custom LLM providers, configure web search using the following environment variables in your .env or user config file:

Variable Description
TAVILY_API_KEY Tavily API key used to enable web search. Required when using a custom or local LLM provider.
TAVILY_BASE_URL Optional custom base URL for Tavily-compatible search endpoints.

Example Configurations

When using a custom LLM provider, such as OpenAI, Google, AWS Bedrock, or a local provider, provide a Tavily API key to give NEX agents access to web search:

LLM_PROVIDER=openai
LLM_API_KEY=your-openai-api-key
LLM_MODEL=gpt5.2

# Enable web search
TAVILY_API_KEY=your-tavily-api-key

No Tavily configuration is required when using the default chipnexus provider.

For custom or local LLM providers, omit TAVILY_API_KEY to leave web search unavailable.

When using the chipnexus provider, web search is provided through the built-in gateway and does not depend on TAVILY_API_KEY.