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The search_depth parameter controls how Snipex’s extraction engine approaches each page. It’s a trade-off between speed, coverage, and confidence.

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Modes

precise

Focuses on the highest-confidence matches. Returns fewer snippets but with tighter relevance. Fastest mode.

balanced

The default. A good mix of speed, coverage, and confidence — suitable for most use cases.

exhaustive

Maximises the number of snippets extracted per page. Best when you need comprehensive coverage at the cost of slightly more latency.

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When to use each

Use caseRecommended depth
Quick answer / fact lookupprecise
General-purpose RAG pipelinebalanced
Research / comprehensive coverageexhaustive
Real-time UX (latency-sensitive)precise
Offline batch processingexhaustive

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Example

{
  "query": "how does CRISPR gene editing work",
  "search_depth": "exhaustive",
  "num_results": 5
}

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Effect on max_snippets_per_result

search_depth works in conjunction with max_snippets_per_result (default: 3, max: 5). In exhaustive mode, the engine will try harder to find up to the maximum number of snippets per page. In precise mode, it may return fewer snippets than the maximum if confidence thresholds aren’t met.