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Web search lets the model pull fresh information from the web into its answer. Nito decides whether a search is warranted, runs it, folds the results into the answer, and reports what it did. This page covers how to turn it on, the options you can pass, and a couple of worked examples. Web search is controlled by the --web-search flag on your ask command. It takes one of three values: The default is on, so search is available out of the box. Set --web-search off when you want the model to answer purely from what it already knows.
You can also run this from your terminal with nito ask --web-search on "Your question here". See Ask and Fusion from the terminal.

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Worked Example

Ask for something that only a current source can answer, and request a citation:
Nito searches the web, names the current LTS version with its release date, and includes source links so you can verify the answer. The information is fresh and cited, not recalled from training data.

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Letting Nito Decide

With --web-search auto, Nito judges each prompt and only searches when the question actually needs fresh information. Stable general knowledge is answered directly; a question about something recent triggers a search.

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Notes

  • Turning search on does not guarantee a search runs. Nito skips it for prompts that do not benefit (pure text transforms, creative writing, stable facts) so you are not paying for a search you did not need.
  • Web search works with ask and inside a session, so follow-up questions can pull fresh information too.
  • In a Fusion, all participants share the same web setting.
  • To read one specific page you already have a link for, use Web Fetch instead.

Server-Side Tools

How Nito’s built-in tools work in general.

Web Fetch

Read a specific URL instead of searching.

How Nito Works

The fundamentals behind ask and Fusion.