Published 2026-02-12.
Time to read: 1 minutes.

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This article describes how to set up web search for Claude Code when using MiniMax M2 as the backend model. This works when using Mini-Agent or Claude Code CLI with MiniMax M2.

The Problem

Claude Code CLI has a built-in WebSearch tool that uses Anthropic's backend services. When using MiniMax via the Anthropic-compatible API shim (https://api.minimax.io/anthropic), the web search capability does not work because MiniMax's API does not expose this functionality.

Attempting to use WebSearch with MiniMax results in:

API Error: 400 {"type":"error","error":{"type":"invalid_request_error",
"message":"invalid params, function name or parameters is empty"}}

The Solution

Use ddgr (DuckDuckGo Results in JSON) - a command-line interface to DuckDuckGo. It provides JSON output without requiring an API key, and it does not use web scraping.

Installation

Install ddgr using uv:

Shell

$ uv pip install ddgr

Now add the following to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md:

~/.claude/CLAUDE.md

# Web Search with MiniMax
- When using MiniMax as the AI backend, the built-in `WebSearch` tool does NOT work
- Use `ddgr --json "query"` via Bash instead: `ddgr --json "search query"`
- Do NOT use the WebSearch tool with MiniMax - it will fail with an API error

Usage

Usage is transparent.

Advantages

• No API key required - DuckDuckGo provides free JSON API
• No script required
• No web scraping - Uses official DuckDuckGo instant answer API
• No Python dependency - Pure bash wrapper around ddgr
• Works with MiniMax - Bypasses the broken Anthropic API shim
• Simple - No MCP server to maintain

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