Did You Mean

Overview

Did You Mean sends your `query` to a Gemini language model with an instruction to act as a JSON API that returns three "did you mean" alternatives in the style of a search engine, with spellings corrected and without shortening the query. The model is constrained to a JSON schema containing a single array of strings, and that array is returned as `didYouMean`. `query` echoes your input unchanged.

The model runs with a sampling temperature of 0.7, so repeated calls with the same query can produce different wording or ordering. Three suggestions are requested, but the count is not enforced in code; treat `didYouMean` as a list of zero or more strings rather than a fixed-length array. If the model returns nothing, `didYouMean` is an empty array. Suggestions are always written in English, even when the query is in another language, so this endpoint suits English search interfaces best.

If the model's safety filter blocks the query, the request fails with a 400 error and the block reason instead of returning an empty list. There is no dictionary lookup or edit-distance step: the output depends entirely on the model, so it can rephrase a correctly spelled query as well as fix a misspelled one. Use it as a suggestion source to show the user, not as an automatic correction. There are no plan-dependent fields.

Live Test Did You Mean API →

Endpoint

One host, one path per API. The block below shows this call in four languages; every one of them is the same HTTP request. Making requests covers the timeouts, retries and parameter rules that apply to all of them. The SDKs wrap the same call in a typed client.

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curl "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/didyoumean?query=what%20weather%20today%20is" \
  -H "x-api-key: your_api_key_here"

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const res = await fetch('https://api.apiverve.com/v1/didyoumean?query=what%20weather%20today%20is', {
  headers: { 'x-api-key': 'your_api_key_here' },
});

if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`${res.status} ${await res.text()}`);

const { data } = await res.json();
console.log(data);

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import requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/didyoumean?query=what%20weather%20today%20is",
    headers={"x-api-key": "your_api_key_here"},
    timeout=15,
)
res.raise_for_status()

print(res.json()["data"])

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package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/didyoumean?query=what%20weather%20today%20is", nil)
	req.Header.Set("x-api-key", "your_api_key_here")

	res, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()

	out, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(out))
}

Replace your_api_key_here with the key from your dashboard. When the inputs arrive as a list rather than one at a time, batch requests run up to 200 of them through this same API in a single call.

Authentication

Send your key in the x-api-key header. That is the only auth step — there is no token exchange and no per-endpoint scope to configure. Authentication covers creating, rotating and revoking keys.

Parameters

Sent in the query string. Premium parameters are accepted on every plan but only take effect on plans that include them.

Response

Every API returns the same three top-level keys, so one response handler covers your whole integration: status, error and data. Only data changes shape. Response format covers the envelope, the other output formats and how premium fields are withheld.

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{
  "status": "ok",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "query": "what weather today is",
    "didYouMean": [
      "what is the weather today",
      "what's the weather like today",
      "what will be the weather today"
    ]
  }
}

Response fields

Paths are relative to data. Premium fields are absent rather than zeroed on plans that do not include them, so check for presence instead of comparing to 0.

Errors

Read the HTTP status first, then error for the specific reason. The body names the parameter that has to change. Error handling covers the full status list and which of them are worth retrying.

Use cases

E-Commerce Search Suggestions

When shoppers mistype product names in a store search bar, display alternate spelling recommendations so they still find inventory.

Help Desk Query Fallback

To prevent dead ends in customer support portals, offer corrected search terms whenever a knowledge base query returns zero articles.

User Form Normalization

Clean user-submitted tags and profile fields during registration by matching misspellings against recommended corrections before saving entries to the database.

Chatbot Typo Recovery

Chatbots can parse incoming user messages with spelling mistakes and prompt users with suggested corrections before triggering fallback handlers.

Other ways to use Did You Mean

Set up Did You Mean on APIVerve, or reach the same source a different way. Your APIVerve account and credits work on all of them — one key, one balance.

Related

More in Text Processing: