Manage search response size

Search responses can contain many results and supporting sections. Use response_format, mode, and result_limit to control what the tool returns to the model.

Three constructor options work together:

Option	What it controls	Default
response_format	Whether the response is Markdown or JSON	SearchResultFormat.MARKDOWN
mode	Which response sections and fields are kept	SearchResultMode.COMPACT
result_limit	Maximum items kept in each result list	Tool-specific

Markdown is the default because headings, tables, and links are concise and directly readable by a model. Choose SearchResultFormat.JSON when application code needs structured fields. The same compact/full and result-limit controls apply to both formats.

Start with compact mode

Compact mode is the default:

from serpapi_search_tools import web_search

search = web_search()

It keeps the main result and answer sections while omitting metadata, request parameters, pagination, filters, and other supporting sections. It does not summarize, rewrite, or rank results.

Set the number of results separately

result_limit applies in both compact and full mode:

from serpapi_search_tools import SearchResultMode, web_search

compact_search = web_search(result_limit=5)
full_search = web_search(
    mode=SearchResultMode.FULL,
    result_limit=5,
)

Both tools keep at most five items in each supported result list or Markdown table. The full tool also keeps the response sections and fields omitted by compact mode.

The option is application configuration. It is not visible to the model and does not change the number of results requested from SerpApi.

Understand per-list limits

The limit applies independently when a response contains more than one result list:

• Google Flights keeps up to the limit from both best_flights and other_flights, or from both corresponding Markdown tables.
• YouTube keeps up to the limit from videos, shorts, channels, playlists, movies, and categories.
• Google Light applies it to organic results, related questions, related searches, and top stories.

Nested data such as flight legs, layovers, hotel amenities, and product offers is not shortened.

An exact Google Maps place is a single object rather than a result list. It is retained in both compact formats and is not row-limited.

Default result limits

Each tool has a default suited to its result type:

Tool	Default result_limit
web_search	10
news_search	20
maps_search	10
images_search	50
shopping_search	60
videos_search	10
hotels_search	20
flights_search	10 per flight list
travel_explore_search	50

These are maximums. If SerpApi returns fewer results, the tool returns the available results.

Keep every returned result

Set result_limit=None to keep all returned results:

from serpapi_search_tools import SearchResultMode, images_search

all_compact_images = images_search(result_limit=None)

full_images_response = images_search(
    mode=SearchResultMode.FULL,
    result_limit=None,
)

The first tool keeps every image result while still omitting the supporting sections removed by compact mode. The second keeps all response sections, fields, and returned results.

Choose a practical budget

Start with the tool default. Lower it when results contain long snippets or when several search tools can run in one turn:

from serpapi_search_tools import images_search, news_search, web_search

tools = [
    web_search(result_limit=5),
    news_search(result_limit=5),
    images_search(result_limit=20),
]

Raise a limit when the task benefits from more choices, such as image search, product comparison, or destination discovery. Create separately named tool instances when agent tasks need different limits.

Continue with Common configuration for constructor options or Debug search responses when application code needs to inspect full provider data.