| name | websearch |
| description | Hard-coded Playwright recipes for web research: engine rules, domain routing, parallel shotgun pattern, 3-call budget, and citation discipline. |
Web Search Skill
STOP — READ THIS FIRST
Engine Rules (absolute)
| Engine | Status | Why |
|---|
| Brave Search | THE ONLY WORKING ENGINE | Full results, no bot blocking |
| Google | BLOCKED | Headless detection → CAPTCHA / 0 results |
| Bing | BLOCKED | Headless detection → 0 results |
| DuckDuckGo / DDG Lite | BLOCKED | 403 Forbidden on headless |
Never attempt Google, Google News RSS, Bing, or DuckDuckGo web search. They will always fail or violate Travis-2 policy. Every web-search task MUST use Brave Search (recipe A1). Wikipedia, Reddit, PubMed, arXiv, and other domain APIs are corroboration sources only; they are not replacements for Brave.
Brave-First Rule (absolute)
If the user asks to "search", "web search", "look up", "latest", "current", or asks any factual question that needs the live web:
- The first external lookup MUST be Brave Search (recipe A1).
- Do not use Google News RSS at all. Do not use Wikipedia, Reddit, or domain APIs before Brave.
- If doing multiple sources in parallel, Brave must be one of them and must carry the broad query.
- If the task only permits one lookup, use Brave Search.
- If Brave returns usable results, prefer Brave result URLs for article reads.
First Response Rule (absolute)
Your first response after loading this skill MUST be a single message containing all of:
write_todos([...])
+ run_playwright_code(A1: Brave Search) ← mandatory for every web search
+ optional run_playwright_code(A2/B?: corroboration sources only)
Never issue write_todos alone. Never issue a single search then wait. Call 1 sources are independent → MUST be batched.
When This Skill Applies
Any task requiring factual answers from external sources: news, market data, research papers, product info, community discussion, current events. If the answer cannot come from workspace files alone, this skill governs.
Hard Budget: 3 Model Calls Maximum
Call 1: write_todos + SHOTGUN BLAST (3-4 parallel sources)
Call 2: write_todos update + READS (article URLs from Call 1, all parallel)
Call 3: write_todos update + SYNTHESIZE (text only, NO tool calls)
Simple lookup path (2 calls):
Call 1: write_todos + SHOTGUN BLAST
Call 2: write_todos update + SYNTHESIZE (skip article reads if Call 1 returned enough)
Hard Stops
- There is no Call 4. Synthesize with what you have. Use Caveats for gaps.
- Call 3 is text only. No tool calls. Deliver the answer.
- If Call 1 returned 0 usable results from all sources → Call 2 = ONE retry with different terms → Call 3 = synthesize.
Why this works
- Call 1 sources share no dependencies → all parallel → 1 call returns 3-4 sources of data.
- Call 2 reads use URLs known from Call 1 → 1 call returns 2-3 full articles.
- Call 3 is pure synthesis — no new I/O, just reasoning.
Step 1: Identify Domain → Pick Sources
Before writing code, classify the topic and pick from this table:
| Domain | Indicators | Tier 1 (always) | Tier 2 (pick 1-2) |
|---|
| News / Geopolitics | wars, elections, policy, diplomacy, economy | Brave | Al Jazeera (B1), AP News (B2) |
| Medical / Health | diseases, drugs, symptoms, clinical trials | Brave | PubMed (B4), Wikipedia (A2) |
| Science / Space / Physics | research papers, NASA, astronomy | Brave | arXiv (B5), NASA (B6), Wikipedia (A2) |
| Technology | software, hardware, AI, startups, programming | Brave | Hacker News (B7), StackExchange (B8), Wikipedia (A2) |
| Finance / Markets | stocks, crypto, earnings, economic data | Brave | CoinGecko (B10), EIA (B12), Wikipedia (A2) |
| Entertainment | movies, TV, comics, music, games | Brave | Reddit (B9), Wikipedia (A2) |
| Food / Drink | recipes, wine, restaurants, nutrition | Brave | Open Food Facts (B11), Reddit (B9), Wikipedia (A2) |
| Sports | scores, players, leagues, events | Brave | Reddit (B9), Wikipedia (A2) |
| Academic / Research | papers, citations, university topics | Brave | arXiv (B5), PubMed (B4), Wikipedia (A2) |
| How-to / DIY | tutorials, troubleshooting, guides | Brave | Reddit (B9), StackExchange (B8), Wikipedia (A2) |
| Weather / Time-sensitive | current weather, forecasts, time-of-day data | Brave | Domain-specific API if known |
| General / Unknown | anything not above | Brave | Reddit (B9), Wikipedia (A2) |
Rule: Always include Brave. Add 1-2 corroboration sources only when they are useful for the domain.
Recipe A — UNIVERSAL WEB SEARCH SOURCE (always fire)
A1. Brave Search — General Web Results
20 real web results, all topics, no bot blocking.
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('brave search', async ({ page }) => {
await page.goto('https://search.brave.com/search?q=TOPIC', {
waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded', timeout: 20000
});
await page.waitForSelector('[data-type="web"]', { timeout: 10000 }).catch(() => {});
const results = await page.$$eval('[data-type="web"]', els =>
els.slice(0, 10).map(el => {
const titleEl = el.querySelector('a h2, a .title, h2 a, .snippet-title');
const linkEl = el.querySelector('a[href^="http"]');
const descEl = el.querySelector('.generic-snippet .content, .snippet-description, [class*="generic-snippet"] .content, p.snippet, p');
return {
title: titleEl?.textContent?.trim() || '',
url: linkEl?.getAttribute('href') || '',
description: descEl?.textContent?.trim()?.slice(0, 200) || ''
};
}).filter(r => r.title && r.url)
);
console.log(JSON.stringify({ source: 'brave', count: results.length, results }, null, 2));
});
A2. Wikipedia Search API — Encyclopedic / Factual
Up to 5 article matches with snippets. Free, no key, no rate limit.
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('wikipedia search', async ({ request }) => {
const resp = await request.get(
'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&list=search&srsearch=TOPIC&format=json&srlimit=5',
{ timeout: 10000 }
);
if (resp.ok()) {
const data = await resp.json();
const results = (data.query?.search || []).map((r: any) => ({
title: r.title,
snippet: r.snippet?.replace(/<[^>]+>/g, '').trim(),
url: `https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/${encodeURIComponent(r.title.replace(/ /g, '_'))}`
}));
console.log(JSON.stringify({ source: 'wikipedia', count: results.length, results }, null, 2));
}
});
Recipe B — DOMAIN-SPECIFIC SOURCES (pick 1-2)
B1. Al Jazeera Search — International News (navigable URLs)
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('al jazeera search', async ({ page }) => {
await page.goto('https://www.aljazeera.com/search/TOPIC', {
waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded', timeout: 20000
});
await page.waitForSelector('a.u-clickable-card__link', { timeout: 10000 }).catch(() => {});
const articles = await page.$$eval('a.u-clickable-card__link', els =>
els.slice(0, 8).map(el => ({
title: el.textContent?.trim() || '',
url: el.getAttribute('href') || ''
})).filter(a => a.title && a.title.length > 5)
);
console.log(JSON.stringify({ source: 'aljazeera', count: articles.length, articles }, null, 2));
});
B2. AP News Search — US/International Hard News (navigable URLs)
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('ap news search', async ({ page }) => {
await page.goto('https://apnews.com/search?q=TOPIC', {
waitUntil: 'domcontentloaded', timeout: 20000
});
await page.waitForSelector('.SearchResultsModule-results', { timeout: 10000 }).catch(() => {});
const articles = await page.$$eval('.SearchResultsModule-results .PagePromo-title a.Link', els =>
els.slice(0, 8).map(el => {
const href = el.getAttribute('href') || '';
return {
title: el.textContent?.trim() || '',
url: href.startsWith('http') ? href : 'https://apnews.com' + href
};
}).filter(a => a.title && a.title.length > 5)
);
console.log(JSON.stringify({ source: 'apnews', count: articles.length, articles }, null, 2));
});
B4. PubMed — Medical / Clinical Research
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('pubmed search', async ({ request }) => {
const searchResp = await request.get(
'https://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/esearch.fcgi?db=pubmed&term=TOPIC&retmode=json&retmax=5',
{ timeout: 15000 }
);
if (!searchResp.ok()) { console.log('PubMed search failed'); return; }
const searchData = await searchResp.json();
const ids: string[] = searchData.esearchresult?.idlist || [];
if (ids.length === 0) { console.log(JSON.stringify({ source: 'pubmed', count: 0, results: [] })); return; }
const sumResp = await request.get(
`https://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/esummary.fcgi?db=pubmed&id=${ids.join(',')}&retmode=json`,
{ timeout: 15000 }
);
if (!sumResp.ok()) { console.log('PubMed summary failed'); return; }
const sumData = await sumResp.json();
const results = ids.map(id => {
const r = sumData.result?.[id];
return {
pmid: id,
title: r?.title || '',
source: r?.source || '',
pubDate: r?.pubdate || '',
url: `https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/${id}/`
};
}).filter(r => r.title);
console.log(JSON.stringify({ source: 'pubmed', count: results.length, results }, null, 2));
});
B5. arXiv — Science / Physics / CS Papers
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('arxiv search', async ({ request }) => {
const resp = await request.get(
'http://export.arxiv.org/api/query?search_query=all:TOPIC&start=0&max_results=5',
{ timeout: 15000 }
);
if (!resp.ok()) { console.log('arXiv failed'); return; }
const xml = await resp.text();
const entries: { title: string; summary: string; url: string; published: string }[] = [];
const re = /<entry>([\s\S]*?)<\/entry>/g;
let m;
while ((m = re.exec(xml)) && entries.length < 5) {
const entry = m[1];
const title = entry.match(/<title>([\s\S]*?)<\/title>/)?.[1]?.trim() || '';
const summary = entry.match(/<summary>([\s\S]*?)<\/summary>/)?.[1]?.trim()?.slice(0, 300) || '';
const id = entry.match(/<id>([\s\S]*?)<\/id>/)?.[1]?.trim() || '';
const published = entry.match(/<published>([\s\S]*?)<\/published>/)?.[1]?.trim() || '';
if (title) entries.push({ title, summary, url: id, published });
}
console.log(JSON.stringify({ source: 'arxiv', count: entries.length, entries }, null, 2));
});
B6. NASA Images — Space / Astronomy
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('nasa images search', async ({ request }) => {
const resp = await request.get(
'https://images-api.nasa.gov/search?q=TOPIC&media_type=image',
{ timeout: 15000 }
);
if (!resp.ok()) { console.log('NASA API failed'); return; }
const data = await resp.json();
const items = (data.collection?.items || []).slice(0, 5).map((item: any) => ({
title: item.data?.[0]?.title || '',
description: item.data?.[0]?.description?.slice(0, 200) || '',
date: item.data?.[0]?.date_created || '',
center: item.data?.[0]?.center || '',
url: item.links?.[0]?.href || ''
})).filter((r: any) => r.title);
console.log(JSON.stringify({ source: 'nasa', count: items.length, items }, null, 2));
});
B7. Hacker News (Algolia) — Tech / Startups / Programming
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('hacker news search', async ({ request }) => {
const resp = await request.get(
'https://hn.algolia.com/api/v1/search?query=TOPIC&tags=story&hitsPerPage=8',
{ timeout: 10000 }
);
if (!resp.ok()) { console.log('HN failed'); return; }
const data = await resp.json();
const results = (data.hits || []).map((h: any) => ({
title: h.title || '',
url: h.url || `https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=${h.objectID}`,
points: h.points,
comments: h.num_comments,
date: h.created_at
})).filter((r: any) => r.title);
console.log(JSON.stringify({ source: 'hackernews', count: results.length, results }, null, 2));
});
B8. StackExchange — Technical Q&A
Sites: stackoverflow, askubuntu, superuser, electronics, cooking, scifi, bicycles, aviation.
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('stackexchange search', async ({ request }) => {
const resp = await request.get(
'https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3/search?order=desc&sort=relevance&intitle=TOPIC&site=SITE&pagesize=5',
{ timeout: 10000 }
);
if (!resp.ok()) { console.log('StackExchange failed'); return; }
const data = await resp.json();
const results = (data.items || []).map((item: any) => ({
title: item.title || '',
url: item.link || '',
score: item.score,
answered: item.is_answered,
answerCount: item.answer_count,
tags: item.tags?.slice(0, 3)
})).filter((r: any) => r.title);
console.log(JSON.stringify({ source: 'stackexchange', count: results.length, results }, null, 2));
});
B9. Reddit Search — Community / Entertainment / DIY
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('reddit search', async ({ request }) => {
const resp = await request.get(
'https://www.reddit.com/search.json?q=TOPIC&sort=relevance&limit=8&type=link',
{
headers: { 'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; research-bot/1.0)' },
timeout: 15000
}
);
if (!resp.ok()) { console.log('Reddit failed'); return; }
const data = await resp.json();
const results = (data.data?.children || []).map((c: any) => ({
title: c.data?.title || '',
url: c.data?.url || '',
subreddit: c.data?.subreddit_name_prefixed || '',
score: c.data?.score,
comments: c.data?.num_comments,
selftext: c.data?.selftext?.slice(0, 200) || ''
})).filter((r: any) => r.title);
console.log(JSON.stringify({ source: 'reddit', count: results.length, results }, null, 2));
});
B10. CoinGecko — Crypto / Digital Assets
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('coingecko search', async ({ request }) => {
const resp = await request.get(
'https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/search?query=TOPIC',
{ timeout: 10000 }
);
if (!resp.ok()) { console.log('CoinGecko failed'); return; }
const data = await resp.json();
const coins = (data.coins || []).slice(0, 5).map((c: any) => ({
name: c.name, symbol: c.symbol, marketCapRank: c.market_cap_rank
}));
const exchanges = (data.exchanges || []).slice(0, 3).map((e: any) => ({ name: e.name }));
console.log(JSON.stringify({ source: 'coingecko', coins, exchanges }, null, 2));
});
B11. Open Food Facts — Food / Nutrition
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('open food facts search', async ({ request }) => {
const resp = await request.get(
'https://world.openfoodfacts.org/cgi/search.pl?search_terms=TOPIC&json=1&page_size=5&fields=product_name,brands,categories,nutrition_grades,ingredients_text',
{ timeout: 15000 }
);
if (!resp.ok()) { console.log('Open Food Facts failed'); return; }
const data = await resp.json();
const results = (data.products || []).map((p: any) => ({
name: p.product_name || '',
brands: p.brands || '',
categories: p.categories?.split(',').slice(0, 3).join(', ') || '',
nutritionGrade: p.nutrition_grades || '',
ingredients: p.ingredients_text?.slice(0, 150) || ''
})).filter((r: any) => r.name);
console.log(JSON.stringify({ source: 'open_food_facts', count: results.length, results }, null, 2));
});
B12. EIA — Energy / Oil Markets
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('eia petroleum data', async ({ request }) => {
const resp = await request.get('https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/supply/weekly/', { timeout: 15000 });
if (!resp.ok()) { console.log('EIA failed'); return; }
const html = await resp.text();
const title = html.match(/<title>([\s\S]*?)<\/title>/)?.[1]?.trim();
const releaseDate = html.match(/Release Date:\s*([\w\s,]+)/)?.[1]?.trim();
const tables = html.match(/<table[\s\S]*?<\/table>/g);
console.log(JSON.stringify({ source: 'eia', title, releaseDate, tablesFound: tables?.length || 0 }, null, 2));
if (tables?.[0]) console.log('TABLE:\n' + tables[0].replace(/<[^>]+>/g, ' ').replace(/\s+/g, ' ').slice(0, 2000));
});
Recipe C — READ FULL ARTICLES (Call 2)
Use URLs from Brave (A1), Al Jazeera (B1), or AP News (B2).
NEVER use Google News RSS URLs.
C1. Page Render
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('read article', async ({ page }) => {
await page.goto('ARTICLE_URL', { waitUntil: 'load', timeout: 25000 });
await page.waitForTimeout(2000);
const body = await page.$$eval(
'article p, .article-body p, .story-body p, [data-testid="paragraph"], .wysiwyg p, .article__body p, .post-content p, .entry-content p, [class*="article"] p, main article p, main p',
els => els.map(el => el.textContent?.trim()).filter(t => t && (t?.length ?? 0) > 20).join('\n\n')
);
const title = await page.title();
const date = await page.$eval(
'meta[property="article:published_time"], meta[name="date"], time[datetime]',
el => el.getAttribute('content') || el.getAttribute('datetime') || ''
).catch(() => '');
console.log(`TITLE: ${title}\nDATE: ${date}\nBODY_LENGTH: ${body.length}\n\nBODY:\n${body.slice(0, 5000)}`);
});
C2. JSON-LD Metadata Extract (faster, paywall-resistant)
import { test } from '@playwright/test';
test('extract metadata', async ({ request }) => {
const resp = await request.get('ARTICLE_URL', {
headers: { 'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Safari/537.36' },
timeout: 15000
});
const html = await resp.text();
const jsonLdMatch = html.match(/<script type="application\/ld\+json">([\s\S]*?)<\/script>/);
if (jsonLdMatch) {
try {
const data = JSON.parse(jsonLdMatch[1]);
console.log(JSON.stringify({
headline: data.headline, description: data.description,
datePublished: data.datePublished,
author: data.author?.name || data.author?.[0]?.name,
publisher: data.publisher?.name,
articleBody: data.articleBody?.slice(0, 3000)
}, null, 2));
} catch { console.log('JSON-LD parse failed'); }
}
const ogTitle = html.match(/property="og:title" content="([^"]+)"/)?.[1];
const ogDesc = html.match(/property="og:description" content="([^"]+)"/)?.[1];
if (ogTitle) console.log(`OG Title: ${ogTitle}`);
if (ogDesc) console.log(`OG Desc: ${ogDesc}`);
});
Read Rules
- URLs from Brave / Al Jazeera / AP News only.
- Max 3 articles per call. Batch all reads in one response.
- C1 for full text; C2 alongside C1 for metadata on JS-heavy / paywalled sites.
- Empty body (paywalled / blocked) → skip it, do not retry. Move to synthesis.
- No
expect() on count or body length — empty body is a valid outcome (paywall, blocked).
Execution Workflow
Call 1 — Shotgun Blast (always parallel)
write_todos([
{ content: "Shotgun: <domain> search for <topic>", status: "in_progress" },
{ content: "Read: top 2-3 results in detail", status: "pending" }, // omit if simple lookup
{ content: "Synthesize: answer with citations", status: "pending" }
])
+ run_playwright_code(A1: Brave Search) ← always
+ optional run_playwright_code(A2/B?: 1-2 corroboration sources)
Decision Gate After Call 1
Inspect each result's data_ok and content size:
| Situation | Next call |
|---|
≥2 sources data_ok=true AND content sufficient to answer | Skip Call 2 reads → go straight to synthesize on Call 2 |
| ≥1 source has navigable article URLs AND deeper content needed | Call 2 = parallel article reads |
All sources data_ok=false or 0 results | Call 2 = ONE retry with different terms |
Call 2 — Reads (always parallel) OR Retry (one source)
write_todos(update: #1 completed, #2 in_progress)
+ run_playwright_code(C1: read article 1) ← all reads batched
+ run_playwright_code(C1: read article 2)
+ run_playwright_code(C2: metadata for article 3, optional)
Call 3 — Synthesize (NO tool calls)
write_todos(update all completed)
Deliver final answer with citations, caveats, confidence level.
Budget Enforcement Table
| Call # | Dispatch | Do | Never |
|---|
| 1 | Parallel | write_todos + Brave + optional corroboration sources (one response) | One source per response; starting without Brave; using Google News RSS |
| 2 | Parallel reads OR ONE retry | write_todos + 2-3 reads (one response) OR ONE retry search | Search again if Call 1 had data; read one article per call |
| 3 | No tools | write_todos update + text answer | Any tool call |
Anti-Patterns (immediate course-correction triggers)
- About to scrape Google / Bing / DuckDuckGo → STOP, use Brave instead.
- About to use Google News RSS → STOP, use Brave instead.
- About to use
expect() on result count → REMOVE that assertion (0 results is valid).
- About to issue
write_todos alone → BATCH with the first action call.
- About to retry a failed source → SWITCH source instead.
- About to read articles one-per-call → BATCH 2-3 in one response.
- About to call tools on Call 3 → STOP, synthesize from what you have.
- More than 3 todos for a search task → TRIM the list.
- Adding
https://domain.com prefix to already-absolute URL → DO NOT.
Source Credibility (for synthesis)
- Official / institutional: WHO, NIH, NASA, OPEC, IEA, EIA, government agencies
- Peer-reviewed: PubMed, arXiv, academic journals
- Wire services: Reuters, AP, AFP
- Domain authorities: Bloomberg (finance), ComicVine (comics), IMDB (films)
- Major news outlets: Al Jazeera, BBC, AP News
- Community: Reddit, HN — context only, not sole source for facts
Citation Format
Dark matter accounts for ~27% of the universe [1], with ongoing detection efforts [2].
---
Sources:
[1] Wikipedia, "Dark matter" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter
[2] arXiv, "Direct dark matter detection..." (2024-11-03) - https://arxiv.org/abs/...
- Every factual claim cited.
- URLs come from tool output — never fabricated.
- Do not cite Google News RSS. Use Brave result URLs or corroborating source URLs.
Confidence Levels
| Level | When | Phrasing |
|---|
| High | 2+ authoritative sources agree, recent | State as fact |
| Medium | 1 authoritative source or minor gaps | "According to [source]..." |
| Low | Community / blog only, stale, conflicting | "Reports suggest..." |
Recency flags:
- Flag data >30 days old.
- Flag >7 days for markets, active conflicts, policy.
- For weather / time-sensitive data: include retrieval timestamp explicitly.
Response Template
## Summary
[1-3 sentences with inline citations]
## Key Findings
- Finding 1 [n]
- Finding 2 [n]
## Caveats
- [Recency / data gaps / single-source — one line each]
## Confidence: [High / Medium / Low]
---
Sources:
[1] ...
[2] ...
Interaction with Other Skills
- Core: inherits Pre-Flight Gates, Parallel Tool Calling, Retry Rules, Todo Discipline.
- Playwright: recipes use
run_playwright_code. Always check data_ok, warnings before claiming success.
