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

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

More Information

• GitHub: https://github.com/jarun/ddgr
• DuckDuckGo: https://duckduckgo.com
• Bangs: https://duckduckgo.com/bang