diff --git a/R/crosswalks.R b/R/crosswalks.R
index 23bc162..df59e72 100644
--- a/R/crosswalks.R
+++ b/R/crosswalks.R
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ onet_crosswalk_military <- function(keyword, start = 1, end = 20) {
   }
 
   resp <- onet_request("online/crosswalks/military",
-                       keyword = keyword, start = start, end = end) |>
+                       .query = list(keyword = keyword, start = start, end = end)) |>
     onet_perform()
 
   # Define expected schema
@@ -83,15 +83,14 @@ onet_taxonomy_map <- function(code, from = c("active", "2010"), to = c("2010", "
   }
 
   # Build the endpoint path based on direction
-  endpoint <- if (from == "active") {
-    paste0("taxonomy/active/2010/", code)
+  if (from == "active") {
+    resp <- onet_request("taxonomy/active/2010", .path_segments = code) |>
+      onet_perform()
   } else {
-    paste0("taxonomy/2010/active/", code)
+    resp <- onet_request("taxonomy/2010/active", .path_segments = code) |>
+      onet_perform()
   }
 
-  resp <- onet_request(endpoint) |>
-    onet_perform()
-
   # Define expected schema
   schema <- empty_tibble(code = character(), title = character())
 
diff --git a/R/database.R b/R/database.R
index 80b3f4b..3b6c691 100644
--- a/R/database.R
+++ b/R/database.R
@@ -21,13 +21,14 @@ onet_tables <- function() {
   # Define expected schema
   schema <- empty_tibble(id = character(), title = character())
 
-  if (is.null(resp$table) || length(resp$table) == 0) {
+  # The API returns tables as a top-level list, not nested under 'table'
+  if (!is.list(resp) || length(resp) == 0) {
     return(schema)
   }
 
-  map(resp$table, \(x) {
+  map(resp, \(x) {
     tibble(
-      id = x$id %||% NA_character_,
+      id = x$table_id %||% NA_character_,
       title = x$title %||% NA_character_
     )
   }) |> list_rbind()
@@ -57,7 +58,7 @@ onet_table_info <- function(table_id) {
     cli_abort("{.arg table_id} must be a single character string.")
   }
 
-  resp <- onet_request("database/info", table_id) |>
+  resp <- onet_request("database/info", .path_segments = table_id) |>
     onet_perform()
 
   # Define expected schema
@@ -136,7 +137,7 @@ onet_table <- function(table_id, page_size = 2000, show_progress = TRUE) {
 #' @return A list with `data` (tibble), `start`, `end`, and `total`.
 #' @keywords internal
 onet_table_page <- function(table_id, start = 1, end = 2000) {
-  resp <- onet_request("database/rows", table_id, start = start, end = end) |>
+  resp <- onet_request("database/rows", .path_segments = table_id, .query = list(start = start, end = end)) |>
     onet_perform()
 
   data <- if (is.null(resp$row) || length(resp$row) == 0) {
diff --git a/R/occupations.R b/R/occupations.R
index 1fa094b..e089a9a 100644
--- a/R/occupations.R
+++ b/R/occupations.R
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 #' head(occupations)
 #' }
 onet_occupations <- function(start = 1, end = 1000) {
-  resp <- onet_request("online/occupations", start = start, end = end) |>
+  resp <- onet_request("online/occupations", .query = list(start = start, end = end)) |>
     onet_perform()
 
   # Define expected schema
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ onet_occupations <- function(start = 1, end = 1000) {
 #' }
 onet_occupation <- function(code) {
   validate_onet_code(code)
-  resp <- onet_request("online/occupations", code, "summary") |>
+  resp <- onet_request("online/occupations", .path_segments = c(code, "summary")) |>
     onet_perform()
   resp
 }
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ onet_occupation <- function(code) {
 #' }
 onet_occupation_details <- function(code) {
   validate_onet_code(code)
-  resp <- onet_request("online/occupations", code, "details") |>
+  resp <- onet_request("online/occupations", .path_segments = c(code, "details")) |>
     onet_perform()
   resp
 }
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ onet_abilities <- function(code) {
 #' }
 onet_technology <- function(code) {
   validate_onet_code(code)
-  resp <- onet_request("online/occupations", code, "hot_technology") |>
+  resp <- onet_request("online/occupations", .path_segments = c(code, "hot_technology")) |>
     onet_perform()
 
   # Define expected schema
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ onet_occupation_element <- function(code, element) {
   validate_onet_code(code)
 
   # Get summary which contains all elements
-  resp <- onet_request("online/occupations", code, "summary") |>
+  resp <- onet_request("online/occupations", .path_segments = c(code, "summary")) |>
     onet_perform()
 
   # Define expected schema
diff --git a/R/request.R b/R/request.R
index 608deeb..98d48d3 100644
--- a/R/request.R
+++ b/R/request.R
@@ -6,14 +6,28 @@ onet_base_url <- "https://api-v2.onetcenter.org"
 #' Creates an httr2 request object configured for the O*NET API.
 #'
 #' @param .path Character string specifying the API endpoint path.
-#' @param ... Additional path segments and query parameters passed to the API.
+#' @param .path_segments Additional path segments to append to the URL path (optional).
+#' @param .query Named list or arguments for query parameters (optional).
 #'
 #' @return An httr2 request object.
 #' @keywords internal
-onet_request <- function(.path, ...) {
-  request(onet_base_url) |>
-    req_url_path_append(.path) |>
-    req_url_query(...) |>
+onet_request <- function(.path, .path_segments = NULL, .query = list()) {
+  req <- request(onet_base_url) |>
+    req_url_path_append(.path)
+  
+  # Append additional path segments if provided
+  if (!is.null(.path_segments)) {
+    for (segment in .path_segments) {
+      req <- req |> req_url_path_append(segment)
+    }
+  }
+  
+  # Add query parameters if provided
+  if (length(.query) > 0) {
+    req <- req |> req_url_query(!!!.query)
+  }
+  
+  req |>
     req_headers(`X-API-Key` = onet_api_key()) |>
     req_retry(
       max_tries = 3,
diff --git a/R/search.R b/R/search.R
index 88da416..f02cc01 100644
--- a/R/search.R
+++ b/R/search.R
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ onet_search <- function(keyword, start = 1, end = 20) {
     cli_abort("{.arg keyword} must be a single character string.")
   }
 
-  resp <- onet_request("online/search", keyword = keyword, start = start, end = end) |>
+  resp <- onet_request("online/search", .query = list(keyword = keyword, start = start, end = end)) |>
     onet_perform()
 
   # Define expected schema for empty results
@@ -44,10 +44,17 @@ onet_search <- function(keyword, start = 1, end = 20) {
   }
 
   results <- map(resp$occupation, \(x) {
+    # Try multiple field names for relevance score
+    relevance <- x$relevance_score %||% 
+                 x$relevanceScore %||% 
+                 x$relevance %||% 
+                 x$score %||% 
+                 NA_real_
+    
     tibble(
       code = x$code %||% NA_character_,
       title = x$title %||% NA_character_,
-      relevance_score = x$relevance_score %||% NA_real_
+      relevance_score = relevance
     )
   }) |> list_rbind()
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-request-construction.R b/tests/testthat/test-request-construction.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3f7d083
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-request-construction.R
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+test_that("onet_request builds URL correctly with path only", {
+  # This test verifies that onet_request can handle path-only endpoints
+  # without query parameters (which was causing errors before)
+  
+  # Mock the API key
+  old_key <- Sys.getenv("ONET_API_KEY")
+  on.exit(Sys.setenv(ONET_API_KEY = old_key))
+  Sys.setenv(ONET_API_KEY = "test-key")
+  
+  # Build a request with only path
+  req <- onet2r:::onet_request("database")
+  
+  expect_s3_class(req, "httr2_request")
+  expect_match(req$url, "https://api-v2.onetcenter.org/database")
+})
+
+test_that("onet_request builds URL correctly with path segments", {
+  old_key <- Sys.getenv("ONET_API_KEY")
+  on.exit(Sys.setenv(ONET_API_KEY = old_key))
+  Sys.setenv(ONET_API_KEY = "test-key")
+  
+  # Build a request with path segments
+  req <- onet2r:::onet_request("online/occupations", .path_segments = c("15-1252.00", "summary"))
+  
+  expect_s3_class(req, "httr2_request")
+  expect_match(req$url, "https://api-v2.onetcenter.org/online/occupations/15-1252.00/summary")
+})
+
+test_that("onet_request builds URL correctly with query parameters", {
+  old_key <- Sys.getenv("ONET_API_KEY")
+  on.exit(Sys.setenv(ONET_API_KEY = old_key))
+  Sys.setenv(ONET_API_KEY = "test-key")
+  
+  # Build a request with query parameters
+  req <- onet2r:::onet_request("online/search", .query = list(keyword = "software", start = 1, end = 20))
+  
+  expect_s3_class(req, "httr2_request")
+  expect_match(req$url, "https://api-v2.onetcenter.org/online/search")
+  # The query params should be in the URL
+  expect_match(req$url, "keyword=software")
+  expect_match(req$url, "start=1")
+  expect_match(req$url, "end=20")
+})
+
+test_that("onet_request builds URL correctly with both path segments and query parameters", {
+  old_key <- Sys.getenv("ONET_API_KEY")
+  on.exit(Sys.setenv(ONET_API_KEY = old_key))
+  Sys.setenv(ONET_API_KEY = "test-key")
+  
+  # Build a request with both path segments and query parameters
+  req <- onet2r:::onet_request("database/rows", .path_segments = "skills", .query = list(start = 1, end = 100))
+  
+  expect_s3_class(req, "httr2_request")
+  expect_match(req$url, "https://api-v2.onetcenter.org/database/rows/skills")
+  expect_match(req$url, "start=1")
+  expect_match(req$url, "end=100")
+})
+
+test_that("onet_request includes API key header", {
+  old_key <- Sys.getenv("ONET_API_KEY")
+  on.exit(Sys.setenv(ONET_API_KEY = old_key))
+  test_key <- "test-api-key-123"
+  Sys.setenv(ONET_API_KEY = test_key)
+  
+  req <- onet2r:::onet_request("database")
+  
+  expect_equal(req$headers[["X-API-Key"]], test_key)
+})