GPT WORLD / INDEPENDENT CODEX FIELD MANUAL Source review · 2026-07-31

Retrospective edition / TOOLS

Treat web search as cited retrieval

Search results are volatile evidence: preserve source URLs, distinguish retrieval time from event time, and show citations near claims.

01 / DECIDE

Architecture decision

Use it for current public information that the model should not answer from static training knowledge alone.

Search results are volatile evidence: preserve source URLs, distinguish retrieval time from event time, and show citations near claims. Map input, output, state, and side effects as one observable path before deciding which layer owns treat web search as cited retrieval.

02 / BUILD

Three-step implementation

  1. 01

    Frame the contract

    Write down the caller, data classification, success condition, timeout, cancellation, and ownership. Use it for current public information that the model should not answer from static training knowledge alone.

  2. 02

    Build one narrow path

    Implement one end-to-end path with request correlation, typed state, and reversible failure handling. Search results are volatile evidence: preserve source URLs, distinguish retrieval time from event time, and show citations near claims.

  3. 03

    Prove the outcome

    Turn acceptance into a repeatable fixture, contract test, or browser test. Evaluation checks citation coverage, source quality, date interpretation, contradiction handling, and a no-source outcome.

03 / BOUND

Production boundary

Search is not permission to collect personal data, bypass paywalls, or treat an unverified page as authoritative.

04 / PROVE

Acceptance evidence

Evaluation checks citation coverage, source quality, date interpretation, contradiction handling, and a no-source outcome.

SOURCE / HTTP

Reproducible source probe

curl -fsSI 'https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/tools' | sed -n '1,5p'

PRIMARY / OFFICIAL

Official OpenAI sources

Sources checked · 2026-08-10

  1. 01Using tools