| name | web-search |
| description | Search the web and fetch web pages. Use when user wants to look up information, find answers, or search for anything online. Supports multiple free methods: Jina AI reader, DuckDuckGo Lite, and Python ddgs fallback. No API keys required for basic use. |
Web Search Skill
Comprehensive web search and content extraction — free, no API keys required.
Quick Start
Just want to search? Use DuckDuckGo Lite:
web_fetch url="https://lite.duckduckgo.com/lite/?q=YOUR+QUERY"
Want full page content? Use Jina Reader:
web_fetch url="https://r.jina.ai/http://TARGET_URL"
Method 1: Jina AI Reader (Free - Recommended for Content)
Extract full page content using Jina's free reader API.
Read a URL
web_fetch url="https://r.jina.ai/http://example.com"
Search the Web
web_fetch url="https://r.jina.ai/http://duckduckgo.com/?q=YOUR+QUERY"
Examples:
| Task | Command |
|---|
| Get Next.js docs | web_fetch url="https://r.jina.ai/http://nextjs.org" |
| Get React docs | web_fetch url="https://r.jina.ai/http://react.dev" |
| Get Python docs | web_fetch url="https://r.jina.ai/http://docs.python.org" |
Advanced Jina Reader (with API Key)
For advanced features, get a free API key from jina.ai/reader:
export JINA_API_KEY="jina_..."
Then use the bundled script:
{baseDir}/scripts/reader.sh "https://example.com"
{baseDir}/scripts/reader.sh --mode search "AI news 2025"
{baseDir}/scripts/reader.sh --mode ground "OpenAI founded 2015"
Options: --mode, --selector, --remove, --format, --json
Method 2: DuckDuckGo Lite (Free - Recommended for Search)
Search without any API key using DuckDuckGo Lite.
Basic Search
web_fetch url="https://lite.duckduckgo.com/lite/?q=YOUR+QUERY"
Regional Search
web_fetch url="https://lite.duckduckgo.com/lite/?q=QUERY&kl=us-en"
Regions: au-en, us-en, uk-en, de-de, fr-fr
Search Tips
- Use
+ for spaces: python+tutorial
- Use quotes for exact phrases:
%22exact+phrase%22
- Skip first 1-2 results (ads)
Method 3: Python ddgs (Fallback)
If web_fetch is blocked, use Python's ddgs package:
pip install ddgs
from ddgs import DDGS
ddgs = DDGS()
results = ddgs.text("search query", max_results=5)
for r in results:
print(f"{r['title']}: {r['url']}")
Workflow: Search then Fetch
- Search → DDG Lite to find relevant URLs
- Pick → Identify best result(s)
- Fetch → Jina Reader to extract full content
Example:
# Step 1: Find info about Next.js auth
web_fetch url="https://lite.duckduckgo.com/lite/?q=nextjs+authentication+docs"
# Step 2: Fetch the official docs
web_fetch url="https://r.jina.ai/http://nextjs.org/docs/app/..."
Quick Reference
| Need | Method | Command |
|---|
| Find URLs | DDG Lite | ?q=search+terms |
| Get page content | Jina Reader | r.jina.ai/http://URL |
| Advanced extraction | Jina API | --mode search --json |
| Python fallback | ddgs | ddgs.text() |
| Browser (if available) | Headless | browser action=navigate |
Limitations
- Google search blocked (captcha)
- No date filtering via DDG Lite
- Jina free tier has rate limits
