ddgr - DuckDuckGo from the Terminal

ddgr is a command-line utility to search DuckDuckGo from the terminal. It provides fast, privacy-focused web searches without opening a browser.

Installation

Via Snap (recommended for Ubuntu):

sudo snap install ddgr

Via PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:twodopeshaggy/jarun
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ddgr

From source:

git clone https://github.com/jarun/ddgr.git
cd ddgr
sudo make install

Dependencies: Python 3.8 or later

Basic Usage

Simple search (non-interactive):

snap run ddgr "search query" --np

Search with specific number of results:

snap run ddgr "search query" --num 5 --np

Search with time limit:

snap run ddgr "query" --time w --np    # past week
snap run ddgr "query" --time m --np    # past month
snap run ddgr "query" --time y --np    # past year

Site-specific search:

snap run ddgr "query" --site github.com --np

JSON output:

snap run ddgr "query" --json --np

Open first result in browser:

snap run ddgr "query" --ducky

Interactive Mode

Run without --np to enter interactive mode:

snap run ddgr "search query"

Interactive commands:

1, 2, 3... → open result in browser
n → next page of results
p → previous page of results
q or Ctrl+D → quit
? → show help

Advanced Options

Option	Description
`-n N`, `--num N`	Show N results per page (0-25, default 10)
`-r REG`, `--reg REG`	Region-specific search (e.g., 'us-en', 'uk-en')
`-t SPAN`, `--time SPAN`	Time limit: d (day), w (week), m (month), y (year)
`-w SITE`, `--site SITE`	Search specific site
`-x`, `--expand`	Show complete URLs
`--json`	Output in JSON format
`--ducky`	Open first result in browser
`--np`, `--noprompt`	Non-interactive mode
`--unsafe`	Disable safe search

DuckDuckGo Bangs

Use DuckDuckGo bangs to search specific sites:

snap run ddgr "!w Linux" --np        # Wikipedia search
snap run ddgr "!yt music" --np       # YouTube search
snap run ddgr "!gh python" --np      # GitHub search
snap run ddgr "!a books" --np        # Amazon search

Make it Easier with an Alias

Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:

alias ddg='snap run ddgr'

Then use:

ddg "search query" --np

Privacy Features

No user tracking or profiling
Do Not Track enabled by default
Works over Tor network (with proxy)
HTTPS proxy support
No stored search history

Examples

Search for tech news:

snap run ddgr "latest AI news 2025" --num 5 --np

Find Ubuntu tutorials:

snap run ddgr "Ubuntu tutorial" --site askubuntu.com --np

Search recent Python documentation:

snap run ddgr "Python 3.12 features" --time m --np

Use bang to search Wikipedia:

snap run ddgr "!w OpenClaw" --np

Troubleshooting

Command not found:

Ensure ddgr is installed via snap: sudo snap install ddgr
Use full command: snap run ddgr instead of just ddgr

No results:

Check internet connection
Try without --np to see if interactive mode works
Verify DuckDuckGo is accessible in your region

Slow response:

DuckDuckGo HTML interface can be slower than main site
Use --time to limit results by time for faster queries

Ddg