How to Give Your AI Agents Real-Time Search Superpowers with Tavily

This article demonstrates a real-world implementation of Tavily search integration in an AI agent system. The code examples are taken from actual production code in the open-source Wei AI Agent project.

cover image. made by https://www.linkedin.com/in/abdibrokhim/
Integrating @tavilyai with Function Calling in AI Agentic Apps 🧵

Taking a closer look at this open-source project: https://github.com/Anora-Labs/eliza-agent-orchestration.

official website: https://www.tavily.com/
🚀 Building AI agents that can search the web in real-time? Here’s how I integrated @TavilyAI with function calling to give my AI agents instant access to current information.

The result? Agents that can answer questions about today’s news, current events, and live data! 🧵👇

official website: https://www.tavily.com/
🤔 The Problem: Most AI models are trained on data with a cutoff date. They can’t tell you about breaking news, current stock prices, or what happened yesterday.

Solution: Function calling + Tavily’s real-time search API = AI agents with up-to-the-minute knowledge! ⚡

official website: https://www.tavily.com/
🛠️ Setting up Tavily is surprisingly simple. First, install and configure:

npm i @tavily/core

Add your Tavily API key to .env

TAVILY_API_KEY=your_key_here_goes_here
That’s it for dependencies! No complex SDKs or heavy libraries needed. 📦

💡 The magic happens with function definitions. Here’s how I defined Tavily search functions for my AI agents:

{
name: "searchWeb",
description: "Search the internet for real-time information",
parameters: {
type: "object",
properties: {
query: { type: "string" },
topic: { enum: ["general", "news"] },
max_results: { type: "number" }
}
}
}
🔧 The Tavily service class is clean and modular:

export class TavilyService {
async search(options: TavilySearchOptions) {
const response = await fetch('https://api.tavily.com/search', {
method: 'POST',
headers: {
'Authorization': Bearer ${this.apiKey},
'Content-Type': 'application/json'
},
body: JSON.stringify(searchPayload)
});
return response.json();
}
}
🎯 Function calling integration is where it gets interesting. When the AI decides it needs current information, it automatically calls the search function:

case "searchWeb":
const searchResponse = await tavilyService.search({
query: args.query,
topic: args.topic || 'general',
max_results: args.max_results || 5
});
return JSON.stringify(searchResponse);
📈 The AI agent conversation flow:

1. User asks: “What’s happening with Bitcoin today?”

2. AI recognizes it needs current data

3. AI calls searchWeb(“Bitcoin price news today”)

4. Tavily returns real-time results

5. AI synthesizes the information into a natural response

All automatic! 🤯

🗞️ Specialized functions for different use cases:

// General web search
await tavilyService.searchGeneral(query, maxResults)

// Current news
await tavilyService.searchNews(query, maxResults, 'day')

// Quick answers
await tavilyService.getQuickAnswer(query)
Each optimized for different types of information retrieval! 📊

⚡ Pro tip: Format the results for better AI consumption:

formatSearchResults(searchResponse: TavilySearchResponse): string {
let formatted = Search Query: "${query}"\n\n;
if (answer) formatted += Answer: ${answer}\n\n;

results.forEach((result, index) => {
formatted += ${index + 1}. ${result.title}\n;
formatted += Content: ${result.content}\n\n;
});

return formatted;
}
🎛️ Error handling is crucial for production:

try {
const searchResponse = await tavilyService.search(options);
return JSON.stringify({ success: true, ...searchResponse });
} catch (error) {
return JSON.stringify({
error: "Failed to search the web",
message: error.message
});
}
Always graceful degradation! 🛡️

📊 Real-world example from my Wei AI agent:

User: “What are the latest developments in AI safety?”

AI Agent:

1. Calls searchNews(“AI safety developments”, 5, “week”)

2. Gets 5 recent articles from Tavily

3. Synthesizes findings into comprehensive answer

4. Cites sources with URLs

try Wei at https://wei.yaps.gg
🎮 Advanced features I’m using:

• Domain filtering: Include/exclude specific sites

• Time range controls: Last day, week, month

• Content depth: Basic vs advanced search

• Answer extraction: Get direct answers, not just links

• Multiple topics: General web vs news-specific

official website: https://www.tavily.com/
🚀 Performance benefits:

• ⚡ Sub-second response times

• 🎯 Highly relevant results (scored by relevance)

• 📱 Works great with streaming responses

• 💰 Cost-effective vs other search APIs

• 🌍 Global coverage with localization

official website: https://www.tavily.com/
🎯 Key takeaways:

1. Function calling makes AI agents incredibly extensible

2. Tavily’s API is developer-friendly and fast

3. Real-time search transforms user experience

4. Simple integration, powerful results

5. Essential for any serious AI application

Try it yourself! 🚀

Technical Implementation Details
Complete Function Definition:

const searchFunctions = [
{
name: "searchWeb",
description: "Search the internet for real-time information and current events",
parameters: {
type: "object",
properties: {
query: {
type: "string",
description: "The search query to find information on the web"
},
topic: {
type: "string",
enum: ["general", "news"],
description: "The type of search - 'general' for broad searches, 'news' for current events"
},
max_results: {
type: "number",
description: "Maximum number of search results to return (1-20, default: 5)"
},
time_range: {
type: "string",
enum: ["day", "week", "month", "year"],
description: "Time range for news searches"
},
include_answer: {
type: "boolean",
description: "Whether to include an AI-generated answer summary"
}
},
required: ["query"]
}
}
];
Error Handling Best Practices:

async function handleSearchFunction(args: any) {
try {
// Validate inputs
if (!args.query || typeof args.query !== 'string') {
throw new Error('Query parameter is required and must be a string');
}

// Call Tavily with validated parameters
const searchResponse = await tavilyService.search({
  query: args.query,
  topic: args.topic || 'general',
  max_results: Math.min(Math.max(args.max_results || 5, 1), 20),
  time_range: args.time_range,
  include_answer: args.include_answer !== false,
});

// Track usage for analytics
await trackSearchOperation(userId, 'web', args.query, searchResponse.results.length);

return {
  success: true,
  ...searchResponse,
  formatted_results: tavilyService.formatSearchResults(searchResponse)
};

} catch (error) {
console.error('Search function error:', error);
return {
error: "Failed to search the web",
success: false,
message: error instanceof Error ? error.message : "Unknown search error"
};
}
}
Usage Analytics Integration:

// Track search operations for insights
await keywordsAIService.trackSearchOperation(
userId,
'web', // search type
args.query,
searchResponse.results.length
);
Give a star: https://github.com/Anora-Labs/eliza-agent-orchestration.

my linkedin in case: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abdibrokhim/