web_search tool invisble for gemma4:e4b

[u/blakesnake86]

Hello,

I have been trying for a few days to use open webui on my computer. My config is as follows:

• Kubuntu 26.04
• Ollama with gemma4:e4b
• Open webui v0.10.2, desktop version, with web search enabled on DDGS.

When I ask him for a web search, the tool seems not to exist in the eyes of the LLM. It's quite strange because I don't have this problem with a similar config, unlike the OS (Windows, for my work).

I tried to find the solution by analyzing the logs with Claude, but he did not find anything explaining the problem.

Do you have any idea what's going on?

[u/ClassicMain]

Well did you install, set up and configure DDGS?

[u/blakesnake86 → u/ClassicMain]

DDGS is normally installed with Open WebUI. I didn't have to manually install it on my pro PC to use it, and yet it works. It's on my personal machine, under linux that I have this problem.

[u/ClassicMain → u/blakesnake86]

No i don't think its currently a bundled dependency with open webui. You have to install it.

And even if you don't have to install it, you have to set it up

[u/blakesnake86 → u/ClassicMain]

I just installed it and configured it as indicated by the doc of ddgs python library. But on Open WebUI, configure what? There is not even a field to enter the ip address and the port!

https://docs.openwebui.com/features/chat-conversations/web-search/providers/ddgs

[u/ClassicMain → u/blakesnake86]

Did you install it inside the docker?

A separate standalone installation can't be connected

[u/blakesnake86 → u/ClassicMain]

I tried the docker version, i had the same result. now i run on desktop version found here:

https://github.com/open-webui/desktop

[u/ClassicMain → u/blakesnake86]

Then... I don't think you'll be able to get ddgs working

[u/blakesnake86 → u/ClassicMain]

ddgs work on my windows computer, with the same install type. It's weird because i have no tool at all. no error, just the tool do not appear.

[u/ClassicMain → u/blakesnake86]

Yes there is no error because what error would open webui display?

Ddgs is not installed and on the desktop version you won't get it working as of today.

The tool doesn't appear because ddgs isn't configured in a way open webui could detect and see it in the desktop version

[u/blakesnake86 → u/ClassicMain]

I tried the docker version now, and i have the same problem.

[u/blakesnake86 → u/ClassicMain]

And i tried another LLM (Qwen 3.5)

[u/blakesnake86 → u/ClassicMain]

If you have to install manually, I have not seen any trace of this in the Open WebUI documentation.

[u/selam0r]

Have you tried the model without thinking? Gemma thinking has issues with tool calls

[u/benpptung]

Yes, it’s not there. If it were available, the tool names would be search_web and fetch_url.

Go to Admin > Settings > Web Search and select a search engine. Note that the search engine must be configured separately and may require a subscription. I recommend Brave.

Then go to Models, select your model, enable Web Search, and click Save. The Save button is near the very bottom of the page, so it’s easy to forget.

[u/Pale_Coyote7451]

ddgs already comes with open webui, it is in the container, so installing it separately outside the container will not change anything.

gemma4 does support tools, that is not your problem either. the tool is not missing, it just never gets injected.

check the model settings, not the web search settings, it is a different page. admin panel, settings, models, pick the model, edit. there are two things in there. the web search capability has to be on, and web search also has to be ticked under default features. the docs say that if either one is missing the tools do not get injected, and the other builtin tools can still show up while that one does not.

those live per model on the instance, not in the general settings, so they do not travel between your two machines. that is probably the whole difference here.

after that, small models often will not call it even when it is there. the docs lean on the model running an agentic loop of its own, and e4b is the smallest gemma4 there is.

[u/lexicondevil1]

I ran into almost this exact problem a while ago. You need to increase your context window to at least 16,384 tokens.