Hybrid web search

Fresh information from the web without your work leaving your machine.

Updated August 2026

What “hybrid” means

Hybrid is your local model using a cloud web-search API key to look things up. The model still runs on your hardware; the only thing that leaves is the search query it issues, which goes to the search provider you configured.

What travels, what stays

  • Goes to the search provider: the search query and your API key for that provider.
  • Stays on your machine: your documents, your conversation, the model, and everything it writes.

Turning it on

Add your search provider’s API key in the desktop app’s settings. No key configured means no hybrid search — Bridge never ships with a hidden one.

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