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Portkey plugin docs

Tavily Online Search

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Introduction

Portkey is an AI gateway and agent platform for routing, guardrails, observability, and agent integrations. There are two ways to use Tavily in Portkey:
  1. Tavily MCP server — connect Tavily through Portkey’s MCP support to expose Tavily-native tools like tavily_search, tavily_extract, tavily_crawl, tavily_map, and tavily_research.
  2. Tavily Online Search plugin — use Tavily as a Portkey plugin/guardrail to inject fresh web search context into model requests.
Use the MCP server when you want explicit tool calling and full Tavily tool access. Use the plugin when you want Portkey to automatically enrich prompts with live web context inside a config.

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Option 1: Tavily MCP server

Portkey supports the Tavily MCP server, which is the best fit when your agent should call Tavily as a tool. With this setup, you can expose Tavily’s remote tools inside Portkey, including:
  • tavily_search
  • tavily_extract
  • tavily_crawl
  • tavily_map
  • tavily_research
Use this option when you want:
  • Native tool calling
  • Access to multiple Tavily capabilities beyond search
  • Agent workflows that decide when to call Tavily directly
Read the full setup guide here:

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Option 2: Tavily Online Search plugin

Portkey also offers a Tavily Online Search plugin that works through Portkey’s plugin and guardrail system. This option is ideal when you want Portkey to fetch live web information and attach it to a model request automatically, without building a separate tool-calling flow.

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Setup overview

  1. Enable the Tavily plugin in Portkey and connect your Tavily API key.
  2. Create a Tavily guardrail and configure search behavior such as:
    • search depth
    • number of results
    • recency and geography filters
    • domain allow/block lists
    • content enrichment options
  3. Add the guardrail to a Portkey config.
  4. Use that config in your requests so Portkey injects Tavily results automatically.

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How the plugin works

When the Tavily Online Search plugin runs, Portkey enriches the request with Tavily search output before the model answers. This gives your model access to fresh web context while still using Portkey configs and guardrails as the control layer. Use this option when you want:
  • Search augmentation without explicit tool calls
  • Centralized control through Portkey guardrails and configs
  • A simpler way to add live web context to standard model requests
Read the full setup guide here:

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Which one should you use?

If you needRecommended Portkey integration
Full Tavily tool access for agentsTavily MCP server
Search context injected into normal model requestsTavily Online Search plugin
Search, extract, crawl, map, and research toolsTavily MCP server
Guardrail-driven online search inside a Portkey configTavily Online Search plugin

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