# API Parameters

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**IMPORTANT!** **The `engine` parameter should always be set to `duckduckgo` for this API!**
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Being part of the SERP API suite, the DuckDuckGo engine uses `query parameters` for customizing results. Below is a full list of supported parameters that you may pass to the [base URL](https://docs.webscrapingapi.com/duckduckgo-search-api/getting-started/access-the-api) in order to get the most suited results from DuckDuckGo:

<table><thead><tr><th width="155">Parameter</th><th width="101" align="center">Type</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code>api_key</code> <mark style="color:red;background-color:red;">Required</mark> </td><td align="center"><code>string</code></td><td><a href="access-the-api">The API key</a> required to authorize requests.</td></tr><tr><td><code>engine</code><br> <mark style="color:red;background-color:red;">Required</mark> </td><td align="center"><code>string</code></td><td>The engine of the SERP API. Needs to be set to <strong><code>duckduckgo</code></strong> for requests to DuckDuckGo.</td></tr><tr><td><code>q</code><br> <mark style="color:red;background-color:red;">Required</mark> </td><td align="center"><code>string</code></td><td>The terms that you are searching for (the query).m</td></tr><tr><td><code>kl</code></td><td align="center"><code>string</code></td><td>Country and language code used to define the country and language of search. You can find the full list <a href="api-parameters/geo-parameter-options-list">here</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><code>kad</code></td><td align="center"><code>string</code></td><td>Language of the search page interface: buttons, menu. You can find a list with all the available markets <a href="api-parameters/geo-parameter-options-list-1">here</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><code>kp</code></td><td align="center"><code>int</code></td><td><p>Removes adult content from search results. Available values are:</p><p><code>1</code> - Turn on safe search<br><code>-1</code> - Moderate search content<br><code>-2</code> - Turn off safe search</p></td></tr><tr><td><code>df</code></td><td align="center"><code>string</code></td><td>Time range to search. Available values are:<br><code>d</code> - Past 2 weeks<br><code>w</code> - Past month<br><code>m</code> - Past 3 months<br><code>w</code> - Past 6 months</td></tr></tbody></table>