Crawler / Search / Images

Find web images and the pages they come from.

Use Image Search to find visual candidates from a text query and follow available links back to their source pages. Send a text query with channel=images. Results can include image and thumbnail URLs plus source-page links; this is not reverse-image search or license verification.

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Direct answer

What is an image search API?

An Image Search API accepts a text query and returns visual candidates with image and thumbnail URLs, titles, and source-page references when available. Open the source page to inspect context or rights information.

Image URLsSource links when availableVisual candidatesMedia enrichment

Integration fit

Use image search to discover visual sources, not just assets

Review available source links before using an image. Crawl a source page for surrounding context, and verify usage rights outside the search result.

Search before crawl

Find candidates before spending crawl work

Search keeps agents from crawling blindly. Start from a query, pick the right channel, and return normalized result collections that can become crawl targets, review queues, or research inputs. Use the search hub to compare channels before choosing a specific vertical.

Image URLsSource links when availableVisual candidatesMedia enrichment

curl -X POST "https://api.anycrawler.com/v1/search" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ANYCRAWLER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "channel": "images",
    "query": "browser automation dashboard screenshot",
    "country": "us",
    "page": 1,
    "results_per_page": 10
  }'

Use the unified /v1/search endpoint and select the search type with the channel field.

Use cases

Image Search API with Image & Source URLs use cases

Review available source links before using an image. Crawl a source page for surrounding context, and verify usage rights outside the search result.

Use

Collect visual references

Find product UI, diagrams, screenshots, or media examples before opening source pages for deeper review.

Use

Enrich research datasets

Attach image candidates and source pages to a topic graph, lead list, or competitive intelligence workflow.

Use

Route images back to pages

Use source links behind image results to run fetch, render, or screenshot when provenance matters.

How it works

Query, normalize, route the strongest results

The gateway handles request validation, account checks, search provider routing, response normalization, and credit settlement.

Submit a query

Send a POST request with query, channel=images, and optional localization or pagination fields.

AnyCrawler routes the search

The gateway validates your API key, checks credits, and sends the request to the selected search collection.

Results are normalized

Upstream results are returned in a predictable response envelope with channel, query, nested search parameters, status, and credits.

You choose the next step

Use result links as crawl targets, visual review candidates, research inputs, or source lists for a larger agent workflow.

{
  "ok": true,
  "query": "browser automation dashboard screenshot",
  "credits_used": 2,
  "status_code": 200,
  "results": {
    "search_parameters": {
      "channel": "images",
      "country": "us",
      "page": 1,
      "query": "browser automation dashboard screenshot",
      "results_per_page": 10
    },
    "images": [
      {
        "title": "Browser automation dashboard screenshot",
        "image_url": "https://example.com/images/browser-dashboard.png",
        "thumbnail_url": "https://example.com/images/browser-dashboard-thumb.png",
        "source": "Example Docs",
        "link": "https://example.com/docs/browser-dashboard"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Result collections vary by channel, but the public response envelope stays consistent.

What you get

Search results that can become crawl targets

The image search response is built for routing. Use snippets for triage, links for follow-up crawl requests, and status and credit fields for production observability.

Image candidates for media review workflows
Source references for provenance checks
Visual result metadata for enrichment
Follow-up links for screenshot or page crawl requests

Request fields

One search endpoint, explicit channel selection

The stable public contract focuses on the fields below. Undocumented passthrough fields are not part of new integrations.

Field	Type	Required	Notes
`channel`	"page", "images", "news", "videos", or "scholar"	Yes	Selects the search vertical on the unified public search endpoint.
`query`	string	Yes	A non-empty search query, up to 512 characters.
`country`	string or null	No	Optional localization hint for the upstream provider, not a strict country filter; up to 128 characters.
`page`	integer	No	Logical result page from 1 to 100. Defaults to 1 and combines with results_per_page.
`results_per_page`	integer	No	Maximum results from 1 to 100. Defaults to 10; consecutive 10-result provider pages stop early on a short page.

Response fields

Fields your integration can rely on

AnyCrawler keeps the search envelope consistent while the result collection reflects the selected channel.

Field	Meaning
`ok`	Whether the gateway completed the search successfully.
`query`	The query submitted in the request.
`credits_used`	Credits settled at 2 per primary result actually returned.
`status_code`	The upstream search provider status code returned through the gateway.
`results.search_parameters.channel`	The search vertical used for the request.
`results.search_parameters.country`	The country hint used for localized search results.
`results.search_parameters.query`	The query mirrored inside the normalized search parameters.
`results.search_parameters.page`	The search result page returned.
`results.search_parameters.results_per_page`	The requested maximum number of primary results.
`results.images`	Image results with visual candidates and source references for media workflows.
`results.knowledge_graph / answer_box / people_also_ask / related_searches`	Optional normalized provider collections when they are available for the query.
`error_code / error_message / retryable`	Failure details returned when ok is false; retryable indicates whether retrying can help.

const response = await fetch("https://api.anycrawler.com/v1/search", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.ANYCRAWLER_API_KEY}`,
    "content-type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    channel: "images",
    query: "browser automation dashboard screenshot",
    country: "us",
    page: 1,
    results_per_page: 10,
  }),
});

const data = await response.json();
console.log(data.results);

Change channel to switch between page, images, news, videos, and scholar search.

Search vs crawl

Use image search to discover visual sources, not just assets

Review available source links before using an image. Crawl a source page for surrounding context, and verify usage rights outside the search result. Where a result links to an accessible web page, fetch or render can extract that page's Markdown and metadata. Screenshot is a separate request for visual evidence; page crawling does not download media or bypass source access restrictions.

API	Best for	Returns
`search`	Finding candidate pages, sources, media, news, videos, or papers	Search result collections
`fetch`	Fast, low-cost extraction when useful content is already in HTML	Markdown and page fields
`render`	JavaScript-loaded pages that need browser execution	Rendered Markdown and page fields
`screenshot`	A separate visual record of a selected public page	Stored image fields

Errors

Status codes are explicit enough for production handling

Use response status plus error_code and request headers to route retries, credit issues, authentication problems, and upstream provider failures.

200Search completed and normalized.

400Invalid JSON, missing channel, missing query, or unsupported field value.

401Missing, invalid, or revoked API key.

402Account does not have enough credits.

403Account inactive.

409Gateway could not reserve account capacity; retry the request.

413Request body exceeds the 256 KiB public gateway limit.

429Rate limit reached.

502Upstream provider connection failed or returned an unexpected response.

503Database or search provider is not configured.

504Search provider or gateway timed out.

Billing

Predictable result-count pricing

Search reserves for the requested maximum, then settles only the primary results actually returned and refunds unused reserved credits.

Pricing

Search result pricing

Search settles at 2 credits per primary result actually returned. A request for 10 results costs 20 credits if all 10 return; a short result list costs less. Fetching or rendering a selected page is billed separately.

See included credits and request limits on thefull pricing page.

FAQ

Common image search questions

Short answers for teams using search to choose better crawl targets.

Can I use the same endpoint for other search types?

Yes. POST to /v1/search and change the channel field to page, images, news, videos, or scholar. Each channel also has this dedicated theme page for integration planning.

How do search results fit with page crawling?

Use search to find candidate URLs, then call fetch or render on accessible web pages for Markdown, metadata, or links. Screenshot is a separate request when visual evidence is needed.

Is AnyCrawler Image Search a reverse image search API?

No. The current API is query-based: send text with channel=images to discover relevant web images. It does not accept an uploaded image as the search input.

What does the image search response include?

The normalized images collection can include an image URL, thumbnail URL, title, source name, and source-page link. Use the source page for context or a follow-up crawl when provenance matters.