| name | kagi |
| description | Agent-native CLI for Kagi search, Assistant, Quick Answer, extraction, summarization, translation, news, and account settings. Use when the user wants web research through Kagi, readable page extraction, subscriber summarization, Assistant threads, Kagi News, or Kagi account configuration from a terminal or automation workflow. |
| allowed-tools | Bash(kagi:*) |
Kagi CLI
kagi is a JSON-first command surface for Kagi. It covers search, Quick Answer,
Assistant, ask-page, translation, summarization, readable page extraction, Kagi
News, Small Web, paid API commands, and account settings such as lenses, custom
bangs, custom assistants, and redirects.
Core Workflow
- Load this skill:
kagi skills get kagi
- Check credentials:
kagi auth status
- Choose the narrowest command for the task
- Use structured output:
--format json for scripts, --format toon for LLM context
- Verify failures with auth check:
kagi auth check
kagi skills get kagi
kagi auth status
kagi search "rust async cancellation" --format toon --limit 5
Credential Discovery
Use auth commands before choosing a Kagi-backed endpoint.
kagi auth status
kagi auth check
kagi auth set --session-token "https://kagi.com/search?token=..."
| Credential | Unlocks |
|---|
KAGI_SESSION_TOKEN | subscriber search path, session-only search filters, quick, assistant, ask-page, translate, and summarize --subscriber |
KAGI_API_KEY | current /api/v1 Search API and Extract API |
KAGI_API_TOKEN | legacy /api/v0 summarize, fastgpt, enrich web, and enrich news |
| none | news, smallweb, auth status, skills, and help |
Environment variables override .kagi.toml. --profile NAME selects
[profiles.NAME.auth] from config. Base kagi search prefers the session-token
path when both session and API credentials are present unless config sets
preferred_auth = "api".
Output Modes
| Format | Use for |
|---|
json | default structured output for scripts and parsers |
toon | compact structured data for LLM context |
markdown | prompt material, notes, and documentation |
compact | minified JSON for pipelines |
csv | spreadsheets or tabular export |
pretty | human terminal display only |
Prefer --format toon when returning search or news results to an LLM. Prefer
--format json when another program will parse stdout.
Search
kagi search "query" --format toon --limit 5
kagi search "query" --format markdown --limit 10
kagi search "query" --snap reddit --format toon
kagi search "query" --region us --from-date 2026-01-01 --format json
Useful search flags:
| Flag | Purpose |
|---|
--limit N | cap returned results |
--snap NAME | prefix query with a Kagi Snap shortcut |
--lens INDEX | scope to a Kagi lens by index; requires session auth |
--region CODE | region-bias search |
| `--time day | week |
| `--order default | recency |
--verbatim | request verbatim search mode; session path |
--personalized / --no-personalized | force personalization mode; session path |
--local-cache | cache repeatable calls locally |
Search And Summarize Results
Use --follow N when the user wants synthesized coverage of top result pages.
It searches first, then summarizes the top N URLs through the subscriber
summarizer.
kagi search "what changed in rust 2024 edition" --follow 3 --format markdown
Readable Page Extraction
Use extract when the user needs full readable page content as markdown. It
requires KAGI_API_KEY.
kagi extract "https://example.com/article"
Use extraction instead of scraping rendered browser text when exact readable
article content is the goal.
Summarization
Subscriber summarizer, usually best for users with a Kagi account:
kagi summarize --subscriber --url "https://example.com/article"
kagi summarize --subscriber --text "long text"
kagi summarize --subscriber --url "https://example.com/article" --summary-type keypoints
Paid public API summarizer through the legacy API token:
kagi summarize --url "https://example.com/article"
kagi summarize --text "long text" --engine cecil
Quick Answer
Use quick when the user asks a direct question and wants a concise answer with
references from live Kagi results.
kagi quick "who maintains the rust compiler release train?" --format markdown
kagi quick "current kagi api search endpoint" --format toon
Assistant
Use assistant for conversational tasks, thread continuity, attachments, custom
assistants, model selection, or account-backed Assistant behavior.
kagi assistant "explain this release note" --format markdown
kagi assistant --stream --stream-output json "draft a migration checklist"
kagi assistant --thread-id THREAD_ID "continue from the previous answer"
kagi assistant --attach ./notes.md "summarize the attached notes" --format markdown
Thread management:
kagi assistant thread list
kagi assistant thread get THREAD_ID
kagi assistant thread export THREAD_ID --format markdown
kagi assistant thread delete THREAD_ID
Custom assistants:
kagi assistant custom list
kagi assistant custom get "Researcher"
kagi assistant custom create "CLI Researcher" --web-access --model gpt-5-mini
Ask A Page
Use ask-page when the user has one URL and a question about that page.
kagi ask-page "https://example.com/article" "what are the main claims?" --format markdown
Translation
kagi translate --text "Bonjour tout le monde" --target-language EN
Translation uses session-token auth.
News And Public Feeds
news and smallweb do not require credentials.
kagi news --category tech --limit 10
kagi news --list-categories
kagi news --chaos
kagi smallweb
Search the Kagi News vertical with session auth:
kagi search "open source ai" --news --format toon
Batch And Watch
Use batch for parallel search. Use stdin for generated query lists.
kagi batch "rust" "zig" "go" --format toon --limit 3
printf 'rust\nzig\ngo\n' | kagi batch --format compact
Use watch when the user wants result changes over time.
kagi watch "site:example.com release notes" --interval 300
Account Settings
Use these commands when the user asks to inspect or manage Kagi account features.
They require the relevant account credential.
kagi lens list
kagi lens get "Default"
kagi bang custom list
kagi bang custom create "Docs" --trigger docs --template "https://docs.rs/releases/search?query=%s"
kagi redirect list
kagi assistant custom list
MCP Server
Use kagi mcp when another agent or tool needs a stdio MCP server exposing Kagi
tools.
kagi mcp
Agent-Safe Patterns
- Start with
kagi skills get kagi for current, version-matched guidance.
- Run
kagi auth status before declaring credentials unavailable.
- Do not print credential values. Auth commands intentionally summarize
presence and source without exposing secrets.
- Prefer the narrowest command:
extract for readable pages, quick for direct
answers, assistant for conversational or threaded work, news for public
news feeds.
- Prefer
--format toon for LLM context and --format json for programmatic
parsing.
- Use
--local-cache only when stale data is acceptable.
- Treat
--format pretty as human-facing only.
- Avoid browser automation for Kagi content retrieval unless the workflow
specifically requires rendered interaction.
Important Notes
search --lens, --time, --order, --verbatim, and personalization flags
require session-token auth.- API-first search can fall back to the session path when configured credentials
permit fallback.
extract requires the current KAGI_API_KEY, not the legacy API token.summarize --subscriber, quick, assistant, ask-page, and translate
require KAGI_SESSION_TOKEN.news, smallweb, skills, and help are auth-free.
