Add Search to a Chatbot

Use OptimAI Search when an answer needs current web or social evidence. Do not search every conversational turn; search when freshness or citations matter.

Search policy

• Search for current events, prices, releases, policies, or questions that require sources.
• Use the user's complete question as the query and add a timeframe or domain when it improves precision.
• Keep the user informed while the asynchronous search is running.
• Answer from the completed result and show the cited source links.
• If retrieval fails, explain whether the problem was credentials, request shape, rate limiting, or temporary service availability.

Server-side request

Keep the API key in the chatbot backend:

const response = await fetch(
  "https://api-onchain.optimai.network/external/v1/search",
  {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "X-API-Key": process.env.OPTIMAI_API_KEY ?? "",
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
      "Idempotency-Key": `chat-${messageId}`,
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ query: userQuestion }),
  },
)

Poll the returned ID, then pass result.answer and result.citations to the chat UI. Never expose OPTIMAI_API_KEY in a browser bundle.