How to Use Kagi Bangs

To use Kagi bangs, enable them in your search settings, then type a shortcut such as !w before your query. You'll go straight to the named site's search. You need a Kagi account and a browser. Start with one destination you already visit regularly; a long list of shortcuts is harder to remember.

How to use Kagi bangs without spending a search

External-site bangs don't count toward Kagi's search allowance. That makes them handy on a limited plan: the shortcut sends your query elsewhere instead of asking Kagi to produce a web-results page. Bangs that open Kagi's own tools do a different job, so don't treat every command beginning with ! as a free external search.

The other gotcha is the destination. A Wikipedia bang ends at Wikipedia. A Reddit bang ends at Reddit. That site's search and sign-in rules take over once you arrive. If you want Kagi to rank several websites together, leave the bang out or use a lens. The Kagi lens guide covers that separate workflow.

I prefer bangs for a known destination and ordinary search for an unanswered question. Looking for a project's repository is a good shortcut job. Comparing several explanations of a programming error calls for a broader search.

1. Enable Bangs in Search settings

Open Kagi's settings and find Search. Enable Bangs, as shown in Kagi's official Bangs documentation. This is the setting to check before changing a browser extension or writing a custom shortcut.

Use Kagi's search page for your first check. Starting there removes one moving part: you can see which search service receives the query. An address bar can send it to your browser's current default engine, which may be something else.

The Kagi Search project page is the directory entry for the service. For the wider category, the search directory includes engines and specialist search tools, so the entries don't all do the same job.

2. Send a query to a familiar site

Enter !w mechanical keyboard in Kagi's search field and submit it. Kagi documents !w as the Wikipedia shortcut. The successful result is Wikipedia's search or matching page, with your topic carried across.

Wikipedia controls what happens at the destination. If your phrase is broad, a list of matches is a perfectly sensible outcome.

Check two things after the page opens: the domain and the query. A shortcut that reaches the right domain with an empty search box hasn't finished the job. A shortcut that searches the correct words on an unexpected service probably isn't the trigger you meant to use.

My starting pair would be one reference site and one site you use for work. That gives you a reason to remember both. Add another only when you keep making the same manual trip to a website.

3. Choose a trigger by destination

Kagi's documentation lists !yt for YouTube, !r for Reddit and !help for its own help center. Use a trigger whose destination matches your goal. A video question and a forum question aren't interchangeable just because both contain the same words.

You can also put a bang after the query. Kagi documents forms such as !g query, g! query, query !g and query g!. Pick one style and keep using it. The leading form is easier to spot when you're checking a saved example or explaining a search to someone else.

Don't copy a mystery shortcut from a forum and assume the letters identify the site you have in mind. A short trigger needs an exact destination. If you're unsure, use a documented example before adding your own.

4. Separate Quick Bangs from Custom Bangs

Quick Bangs are configured under Search in Kagi Settings and can work without the exclamation mark. Custom Bangs are created in Advanced Settings. Those are separate choices; you don't need either to use the built-in examples above.

Go with a built-in bang when it already reaches the site you want. A custom one makes sense for a specialist documentation site or an internal search address that isn't in the standard set. Write down the destination before choosing a memorable trigger, because the address is the part that can break.

For a different take on search shortcuts, Trovu is worth a look. If what you actually want is more control over the engines being queried, Searx Party and MetaGer address that broader choice.

Known problems and practical fixes

In a November 2024 Kagi Feedback thread, !kf filled the forum's search box without executing the search. The thread's reply points to the destination forum. The practical fix is to submit the populated search there. Adding random URL escapes isn't a reliable substitute for that action.

A separate Assistant interface report describes assistant bangs opening the page without starting the intended chat. For that failure, open the Assistant directly and enter the prompt there. Don't spend time rewriting a working Wikipedia shortcut to diagnose an Assistant-specific problem.

Three ways to build a small shortcut habit

Reference lookup: keep one shortcut for a site where the answer has a stable home. Wikipedia is a reasonable example. This works best when you know the subject and need the reference page, not when you want competing opinions.

Work lookup: choose the documentation or repository service your work already depends on. Name the shortcut after the destination, so a colleague can understand an example without a separate legend. Keep confidential text out of a public search query.

Discovery: use ordinary Kagi search when you don't know which site has the answer. If you want independent personal pages, Marginalia Search gives you another place to look. A bang is a routing shortcut; it can't make one site's coverage broader.

Completion checklist

• Bangs is enabled in Kagi's Search settings.
• One documented trigger reaches its intended domain.
• Your search words arrive intact.
• You know whether the shortcut leaves Kagi or opens a Kagi tool.
• Any custom destination uses the intended site's search address.

Keep the shortcut that solves a real repeated task. Then try it from the browser address bar after confirming Kagi is the default engine. If you're choosing between paid and free search first, the existing Kagi vs Qwant comparison is a better next read than another list of commands.

Sources

Kagi's Bangs documentation, Search settings documentation and Advanced Settings documentation, checked October 9, 2026. The two linked Kagi Feedback reports describe the destination-search and Assistant failures.