Web Search Plus is a Hermes plugin that adds two tools to an agent: websearchplus searches the web and returns sources, and webextractplus reads URLs you already have and returns cleaned page text. It connects several search and extraction services behind one interface, returns the original links, and can move to another service when one fails.
It supports 15 search and 9 extraction providers, and one configured provider is enough to start: a single search-capable key or local endpoint enables the search tool, and one extraction-capable key or endpoint enables the extract tool. Additional providers widen automatic routing, which picks a provider per query class and falls back on a missing key, provider error, or empty result. An optional quality report shows which provider ran, what failed, and how long it took.
Providers include Tavily, Exa, Linkup, Firecrawl, You.com, Keenable, Serper, and Parallel for search and extraction. A self-hosted preset routes automatic search through your own SearXNG instance with keyless Keenable, and automatic extraction through Keenable's public fetch tier, which is rate-limited and carries no service-level agreement. Octen (through Monid) and TinyFish are explicit-only source-search providers that stay outside automatic routing and fallback unless you enable them deliberately.
Version 4.0 replaced the Hound integration with DonSeTch, an independently installed local MCP program for source search, fetching, crawling, and PDF-oriented retrieval; the plugin connects to it over stdio through DONSETCHBIN and does not bundle or redistribute it. Release 4.0.3 targets DonSeTch 3.2.1, and older 2.x binaries report incompatiblemajor.
Installation goes through the Hermes plugin manager, followed by a setup helper that reports provider readiness and writes keys into the active Hermes environment file. The core plugin needs Python 3.10 or newer. Provider privacy terms differ — some standard terms permit training on submitted data — and a maintained privacy and terms matrix documents the differences per provider.
Features
- Two tools: websearchplus for source discovery and webextractplus for clean page content
- Automatic routing: a provider is chosen per query class, with fallback to the next option on failure or empty results
- Start with one key: unconfigured providers are skipped; more providers only widen routing
- Quality reports: optional per-call detail on which provider ran, what failed, and timing
- Self-hosted profile: a preset that uses your SearXNG instance and keyless Keenable with no commercial API key
- Explicit-only providers: Octen via Monid and TinyFish are callable by name but excluded from automatic routing
- Local DonSeTch bridge: a separately installed stdio MCP process for search and markdown extraction, reusing one session per extract call
- Safety defaults: private and internal addresses are blocked, and long pages are cleaned and shortened before they reach the agent
- Provider SDK: add a provider as a single module under providers.d
