Windsurf Web Search: How to Search the Live Web from Windsurf + AnyCap

Windsurf can't search the live web natively. Here's how to add web search and page crawling to Windsurf using AnyCap — setup, search modes, and real Cascade workflow examples for 2026.

by AnyCap

Cascade Knows Your Codebase. It Doesn't Know What Changed Last Week.

You asked Cascade to implement a Stripe integration. It wrote solid code — using an API method Stripe deprecated six months ago.

Setup: Adding Web Search to Windsurf

Install AnyCap

curl -fsSL https://anycap.ai/install.sh | sh
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
anycap login

Install the Windsurf skill

npx -y skills add anycap-ai/anycap -a windsurf -y

Verify

anycap search --query "test" --max-results 1

Windsurf web search guide hero image

Why Real-Time Web Access Matters for Cascade

Cascade's deep codebase understanding is its core strength. The blind spot is the live web. This gap shows up in three concrete situations:

Third-party API integrations. When Cascade implements a Stripe, Twilio, or any third-party integration, it works from training data. If the API changed after the training cutoff, Cascade will generate code against a deprecated endpoint. Running anycap crawl https://docs.stripe.com/api/payment_intents before the task gives Cascade the current schema.

Dependency version decisions. Cascade picks library versions based on what was current at training time. Running anycap search --prompt "current stable version of Prisma 2026" before implementation ensures the chosen version is still maintained and receives security updates.

Market-facing content. Any Cascade task that produces landing page copy, pricing tables, or competitive comparison sections benefits from a web search that checks current competitor positioning before Cascade writes the first sentence.

Web Search: Two Modes

anycap search --prompt "your research question here"

Mode 2: Raw search results

anycap search --query "your search terms" --max-results 5

Workflow 1: Research Before Implementing

anycap crawl https://docs.stripe.com/api/payment_intents \
  | jq -r '.data.markdown' > stripe-docs.md

anycap search --prompt "Stripe Payment Intents API changes 2026" > recent-changes.md

Workflow 2: Dependency Version Check

anycap search --prompt "current stable version of Prisma ORM 2026" 

anycap crawl https://www.npmjs.com/package/prisma \
  | jq -r '.data.markdown' | head -50

Combining Search with Other Capabilities

anycap search --prompt "best practices for API rate limiting 2026" > research.md

anycap crawl https://docs.github.com/en/rest/using-the-rest-api/rate-limits-for-the-rest-api \
  | jq -r '.data.markdown' >> research.md

anycap image generate \
  --prompt "Technical diagram showing API rate limiting flow: Request, Check limit, Allow or Queue, Response. Clean dark background, minimal labels." \
  --model flux-kontext-max \
  -o rate-limiting-diagram.png

anycap page deploy ./docs --name "API Rate Limiting Guide" --publish

FAQ

Once AnyCap is installed via npx -y skills add anycap-ai/anycap -a windsurf -y, the capability is registered in Cascade's context.

Get Started

# Install AnyCap
curl -fsSL https://anycap.ai/install.sh | sh
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
anycap login

# Install for Windsurf
npx -y skills add anycap-ai/anycap -a windsurf -y

# Test: run your first search
anycap search --prompt "latest AI model releases July 2026"

→ Add web search to Windsurf — install AnyCap free