| name | deep-search |
| description | Deep multi-round web research with parallel fetching. Triggers: deep search, research, 深度搜索, 调研, investigate, deep research. |
Deep Search
Overview
The deep_search tool performs deep multi-round web research. It iteratively searches from multiple angles, fetches pages in parallel, chases the most-referenced external sources, and produces a structured research report.
Usage
Call deep_search with a query and optional depth. The tool will:
- Round 1: Search the web using Perplexity Sonar (preferred) or other available engines
- Rounds 2+: Generate follow-up queries from different angles (time-qualified, subtopic-focused, controversy/analysis)
- Parallel fetch: Crawl all discovered URLs concurrently (8 connections)
- Reference chasing: Extract outbound links from crawled pages, fetch the most-cited external sources
- Report: Build a structured report with overview, source previews, and search query log
- Save: Everything saved under
./research/<query-slug>/
Parameters
- query (required, string): The research topic or question to investigate.
- depth (optional, integer, default: 2): Research depth:
1 = Quick: single search round + crawl (~1 min, up to 10 pages)
2 = Standard: 3 search rounds + reference chasing (~3 min, up to 30 pages)
3 = Thorough: 5 search rounds + aggressive link chasing (~5 min, up to 50 pages)
- max_results (optional, integer, default: 8): Number of search results per round (1-10).
- search_engine (optional, string): Preferred search engine. Options:
perplexity, duckduckgo, brave, you. Defaults to auto-detection (prefers Perplexity).
Example
{
"query": "AI regulations worldwide 2026",
"depth": 2
}
Output
Returns a structured research report including:
- Overview (initial search answer)
- Source details with inline previews (first 2000 chars of each page)
- List of all search queries used
- Summary with page count and save location
Use read_file on specific source files for full content when you need detailed synthesis.
Saved Files
Results are saved to ./research/<query-slug>/:
_report.md -- structured research report
_search_results.md -- combined raw search results from all rounds
01_<domain>.md -- full page content from first source
02_<domain>.md -- full page content from second source
- etc.
Environment Variables
PERPLEXITY_API_KEY -- enables Perplexity Sonar (recommended, best for deep research)
BRAVE_API_KEY -- enables Brave Search
YDC_API_KEY -- enables You.com search
Without API keys, DuckDuckGo HTML search is used as fallback.