Quickstart: Send a search request to the Bing Entity Search REST API using Node.js

Warning

On October 30, 2020, the Bing Search APIs moved from Azure AI services to Bing Search Services. This documentation is provided for reference only. For updated documentation, see the Bing search API documentation. For instructions on creating new Azure resources for Bing search, see Create a Bing Search resource through the Azure Marketplace.

Use this quickstart to make your first call to the Bing Entity Search API and view the JSON response. This simple JavaScript application sends a news search query to the API, and displays the response. The source code for this sample is available on GitHub.

Although this application is written in JavaScript, the API is a RESTful Web service compatible with most programming languages.

Prerequisites

• The latest version of Node.js.

• The JavaScript Request Library.

Create an Azure resource

Start using the Bing Entity Search API by creating one of the following Azure resources.

Bing Entity Search resource

• Available through the Azure portal until you delete the resource.
• Use the free pricing tier to try the service, and upgrade later to a paid tier for production.
• Bing Entity Search is also offered in paid tiers of the Bing Search v7 resource.

Multi-Service resource

• Available through the Azure portal until you delete the resource.
• Use the same key and endpoint for your applications, across multiple Azure AI services.

Create and initialize the application

1. Create a new JavaScript file in your favorite IDE or editor, and set the strictness and HTTPS requirements.

   'use strict';
   let https = require ('https');
   

2. Create variables for the API endpoint, your subscription key, and search query. You can use the global endpoint in the following code, or use the custom subdomain endpoint displayed in the Azure portal for your resource.

   let subscriptionKey = 'ENTER YOUR KEY HERE';
   let host = 'api.bing.microsoft.com';
   let path = '/v7.0/search';
   
   let mkt = 'en-US';
   let q = 'italian restaurant near me';
   

3. Append your market and query parameters to a string called query. Be sure to url-encode your query with encodeURI().

   let query = '?mkt=' + mkt + '&q=' + encodeURI(q);
   

Handle and parse the response

1. Define a function named response_handler() that takes an HTTP call, response, as a parameter.

2. Within this function, define a variable to contain the body of the JSON response.

   let response_handler = function (response) {
       let body = '';
   };
   

3. Store the body of the response when the data flag is called.

   response.on('data', function (d) {
       body += d;
   });
   

4. When an end flag is signaled, parse the JSON, and print it.

   response.on ('end', function () {
   let json = JSON.stringify(JSON.parse(body), null, '  ');
   console.log (json);
   });
   

Send a request

1. Create a function called Search() to send a search request. In it, perform the following steps:

2. Within this function, create a JSON object containing your request parameters. Use Get for the method, and add your host and path information. Add your subscription key to the Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key header.

3. Use https.request() to send the request with the response handler created previously, and your search parameters.

   let Search = function () {
    let request_params = {
        method : 'GET',
        hostname : host,
        path : path + query,
        headers : {
            'Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key' : subscriptionKey,
        }
    };
   
    let req = https.request (request_params, response_handler);
    req.end ();
   }
   

4. Call the Search() function.

Example JSON response

A successful response is returned in JSON, as shown in the following example:

{
  "_type": "SearchResponse",
  "queryContext": {
    "originalQuery": "italian restaurant near me",
    "askUserForLocation": true
  },
  "places": {
    "value": [
      {
        "_type": "LocalBusiness",
        "webSearchUrl": "https://www.bing.com/search?q=sinful+bakery&filters=local...",
        "name": "Liberty's Delightful Sinful Bakery & Cafe",
        "url": "https://www.contoso.com/",
        "entityPresentationInfo": {
          "entityScenario": "ListItem",
          "entityTypeHints": [
            "Place",
            "LocalBusiness"
          ]
        },
        "address": {
          "addressLocality": "Seattle",
          "addressRegion": "WA",
          "postalCode": "98112",
          "addressCountry": "US",
          "neighborhood": "Madison Park"
        },
        "telephone": "(800) 555-1212"
      },

      . . .
      {
        "_type": "Restaurant",
        "webSearchUrl": "https://www.bing.com/search?q=Pickles+and+Preserves...",
        "name": "Munson's Pickles and Preserves Farm",
        "url": "https://www.princi.com/",
        "entityPresentationInfo": {
          "entityScenario": "ListItem",
          "entityTypeHints": [
            "Place",
            "LocalBusiness",
            "Restaurant"
          ]
        },
        "address": {
          "addressLocality": "Seattle",
          "addressRegion": "WA",
          "postalCode": "98101",
          "addressCountry": "US",
          "neighborhood": "Capitol Hill"
        },
        "telephone": "(800) 555-1212"
      },
      
      . . .
    ]
  }
}

Next steps

Build a single-page web app

• What is the Bing Entity Search API?
• Bing Entity Search API reference.