ddg-rs 0.2.4

A fast, privacy-respecting Python library for DuckDuckGo searches, powered by Rust.

🦆 Duckduckgo

duckduckgo is a multi-language toolkit for searching DuckDuckGo from code or the command line. The core is written entirely in Rust and compiled to a native extension, so Python and Node.js callers enjoy the same performance and correctness guarantees as the Rust library, with no runtime dependencies beyond the native extension itself 🗿.

🤔 What does this crate provide?

The library exposes 4 search backends:

• Instant Answer: the official api.duckduckgo.com JSON endpoint, which returns structured data including abstracts, definitions, direct answers, and related topics.
• Lite: the minimal lite.duckduckgo.com HTML interface, which returns plain text results without JavaScript.
• Images: paginated image results via duckduckgo.com/i.js.
• News: paginated news articles via duckduckgo.com/news.js.

A comprehensive SearchParams builder covers every documented DuckDuckGo URL parameter: region, safe-search, theme, colours, fonts, header behaviour, and more.

🦀 Rust

The Rust crate is available on crates.io. For a complete API reference, installation guide, and worked examples, visit the Rust Usage Guide.

The crate ships the following Cargo features:

Feature	Description
rust-binary	Enables the standalone ddg terminal CLI executable
python	Python extension module via pyo3
node	Node.js native add-on via napi-derive

🌐 WebAssembly (WASM)

duckduckgo natively supports the wasm32-unknown-unknown target! Because it uses reqwest under the hood, it seamlessly switches to the fetch API when deployed in the browser.

This makes it perfect for client-side search inside Rust frontend frameworks like Yew, Dioxus, and Leptos. We actively use this technique in the llm/examples/chat application.

For CORS considerations, code examples, and usage details, read the WASM usage guide.

🐍 Python

The Python bindings are published to PyPI as ddg-rs and can be installed with pip install ddg-rs. The package is built with maturin and ships pre-compiled wheels for the major CPython versions.

The Python module exposes the Browser, SearchParams, LiteSearchResult, ImageResult, and NewsResult types. All network methods are synchronous — they drive an embedded Tokio runtime so callers do not need an event loop.

For installation instructions, configuration options, and full method signatures, read the Python usage guide.

🟩 Node.js

The Node.js bindings are published to npm as ddg-rs and can be installed with npm install ddg-rs. The package is built with napi-rs and ships a pre-compiled .node add-on.

The module exposes the Browser class, SearchParams builder, and plain object result types (LiteSearchResult, ImageResult, NewsResult, InstantAnswerResponse). Like the Python API, all network calls are synchronous within the binding.

For installation instructions, type definitions, and examples, read the Node.js usage guide.

💻 Command-line interface

The ddg binary supports full-text, image, news, and Instant Answer searches directly from the terminal. It accepts a rich set of options including user-agent selection, cookie storage, HTTP proxy support, safe-search, and a choice of result backends.

For the full option reference and usage examples, see the CLI documentation or run ddg --help after installing with cargo install duckduckgo --features rust-binary.

🔒 Privacy

DuckDuckGo does not track users or personalise results. This library makes direct HTTPS requests to the same public endpoints that the browser does. No API key, account, or authentication token is required.

For more information about DuckDuckGo's privacy practices, visit duckduckgo.com/privacy.

📚 Further reading

• DuckDuckGo Instant Answer API
• DuckDuckGo URL Parameters reference
• DuckDuckGo Search Syntax
• DuckDuckGo Help Pages
• Instant Answer API playground

📄 License

Licensed under the MIT License.

⭐ Star us

If you use or enjoy this toolkit, please leave us a star on GitHub! It helps others discover the project and keeps the momentum going and the coffee flowing ☕.