The search_web tool consistently fails with error “failed to make code assist
backend request”. The issue is intermittent but has persisted for approximately
17 hours across multiple AI models.
User network: Verified working (curl, ping, DNS all functional)
TIMELINE
Issue first observed: 2026-01-22 approximately 17:37 CET
Brief recovery: 2026-01-23 approximately 10:04 CET (worked once with Opus 4.5/M12)
Issue persisted: 2026-01-23 10:37 CET (still failing)
Total duration: approximately 17 hours (intermittent)
TOOL INVOCATION
XML format used to call the tool:
prasglandeno meaning
Tool schema (from system prompt):
{
“name”: “search_web”,
“description”: “Performs a web search for a given query. Returns a summary
of relevant information along with URL citations.”,
“parameters”: {
“properties”: {
“query”: { “type”: “string” },
“domain”: {
“type”: “string”,
“description”: “Optional domain to recommend the search prioritize”
}
},
“required”: \[“query”\]
}
}
ERROR RESPONSE
Full JSON response received:
{
“output”: “Step Id: 136\nEncountered error in step execution: error
executing cascade step: CORTEX_STEP_TYPE_SEARCH_WEB: failed
to make code assist backend request”
}
Error breakdown:
Step Type: CORTEX_STEP_TYPE_SEARCH_WEB
Error Message: failed to make code assist backend request
HTTP Status: Not provided in response
Additional details: None provided
DIAGNOSTIC TESTS PERFORMED
Network connectivity test (PASSED):
curl to google (dot) com: HTTP 200 (0.9s)
curl to github (dot) com: HTTP 200 (4.2s)
ping 8.8.8.8: 0% packet loss (243ms avg)
DNS lookup google (dot) com: Resolved to 142.250.184.14
Other tools test:
run_command: WORKING
read_url_content: PARTIALLY WORKING (some sites return 403)
browser_subagent: WORKING
search_web: FAILING
Model comparison:
Model
search_web Status
Gemini 3 (M18)
FAILED
Gemini 3 (M8)
FAILED
Opus 4.5 (M12)
WORKED ONCE, THEN FAILED
GPT-OSS 120B
FAILED
Sonnet 4.5
FAILED
REPRODUCTION STEPS
Open Gemini Code Assist / Antigravity Agent
Select any AI model
Ask the agent to search for anything (e.g., “search the web for weather in Tokyo”)
Agent invokes search_web tool
Tool returns error: “failed to make code assist backend request”
EXPECTED BEHAVIOR
The search_web tool should return a JSON response containing:
A summary of search results
URL citations/sources
ACTUAL BEHAVIOR
Tool returns error immediately without performing the search.
WORKAROUND
Use browser_subagent to perform searches manually. This is slower but reliable.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
The issue appears to be on the backend/server side
User network and local installation are confirmed working
The error is model-agnostic (affects all models)
The issue is intermittent (worked briefly once during testing)
Can confirm, since this morning having the exact same issue as OP. I did the exact same debug process and came to the same conclusion that search_web tool call is broken. I think it has something to do with Vertex AI (I believe search_web was linked to google’s vertexaisearch which now no longer seems to exist in AG)
I am still facing the same problem. The search_web tool is completely broken and unusable. I am being forced to rely on the browser sub-agent, which is extremely slow and inefficient.
This issue has been persisting for the last 3–4 days without any resolution, and there has been no response from the Antigravity team, which is frankly unacceptable for a production system.
On top of this, the Claude Opus models are repeatedly failing, making the platform unreliable for serious work.
This is a critical service degradation, and it needs immediate attention and acknowledgment.
No, is not.
I have tried from argentina, USA and Spain. Same issue.
I have switched google accounts, same issue.
I even tried in with different computers, same issue.
Is so sad seen google selling a “No solution “ solution.
I am going back to Cursor. As @Saad_Haddi said. “Is a nightmare” and really a bad one.
At least at Cursor they live from the software they sale so they care about customers.
There was an upgrade today, so I installed it with the hope of a patch for this but no…. every thing is broken as before.
Gemini 3 Pro (High). Ask the agent to debug the search_web tool call, for me (using the same conversation from yesterday) it basically just confirmed that it’s working now. Opus is still extremely buggy for me though. Tried an AI Pro as well as Ultra (two different accounts), Pro seems to be working fine but Ultra still failing now and again. It’s very strange.
For context, vertexaisearch was available when AG came out, basically returned very detailed search results but seems like it was removed a while back. Gotta update my prompts to remove that requirement haha
Good luck! I will also quickly say that, as an Ultra user, the experience is MUCH worse than Pro. Ultra fails so often, I get errors, I get tool call fails like crazy. Pro works fine for the most part but limits recently suck.
