Search the web during live calls with Bolna Voice AI

What is web search?

Web search lets your Voice AI agent look up current, public information during a live call, such as news, prices, scores, opening hours or anything else that may have changed since the model was trained. The agent searches only when a caller’s question needs it, then answers in a sentence or two.

Add web search to your agent

Open the Tools tab

Open your agent in Agent Studio and go to the Tools tab.

Add the Web Search tool

Click + Add next to Web Search under Add Tool.

Configure and save

Choose a search provider, fill in the settings below, and click Save configuration. Then save your agent.

Once added, the tool appears under Active Tools with the provider it uses. Click the gear icon to change its settings, or the trash icon to remove it.

Function Tools for LLM Models card with an Active Tools section showing a Web Search card labelled Powered by Firecrawl, with a gear icon to edit it and a trash icon to remove it — Web Search under Active Tools

An agent can have one web search tool. Once it is added, the Web Search card moves from Add Tool to Active Tools.

Configuration options

Web search configuration dialog with an API key (Firecrawl) field and a link to the Firecrawl dashboard, a Description (Prompt) box, a Pre-tool message with an English tab, a Max results field set to 3, and Cancel and Save configuration buttons — Web search configuration

Setting	Description
Search provider	The search service your agent uses: OpenAI, Exa, Firecrawl or Parallel. See Choosing a provider.
API key	Your API key for Exa, Firecrawl or Parallel. Not needed for OpenAI.
Description (Prompt)	Tells the LLM when to search. A default is filled in for you; tailor it to your use case, e.g., “Search the web for live cricket scores and match results when the caller asks about a match.”
Pre-tool message	What the agent says while it searches, e.g., “Just give me a moment, I’ll be back with you.” Supports multiple languages.
Max results	How many search results the agent reads before answering, from 1 to 10. Defaults to 3. Fewer results keep the spoken answer short and fast.

Choosing a provider

Web search configuration dialog with the Search provider dropdown open, listing OpenAI, Exa, Firecrawl and Parallel, with OpenAI selected — Search provider options

Provider	API key
OpenAI	Not needed. The agent uses its own OpenAI key if it runs on one, otherwise Bolna’s.
Exa	Required. Get one from the Exa dashboard.
Firecrawl	Required. Get one from the Firecrawl dashboard.
Parallel	Required. Get one from the Parallel platform.

OpenAI is the quickest way to start, since there is nothing to set up. Exa, Firecrawl and Parallel run on your own account with that provider.

When you switch providers, enter the API key for the new provider. A key only works with the provider it was created for.

Writing a good description

The LLM decides when to search based on the Description (Prompt), so be specific about the topics that should trigger a search.

Vague	Specific
”Search the web."	"Search the web for today’s flight status and delays when the caller asks about a flight. Write a short query with the flight number.”

Ask the agent to answer in one or two spoken sentences. Search results can be long, and a short answer keeps the call natural.

Configure via API

Set web_search in the agent’s tools_config:

{
  "tools_config": {
    "web_search": {
      "enabled": true,
      "provider": "exa",
      "api_key": "your-exa-api-key",
      "max_results": 3,
      "description": "Search the web for current news, prices and scores when the caller asks about them. Answer in one or two spoken sentences.",
      "pre_call_message": "Just give me a moment, I'll be back with you."
    }
  }
}

Field	Description
`enabled`	Turns web search on for the agent.
`provider`	`openai`, `exa`, `firecrawl` or `parallel`.
`api_key`	Your provider API key. Leave it out for `openai`.
`max_results`	Results to read before answering, from 1 to 10. Defaults to 3.
`description`	When the LLM should search.
`pre_call_message`	What the agent says while it searches.

Build

Deploy

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Go live

Search the web during live calls with Bolna Voice AI

What is web search?

Add web search to your agent

Configuration options

Choosing a provider

Writing a good description

Configure via API

Next steps

Tools tab

How tool calling works

​What is web search?

​Add web search to your agent

​Configuration options

​Choosing a provider

​Writing a good description

​Configure via API

​Next steps

Tools tab

How tool calling works

What is web search?

Add web search to your agent

Configuration options

Choosing a provider

Writing a good description

Configure via API

Next steps