SERP API quick start: your first search in curl, Python and Node.js

How do I run my first search with curl?

Export the key once, then send one GET request. The -G flag with --data-urlencode builds the query string and encodes spaces and accents for you. The answer is a single JSON document, and jq keeps it readable in a terminal.

The example asks Google, the default engine, for US results in English. Change q, gl or hl and run it again: each successful run uses one credit.

export SERPCRYPTO_API_KEY="paste-your-key-here"

curl -sG "https://serpcrypto.com/api/v1/search" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SERPCRYPTO_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "q=best espresso grinder" \
  -d gl=us -d hl=en | jq '.organic_results[:3]'

How do I run the same search in Python?

Use any HTTP client. With requests, pass the parameters as a dictionary and the key in the header. raise_for_status() turns an error answer, such as 401 for a wrong key, into an exception you can catch.

import os

import requests

API_URL = "https://serpcrypto.com/api/v1/search"
API_KEY = os.environ["SERPCRYPTO_API_KEY"]

response = requests.get(
    API_URL,
    params={"q": "best espresso grinder", "gl": "us", "hl": "en"},
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"},
    timeout=60,
)
response.raise_for_status()
data = response.json()

print("credits used:", data["search_metadata"]["credits_used"])
for result in data.get("organic_results", [])[:3]:
    print(result["position"], result["title"], result["link"])

And in Node.js?

Node.js 18 and later ship fetch, so no package is needed. Save the file with the .mjs extension to use await at the top level, then run node first-search.mjs.

// first-search.mjs (Node.js 18 or later: fetch and top-level await are built in)
const API_URL = "https://serpcrypto.com/api/v1/search";
const params = new URLSearchParams({ q: "best espresso grinder", gl: "us", hl: "en" });

const response = await fetch(`${API_URL}?${params}`, {
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.SERPCRYPTO_API_KEY}` },
});
if (!response.ok) {
  throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}: ${await response.text()}`);
}
const data = await response.json();

console.log("credits used:", data.search_metadata.credits_used);
for (const result of (data.organic_results ?? []).slice(0, 3)) {
  console.log(result.position, result.title, result.link);
}

How do I check how many credits I have left?

Call GET https://serpcrypto.com/api/v1/credits with the same key. It is free and returns three numbers: credits left, credits used today and how many searches your account may run at the same time. Each account can run a set number of searches at the same time; the limit is shown in your dashboard and raised on request.

curl -s "https://serpcrypto.com/api/v1/credits" -H "Authorization: Bearer $SERPCRYPTO_API_KEY"

{
  "credits_remaining": 84210,
  "credits_used_today": 1290,
  "concurrency_limit": 10
}

What comes back from a search?

Every answer has the same frame on all engines. search_metadata says whether the search succeeded and how many credits it used. search_parameters repeats the settings that were applied, defaults included. Then come one array or object per block of the results page, such as organic_results or people_also_ask.

A block is present only when the page shows it, so read it with a default value. The response format page describes every block and field.

{
  "search_metadata": { "id": "srch_7f3a9c2e41b8", "status": "success", "engine": "google", "credits_used": 1 },
  "search_parameters": { "engine": "google", "q": "best espresso grinder", "gl": "us", "hl": "en", "page": 1 },
  "search_information": { "total_results": 18600000, "query_displayed": "best espresso grinder" },
  "organic_results": [ { "position": 1, "title": "…", "link": "https://www.example.com/…", "snippet": "…" } ],
  "people_also_ask": [ { "question": "…", "snippet": "…", "link": "https://www.example.org/…" } ],
  "related_searches": [ { "query": "best espresso grinder under 300" } ],
  "pagination": { "current": 1, "next_page": 2 }
}

What does a search cost, and when is it free?

1 credit = 1 successful search request, which returns one page of results on any supported engine. A request that fails is not charged. About 10 organic results per page, as Google has served since it stopped honouring num=100 in September 2025; each extra page is one more credit. A request rejected for a bad parameter, a wrong key, an empty balance or a busy account is free as well, and so is every call to the credits endpoint.

Prices run from $7.50 for 10,000 searches to $0.30/1K searches on the largest pack, as of October 2026. Prepaid search credits never expire: unused searches stay on your account until you use them. The errors page lists each error code and the right way to retry.