deep-search

name	deep-search
description	Deep web search workflow using browser tools and multiple search engines such as Bing, Google, Baidu, Sogou/WeChat, 360, Toutiao, DuckDuckGo, Brave, Quark, or other available engines. Use when the user asks for deep_search, deep search, multi-engine research, source discovery, current web evidence, or when Codex needs to search, collect result links, de-duplicate sources, open candidate pages, and gather browser_snapshot/browser_extract evidence from each source.
category	browser

Deep Search

Use this skill to run browser-backed research across search engines, collect candidate result links, de-duplicate sources, open the most relevant pages, and gather browser_snapshot / browser_extract evidence for downstream answering.

This workflow works in visible or headless external CDP mode. In headless mode, rely on browser_snapshot, browser_extract, browser_screenshot, and page state instead of visual browser inspection.

Search Engines

Choose engines by task and network conditions:

• Broad/default: Bing https://www.bing.com/search?q=<query>&count=10
• International: Google https://www.google.com/search?q=<query>&num=10, Google HK https://www.google.com.hk/search?q=<query>&num=10, DuckDuckGo https://duckduckgo.com/html/?q=<query>, Brave https://search.brave.com/search?q=<query>
• Chinese/China-local: Baidu https://www.baidu.com/s?wd=<query>, Bing CN https://cn.bing.com/search?q=<query>&ensearch=0, 360 https://www.so.com/s?q=<query>, Sogou https://www.sogou.com/web?query=<query>, WeChat via Sogou https://weixin.sogou.com/weixin?type=2&query=<query>, Toutiao https://so.toutiao.com/search?keyword=<query>, Quark https://quark.sm.cn/s?q=<query>&from=smor&safe=1
• Finance/news direct leads when search results are thin: Sina Finance, Eastmoney, Tencent Finance, official exchanges/regulators, company IR pages, government/academic sources.

Use more than one engine when coverage matters, results look thin, the topic may differ across regions/languages, or one engine is blocked. For Chinese-language or China-local queries, try Bing CN plus Baidu/Sogou/360/Toutiao. For international queries, try Bing plus Google or DuckDuckGo/Brave. Treat search-engine AI summaries as leads, not evidence.

Robust Browsing Pattern

• Open each search URL with browser_open, then browser_wait for load state, result text, or known result selectors.
• Use a normal desktop viewport with browser_viewport when responsive/mobile layouts hide links.
• After initial load, use one small browser_scroll to trigger lazy results, then wait briefly before extracting.
• If an engine returns zero usable organic links, captcha/interstitial content, consent-only content, or regional blocking, record it and switch engines. Do not try to bypass captchas, paywalls, login walls, or explicit access controls.
• Prefer visible or headless CDP browser tools over raw network fetching because search pages often need JavaScript, redirects, and accessibility-aware link inspection.

De-duplication and Retry Discipline

Before each search, extraction, or page open, maintain a short in-turn search ledger. The ledger is internal, but it must guide tool use:

searched_queries:
  - engine: <engine>
    query: <normalized query>
    url: <search URL>
    result_status: <usable|thin|blocked|failed>
    result_summary: <brief notes>
opened_pages:
  - canonical_url: <URL without tracking parameters when possible>
    title: <title>
    status: <usable|blocked|failed|duplicate>
extractions:
  - page_url: <current page URL>
    selector: <selector>
    status: <usable|empty|failed>
    attempt_count: <number>

Rules:

• Do not run the same query on the same search engine twice in the same user request. Reuse the earlier snapshot/extract result unless the query changed, the earlier attempt clearly failed, or the user explicitly asks to re-check.
• If you need to return to a search results page, prefer using the existing result ledger or browser history/state. Re-open the same search URL only when navigation state was lost, the browser session failed, or the previous result page is no longer reachable.
• Do not repeat the same browser_extract selector on the same page more than twice. If it is empty, unchanged, or fails twice, switch strategy: use browser_snapshot, a narrower result selector, browser_find, another engine, or open visible result URLs directly.
• Do not repeat generic waits or snapshots in a loop. After two browser_wait/browser_snapshot attempts on the same URL without new information, mark the page as blocked/dynamic/failed and move on.
• Treat search-engine result pages as navigation aids, not evidence sources. Once promising result URLs have been captured, open candidate pages directly rather than repeatedly re-searching the same query.
• When a click on a search result does not navigate, extract or decode the URL and open it directly. Do not keep clicking or reopening the same search result page without a changed tactic.
• When a source page is slow, blocked, or times out, mark that source status and continue with another source. Avoid restarting the same broad query unless it is needed to find a substitute source.

Workflow

1. Clarify only if the search target is ambiguous enough that different interpretations would change the query.
2. Build 2-4 focused search queries. Include exact names, key terms, locations, dates, source type, language, or file/type terms when relevant.
3. Pick 2-4 engines from the engine list. Default to Bing + Google/DuckDuckGo for international work, and Bing CN + Baidu/Sogou/360 for Chinese work.
4. Initialize the search ledger from the De-duplication and Retry Discipline section. Before every browser_open, browser_extract, browser_wait, or browser_snapshot, check whether the same action has already been tried for the same engine/query/page/selector.
5. Open the first search engine with browser_open only if that exact engine/query pair has not already been searched in this user request.
6. Use browser_wait for load state, text, or search result selectors, then use browser_snapshot to inspect the result page. Treat browser_snapshot.snapshot as the primary map of result links and refs.
7. Use browser_extract format=json when links/snippets are not clear from the snapshot. Capture title, URL, snippet, visible source, and result ref if available. Do not repeat the same extraction on the same page more than twice.
8. Normalize and de-duplicate candidate results by canonical URL and near-identical title. Keep a source list for duplicates found by multiple engines.
9. Open 3-8 promising result links with browser_open, one at a time. Use official/primary sources first, then reputable secondary sources for comparison. Skip URLs already opened unless the previous status was failed and a changed tactic is available.
10. For each opened page, use browser_wait then browser_snapshot to capture page structure and source context. Use browser_extract format=json for article/body text, links, metadata, and dates.
11. Cross-check important claims across at least two independent sources when the question is current, financial, medical, legal, or high-impact.
12. Stop when evidence is sufficient, sources converge, or the best available pages are exhausted. Mark gaps, blocked engines/pages, repeated-result avoidance, and uncertainty explicitly.

Result Page Hints

These selectors are useful when browser_extract needs a bounded result area:

• Google: #search .g, #rso .g, .yuRUbf
• Bing: .b_algo, #b_results .b_algo
• Baidu: #content_left .c-container, .result, .c-container
• DuckDuckGo: .result, .links
• Sogou: .vrwrap, .rb, .result
• 360: .res-list, .result
• Toutiao/Quark: .result, .result-item, .res-list, .article

For each candidate, prefer a[href^="http"], heading links, and visible organic result blocks. Skip ads, tracking-only links, duplicate snippets, login-only pages, and pages whose URL cannot be resolved.

Result Link Selection

Prioritize:

• Official sites, primary documents, documentation, reports, datasets, company/project pages, government/academic sources, or original announcements.
• Pages with clear titles, source identity, dates, and accessible body content.
• Diverse domains when the task needs comparison.

Avoid unless necessary:

• Ads, shopping/SEO doorway pages, aggregator copies, unsupported snippets, captcha/interstitial-only pages, and pages that cannot be opened or inspected.
• Blindly trusting search-engine AI summaries. Treat them as leads, not evidence.

Evidence Format

Keep an internal source ledger like:

- query: <query>
  engine: <bing|google|baidu|sogou|360|toutiao|duckduckgo|brave|quark|other>
  result_ref: <@e ref if available>
  url: <opened URL>
  title: <page title>
  sources_seen: <engine names if duplicate result appeared across engines>
  snippet: <search result snippet if useful>
  evidence: <short note from opened-page snapshot/extract>
  status: <opened|blocked|duplicate|skipped>

Citation Output

Use numbered inline Markdown citations in the final answer, similar to search-answer products:

• Assign each opened, usable source a stable number in first-use order.
• Put a citation immediately after the claim, table cell, or sentence it supports: 2025 年春节假期接待 16.8 万人次[1](https://example.com/news)。
• Reuse the same number for the same URL. Do not invent citations for pages that were not opened and inspected.
• If a table has a source/notes column, put the citation in that cell. If a paragraph has several claims from different sources, cite each claim near the relevant text.
• Add a compact Sources / 来源 section at the end only when it helps readability, using the same numbers and titles.

Example:

| Year | Data | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | Spring Festival holiday, 7 days, 168k visits[1](https://example.com/news) | Official news |
| 2020 | Pandemic impact reduced visits to 27.4k[2](https://example.com/disclosure) | Company disclosure |

Sources: [1](https://example.com/news) Title A; [2](https://example.com/disclosure) Title B

When answering the user, cite or name the opened pages used as evidence. If browser tools fail, say which engine/query failed and provide a degraded result only if enough evidence remains.

Browser Tool Guidance

• Use browser_snapshot before interaction on search result pages and opened sources.
• Use @e refs from snapshots for link clicks when available; otherwise open extracted URLs directly with browser_open.
• Use browser_find for search boxes, result links, consent buttons, pagination, or "next" controls.
• Use browser_scroll for lazy-loaded result pages before deciding no more links exist.
• Use browser_screenshot when a page is visually loaded but text extraction is sparse, captcha/interstitial state must be documented, or layout affects interpretation.
• Use browser_console, browser_network, or browser_storage only when debugging a blocked dynamic page.
• Use browser_close at the end when the search session should be reset.

Completion Criteria

Before finalizing, make sure you can state:

• Which search engines and queries were used.
• Which same-engine/same-query searches were avoided or reused from the ledger.
• Which result links were opened.
• Which pages produced usable browser_snapshot or browser_extract evidence.
• Any blocked engines/pages, captchas, regional differences, or remaining uncertainty.