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SerpApi search engine results API via curl. Use this skill to scrape Google, Bing, YouTube, and other search engines.

44 stars
1.2k downloads
Updated 3/14/2026

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SKILL.md

SerpApi

Use SerpApi via direct curl calls to scrape search engine results from Google, Bing, YouTube, and more.

Official docs: https://serpapi.com/search-api


When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

  • Scrape Google search results (organic, ads, knowledge graph)
  • Search Google Images, News, Videos, Shopping
  • Get local business results from Google Maps
  • Scrape other search engines (Bing, YouTube, DuckDuckGo, etc.)
  • Monitor SERP rankings for SEO analysis

Prerequisites

  1. Sign up at SerpApi
  2. Go to Dashboard and copy your API key
  3. Store it in the environment variable SERPAPI_API_KEY
export SERPAPI_API_KEY="your-api-key"

Pricing

  • Free tier: 100 searches/month
  • API key is passed as a query parameter api_key

Important: When using $VAR in a command that pipes to another command, wrap the command containing $VAR in bash -c '...'. Due to a Claude Code bug, environment variables are silently cleared when pipes are used directly.

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.example.com" -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"'

How to Use

All examples below assume you have SERPAPI_API_KEY set.

Base URL: https://serpapi.com/search


1. Basic Google Search

Search Google and get structured JSON results:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google&q=artificial+intelligence&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.organic_results[:3] | .[] | {title, link, snippet}

2. Search with Location

Search from a specific location:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google&q=best+coffee+shops&location=San+Francisco,+California&gl=us&hl=en&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.organic_results[:3]'

Parameters:

  • location: City, state, or address
  • gl: Country code (us, uk, de, etc.)
  • hl: Language code (en, de, fr, etc.)

3. Google Image Search

Search for images:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google_images&q=sunset+beach&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.images_results[:3] | .[] | {title, original, thumbnail}

4. Google News Search

Search news articles:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google_news&q=technology&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.news_results[:3] | .[] | {title, link, source, date}

5. Google Shopping Search

Search products:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google_shopping&q=wireless+headphones&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.shopping_results[:3] | .[] | {title, price, source}

6. YouTube Search

Search YouTube videos:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=youtube&search_query=python+tutorial&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.video_results[:3] | .[] | {title, link, channel, views}

7. Google Maps / Local Results

Search local businesses:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google_maps&q=restaurants&ll=@40.7128,-74.0060,15z&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.local_results[:3] | .[] | {title, rating, address}

Parameters:

  • ll: Latitude, longitude, and zoom level (e.g., @40.7128,-74.0060,15z)

8. Pagination

Get more results using the start parameter:

# First page (results 1-10)
bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google&q=machine+learning&start=0&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.organic_results | length'

# Second page (results 11-20)
bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google&q=machine+learning&start=10&api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '.organic_results | length'

9. Check Account Info

Check your API usage and credits:

bash -c 'curl -s "https://serpapi.com/account?api_key=${SERPAPI_API_KEY}"' | jq '{plan_name, searches_per_month, this_month_usage}

Supported Engines

EngineParameterDescription
Google Searchengine=googleWeb search results
Google Imagesengine=google_imagesImage search
Google Newsengine=google_newsNews articles
Google Shoppingengine=google_shoppingProduct search
Google Mapsengine=google_mapsLocal businesses
YouTubeengine=youtubeVideo search
Bingengine=bingBing web search
DuckDuckGoengine=duckduckgoPrivacy-focused search

Common Parameters

ParameterDescription
qSearch query (required)
engineSearch engine to use
locationGeographic location for search
glCountry code (e.g., us, uk)
hlLanguage code (e.g., en, de)
startPagination offset (0, 10, 20...)
numNumber of results (max 100)
safeSafe search (active or off)
deviceDevice type (desktop, mobile, tablet)

Guidelines

  1. Use specific engines: Use google_images, google_news etc. instead of tbm parameter for cleaner results
  2. Add location for local searches: Use location and gl for geo-targeted results
  3. Cache results: SerpApi caches results by default; use no_cache=true for fresh data
  4. Monitor usage: Check /account endpoint to track API credits
  5. Use jq filters: Filter large JSON responses to extract only needed data

Install

Download ZIP
Requires askill CLI v1.0+

AI Quality Score

89/100Analyzed 2/24/2026

High-quality skill for using SerpApi to scrape search engines. Well-structured with clear prerequisites, 9 detailed examples covering different search types, reference tables, and proper handling of environment variables. Includes 'when to use' section, tags for discoverability, and accurate technical content. Slight penalty for not being in dedicated skills folder format, but overall excellent completeness and actionability.

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Metadata

Licenseunknown
Version-
Updated3/14/2026
Publishervm0-ai

Tags

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