Desearch for Developers: Use the API or Become a Data Provider

If you are a developer looking for real-time data, modern search infrastructure, or new ways to monetize your technical work, Desearch AI gives you two clear and practical options.

You can use Desearch as a search API to power your application with fresh, structured data.

Or you can participate directly in the network as a data provider and earn incentives by contributing high-quality search results.

Both paths are designed to be accessible to developers, even if you have no background in crypto, blockchains, or decentralized systems.

This article walks through both options, explains how they work, and helps you decide which path makes sense for you.

What Is Desearch?

Desearch is a decentralized search engine built specifically for developers and AI systems.

Traditional search infrastructure relies on a single company to collect data, decide how it is ranked, and control access to results. Desearch takes a different approach. Instead of one centralized provider, it uses a network of independent nodes that fetch, process, and structure search results.

These nodes compete with each other to deliver the best possible output. The network continuously evaluates their performance and rewards the nodes that provide the most useful results.

Desearch runs on the Bittensor network as Subnet 22, a subnet dedicated entirely to search and information retrieval. You can think of Subnet 22 as a specialized layer within Bittensor that focuses only on solving search problems.

Useful links:

• Desearch website: https://desearch.ai/
• Bittensor network: https://bittensor.com/

Two Ways Developers Use Desearch

There are two main ways developers participate in the Desearch ecosystem:

1. Use Desearch as an API to fetch real-time search results for your product
2. Become a data provider and earn incentives by contributing data to the network

You can choose one path or combine both. There is no lock-in.

Option 1: Use Desearch as a Search API

If your goal is to get search results quickly and integrate them into an application, this is the simplest path.

You do not need to run servers.
You do not need to manage crawlers or scrapers.
You do not need to understand how Subnet 22 works internally.

You send queries to the Desearch API and receive clean, structured results in return. The decentralized network handles data collection, ranking, and validation behind the scenes.

This makes Desearch especially useful for teams that want real-time data without the operational burden of maintaining search infrastructure.

What Can You Build With the API?

Developers use Desearch APIs for a wide range of applications, including:

• AI agents that need up-to-date external information
• Monitoring tools that track websites, brands, or keywords
• Research and analytics platforms
• Market intelligence and lead discovery tools

If your application depends on what is happening right now on the web or social platforms, Desearch provides a reliable data layer without heavy setup.

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Option 2: Become a Data Provider

If you want to go deeper and contribute to the network itself, you can join Desearch as a data provider.

A data provider is a node that retrieves, processes, and structures search results for the network. Instead of consuming data, you are helping produce it.

From a developer perspective, this is best thought of as running a programmable search worker.

What Does a Data Provider Do?

A data provider can perform tasks such as:

• Scraping public websites
• Querying external APIs
• Processing social or web content
• Cleaning and structuring raw data
• Optimizing results for freshness and relevance

You decide how your node works, what data sources it uses, and how it processes information. This flexibility is what allows Desearch to support many different types of search queries.

What Is a Miner?

Within the Bittensor ecosystem, data providers are called miners.

A miner is simply a data provider that competes with other miners to return the best possible search results. Despite the name, this role has nothing to do with traditional crypto mining. There is no guessing, no brute force, and no speculation involved.

It is a technical role focused on data quality, speed, and usefulness.

How Incentives Work

Desearch uses a built-in incentive system to reward quality.

When a query is issued, validators send that same query to multiple miners. Each miner returns its version of the result. Validators then score these responses based on factors such as:

• Relevance
• Freshness
• Completeness
• Consistency

Miners that consistently deliver high-quality results receive higher rewards. Miners that return outdated or low-quality data earn less. Over time, this creates a feedback loop where better data naturally rises to the top.

No single company decides which results win. Performance is measured continuously by the network.

Subnet 22 Token and Network Activity

Subnet 22 has its own incentive economy tied directly to real network usage.

Rewards are distributed based on how useful miners are to the search network, not on speculation or marketing promises. This keeps incentives aligned with real-world value.

You can view live Subnet 22 activity, performance metrics, and participation data here:

https://taostats.io/subnets/22/chart

This dashboard reflects real competition, real demand, and real decentralized search activity.

Open Source and Transparency

Desearch Subnet 22 is fully open source.

Anyone can inspect the code, understand how incentives work, run a node, or build tools on top of the system. There are no hidden ranking algorithms or closed validation rules.

Source code is available here:
https://github.com/desearch-ai/subnet-22

This transparency allows developers to trust the system and contribute meaningfully to its evolution.

Which Path Should You Choose?

The right path depends on your goals.

If you want fast integration and minimal setup, use the API.
If you want to contribute data and earn incentives, become a data provider.

Many developers start by using the API and later experiment with running a miner once they understand the system better.

Both options are open, flexible, and designed with developers in mind.

How to Get Started

To start using Desearch as an API, visit:
https://desearch.ai/

To explore becoming a data provider, begin with the open-source repository and Subnet 22 documentation:
https://github.com/desearch-ai/subnet-22

Desearch is built to be practical, open, and developer-friendly. Whether you want to consume real-time search data or help power the network itself, both paths are available.

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For developers building on the API, testing and iteration matter. The next article explores how API playgrounds help teams prototype, debug, and ship AI agents faster.