> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.scrapebadger.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Instant Answer

> Query the DuckDuckGo Instant Answer API — abstract, definition, direct answer, related topics.

Query the DuckDuckGo Instant Answer API. Best for reference queries — entities,
people, places, definitions and calculations.

**Credits:** 1

<Note>
  Instant Answers are **entity-shaped**: most long-tail search phrases return
  an empty payload. That is DuckDuckGo's behaviour, not an error — use
  [`/search`](/api-reference/endpoint/duckduckgo/search) for general queries.
</Note>

## Authorization

<ParamField header="X-API-Key" type="string" required>
  Your ScrapeBadger API key.
</ParamField>

## Query Parameters

<ParamField query="query" type="string" required>
  Query for the Instant Answer API, e.g. `Nikola Tesla`.
</ParamField>

## Response

<ResponseField name="query" type="string">Echo of the requested query.</ResponseField>
<ResponseField name="abstract" type="string">Abstract, may contain HTML.</ResponseField>
<ResponseField name="abstract_text" type="string">Abstract as plain text.</ResponseField>
<ResponseField name="abstract_source" type="string">e.g. `Wikipedia`.</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="abstract_url" type="string" />

<ResponseField name="heading" type="string">The topic name.</ResponseField>
<ResponseField name="answer" type="string">Direct answer for calculation/conversion queries.</ResponseField>
<ResponseField name="answer_type" type="string">e.g. `calc`, `ip`, `color_code`.</ResponseField>
<ResponseField name="definition" type="string">Dictionary definition, when applicable.</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="definition_source" type="string" />

<ResponseField name="definition_url" type="string" />

<ResponseField name="image" type="string" />

<ResponseField name="type" type="string">Answer category: `A` (article), `D` (disambiguation), `C` (category), `N` (name), `E` (exclusive).</ResponseField>
<ResponseField name="redirect" type="string">Set for `!bang` redirect queries.</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="related_topics" type="Topic[]">
  Related topics.

  <Expandable title="Topic">
    <ResponseField name="text" type="string" />

    <ResponseField name="url" type="string" />

    <ResponseField name="icon" type="string | null" />
  </Expandable>
</ResponseField>

## Example

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  curl "https://scrapebadger.com/v1/duckduckgo/instant?query=Nikola+Tesla" \
    -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"
  ```

  ```javascript Node.js theme={null}
  const res = await fetch(
    "https://scrapebadger.com/v1/duckduckgo/instant?" +
      new URLSearchParams({ query: "Nikola Tesla" }),
    { headers: { "X-API-Key": process.env.SCRAPEBADGER_API_KEY } },
  );
  const data = await res.json();
  ```

  ```python Python theme={null}
  import requests

  res = requests.get(
      "https://scrapebadger.com/v1/duckduckgo/instant",
      headers={"X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
      params={"query": "Nikola Tesla"},
  )
  data = res.json()
  ```
</CodeGroup>

```json Response theme={null}
{
  "query": "Nikola Tesla",
  "abstract": "Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer...",
  "abstract_text": "Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer...",
  "abstract_source": "Wikipedia",
  "abstract_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla",
  "heading": "Nikola Tesla",
  "answer": "",
  "answer_type": "",
  "definition": "",
  "definition_source": "",
  "definition_url": "",
  "image": "/i/ee2712bd.jpg",
  "type": "A",
  "redirect": "",
  "related_topics": [
    {
      "text": "Wardenclyffe Tower - An early experimental wireless transmission station...",
      "url": "https://duckduckgo.com/Wardenclyffe_Tower",
      "icon": null
    }
  ]
}
```