websearch: V2 keyless search is undocumented and "random" can stick to a failing provider #54311

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1. github-actions

   assigned

   nexxeln

   on Oct 10, 2026
2. opencode-agent commented on Oct 10, 2026

   

   opencode-agentBot

   on Oct 10, 2026 – with OpenCode Agent

   Contributor

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   Thanks for the detailed report. I can confirm the random part, and it still happens on the latest v2 (4617210).

   With websearch.provider: "random", opencode only switches to another provider after an HTTP 429. When the provider it picked returns no results, the search ends with "No search results found", the other providers are never tried, and later searches in that session go to the same provider. A non-429 error (an HTTP 500, for example) fails the search the same way, with no fallback. The test below shows both cases with two fake providers. The retry code is the same in 2.0.20 and the current v2 branch.

   I couldn't check the live provider behavior here: in this sandbox every provider failed inside opencode, including Exa, even though Exa's endpoint answered a direct request. So I didn't confirm the keyless Exa success or Firecrawl's empty results. The Firecrawl empty results look like #50217. I also didn't test the documentation and migration-guide gaps, so those are for maintainers.

   Until this is addressed, pinning a provider that works for you (as you did with tavily) avoids the problem.

   Related:

   • websearch: Firecrawl provider always returns "No search results found" #50217: Firecrawl always returns "No search results found"
   • fix(core): make web search limits non-fatal and report real errors #50938: PR making websearch limits non-fatal and reporting real errors
   • feat(core): keep web search providers sticky per session #47334: added the per-session sticky provider selection for random

   Reproduction script (websearch-random-repro.test.ts)

   // Repro for anomalyco/opencode#54311: with websearch provider "random", a provider that
   // returns no results or fails with a non-429 error is not replaced by another provider.
   // Run: copy to packages/core/test/ in a v2 checkout, `bun install`, then
   //   cd packages/core && bun test test/websearch-random-repro.test.ts
   // Both tests PASS on v2 today, i.e. they confirm the missing fallback.
   import { describe, expect } from "bun:test"
   import { Effect } from "effect"
   import { WebSearch } from "@opencode/core/websearch"
   import { testEffect } from "./lib/effect"
   import { TestWebSearch } from "./lib/websearch"
   
   const it = testEffect(TestWebSearch.layer)
   
   const register = (id: string, mode: { kind: "ok" | "empty" | "error500" }) =>
     Effect.gen(function* () {
       const websearch = yield* WebSearch.Service
       const providerID = WebSearch.ID.make(id)
       const calls: WebSearch.ProviderInput[] = []
       yield* websearch.transform((editor) => {
         editor.add({
           id: providerID,
           name: id,
           execute: (input) =>
             Effect.gen(function* () {
               calls.push(input)
               if (mode.kind === "error500") return yield* Effect.fail(TestWebSearch.httpError(500))
               if (mode.kind === "empty") return []
               return [{ url: `https://${id}.example.com`, title: input.query, content: id, time: {} }]
             }),
         })
       })
       return { providerID, calls, mode }
     })
   
   describe("websearch random (#54311)", () => {
     it.effect("empty results from the chosen provider are not retried on another provider", () =>
       Effect.gen(function* () {
         const a = yield* register("firecrawl", { kind: "ok" })
         const b = yield* register("exa", { kind: "ok" })
         const websearch = yield* WebSearch.Service
         yield* websearch.select("random")
         const first = yield* websearch.query({ query: "pick" }, { sessionID: "ses_x" as any })
         const chosen = first.providerID === a.providerID ? a : b
         const other = chosen === a ? b : a
         chosen.mode.kind = "empty"
         const res = yield* websearch.query({ query: "q" }, { sessionID: "ses_x" as any })
         console.log("empty case ->", res.providerID, "results:", res.results.length, "other calls:", other.calls.length)
         expect(res.providerID).toBe(chosen.providerID)
         expect(res.results).toEqual([]) // "No search results found"
         expect(other.calls).toHaveLength(0) // working provider never tried
         const again = yield* websearch.query({ query: "q2" }, { sessionID: "ses_x" as any })
         expect(again.providerID).toBe(chosen.providerID) // session stays stuck
       }),
     )
   
     it.effect("HTTP 500 from the chosen provider fails the search instead of falling back", () =>
       Effect.gen(function* () {
         const a = yield* register("firecrawl", { kind: "ok" })
         const b = yield* register("exa", { kind: "ok" })
         const websearch = yield* WebSearch.Service
         yield* websearch.select("random")
         const first = yield* websearch.query({ query: "pick" }, { sessionID: "ses_y" as any })
         const chosen = first.providerID === a.providerID ? a : b
         const other = chosen === a ? b : a
         chosen.mode.kind = "error500"
         const err = yield* websearch.query({ query: "q" }, { sessionID: "ses_y" as any }).pipe(Effect.flip)
         console.log("500 case ->", err._tag, "other calls:", other.calls.length)
         expect(err._tag).toBe("WebSearch.Request")
         expect(other.calls).toHaveLength(0)
       }),
     )
   })

   Run it: bun websearch-random-repro.test.ts
3. opencode-agent

   added

   reproduced

   on Oct 10, 2026
4. carson2222 commented on Oct 12, 2026

   

   carson2222

   on Oct 12, 2026

   More actions

   Checked live on v2.0.27 with no search keys connected. The Firecrawl empty results come from Firecrawl's keyless quota, not from a response-shape bug.

   A direct firecrawl_search call to https://mcp.firecrawl.dev/v2/mcp returns HTTP 200 with this tool result:

   {
     "isError": true,
     "structuredContent": { "code": "KEYLESS_QUOTA_EXHAUSTED", "auth_mode": "keyless" },
     "content": [{ "type": "text", "text": "You've hit Firecrawl's free MCP rate limit. To continue using without limits, create a Firecrawl API key. ..." }]
   }

   WebSearchMcp.call (packages/core/src/plugin/websearch/mcp.ts) ignores isError. The Firecrawl adapter can't decode the text as search JSON, so it returns [] and the model sees "No search results found". The status is 200, so random never cools the provider down or tries another one.

   Exa's keyless endpoint behaves the same way once its limit is hit. During a benchmark run I got some HTTP 429s and some HTTP 200 responses whose tool text was "You've hit Exa's free MCP rate limit...". parseResults finds no URL: lines in that text and returns [].

   In my session history, 10 of 39 Firecrawl searches under random ended this way.

   Suggested fix: when a tool result has isError: true, fail with the provider's message. Treat quota codes like KEYLESS_QUOTA_EXHAUSTED as a rate limit so random moves on to the next provider.
5. fihaaade commented on Oct 18, 2026

   

   fihaaade

   on Oct 18, 2026

   Contributor

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   I'll take the empty-results part. Following @carson2222's trace, the plan is to make WebSearchMcp.call fail when the MCP tool result has isError: true, with the provider's message, so the quota error shows up instead of "No search results found". This applies to all MCP-based providers. Whether random should also rotate on that error, and not only on HTTP 429, changes retry behavior, so I'll leave it out of the PR and mention it there.

   ❤️React with ❤️1Reacted by carson
6. u-k-g commented on Oct 26, 2026

   

   u-k-g

   on Oct 26, 2026

   Last edited by u-k-g

   More actions

   +1
   Opencode v2.1.4 was hitting 'No search results found. Please try a different query.' on every websearch. Explicitly pinning websearch provider to Exa fixed it:

     "websearch": {
       "provider": "exa"
     }
   
7. fihaaade

   added a commit that references this issue on Oct 27, 2026

   fix(core): report MCP web search tool errors instead of empty results

   ...

   588c4be