GIF Search (Tenor API)

Search and download GIFs directly via the Tenor API using curl. No extra tools needed.

When to use

Useful for finding reaction GIFs, creating visual content, and sending GIFs in chat.

Setup

Set your Tenor API key in your environment (add to ${HERMES_HOME:-~/.hermes}/.env):

TENOR_API_KEY=your_key_here

Get a free API key at https://developers.google.com/tenor/guides/quickstart — the Google Cloud Console Tenor API key is free and has generous rate limits.

Prerequisites

• curl and jq (both standard on macOS/Linux)
• TENOR_API_KEY environment variable

Search for GIFs

# Search and get GIF URLs
curl -s "https://tenor.googleapis.com/v2/search?q=thumbs+up&limit=5&key=${TENOR_API_KEY}" | jq -r '.results[].media_formats.gif.url'

# Get smaller/preview versions
curl -s "https://tenor.googleapis.com/v2/search?q=nice+work&limit=3&key=${TENOR_API_KEY}" | jq -r '.results[].media_formats.tinygif.url'

Download a GIF

# Search and download the top result
URL=$(curl -s "https://tenor.googleapis.com/v2/search?q=celebration&limit=1&key=${TENOR_API_KEY}" | jq -r '.results[0].media_formats.gif.url')
curl -sL "$URL" -o celebration.gif

Get Full Metadata

curl -s "https://tenor.googleapis.com/v2/search?q=cat&limit=3&key=${TENOR_API_KEY}" | jq '.results[] | {title: .title, url: .media_formats.gif.url, preview: .media_formats.tinygif.url, dimensions: .media_formats.gif.dims}'

API Parameters

Parameter	Description
q	Search query (URL-encode spaces as +)
limit	Max results (1-50, default 20)
key	API key (from $TENOR_API_KEY env var)
media_filter	Filter formats: gif, tinygif, mp4, tinymp4, webm
contentfilter	Safety: off, low, medium, high
locale	Language: en_US, es, fr, etc.

Available Media Formats

Each result has multiple formats under .media_formats:

Format	Use case
gif	Full quality GIF
tinygif	Small preview GIF
mp4	Video version (smaller file size)
tinymp4	Small preview video
webm	WebM video
nanogif	Tiny thumbnail

Notes

• URL-encode the query: spaces as +, special chars as %XX
• For sending in chat, tinygif URLs are lighter weight
• GIF URLs can be used directly in markdown: ![alt](url)