search

name	search
description	Searches the web, legal databases, case law, patents, and case.dev knowledge base via the casedev CLI. Use when the user mentions "search", "legal research", "find cases", "case law", "patent search", "web search", "fetch URL", "webfetch", "legal skills", or needs to research legal topics, find similar cases, or retrieve web content.

case.dev Search

Unified search across web, legal databases, case law, patents, vault contents, and the case.dev skills knowledge base.

Requires the casedev CLI. See setup skill for installation and auth.

Web Search

casedev search web "employment discrimination California" --json
casedev search web "SEC enforcement actions 2024" --limit 20 --json

Flags: --limit (default: 10), --news, --type (search|news), --include-domain, --exclude-domain.

Web Fetch

casedev search webfetch "https://example.com/ruling.html" --json

Flags: --livecrawl, --subpages, --subpage-target N, --max-chars N, --timeout N, --context, --no-summary, --fallback.

Multiple URLs: casedev search webfetch URL1 URL2 --json

Legal Search

casedev search legal "breach of fiduciary duty" --json
casedev search legal "ERISA preemption" --jurisdiction "federal" --json

Flags: --jurisdiction, --limit (default: 10), --deep, --alt-query (repeatable, for deep mode).

Deep mode example:

casedev search legal "force majeure pandemic" --deep \
  --alt-query "impossibility of performance COVID" \
  --alt-query "frustration of purpose" --json

Case Search

By query

casedev search cases "wrongful termination retaliation" --json

By similarity

casedev search cases --url "https://casetext.com/case/example-v-example" --json
casedev search cases --url "https://example.com/case" --after "2020-01-01" --json

Flags: --jurisdiction, --limit (default: 10), --url (similarity mode), --after (date filter).

Patent Search

casedev search patent "machine learning NLP" --json

Flags: --assignee, --inventor, --status, --type, --filing-from, --filing-to, --offset, --limit (default: 25).

Vault Semantic Search

casedev search vault "indemnification clause" --vault VAULT_ID --json

See vaults skill for full vault search documentation.

Skills Knowledge Base

casedev skills search "contract review" --json
casedev skills read SKILL_SLUG --json
casedev skills read SKILL_SLUG --content-only

Troubleshooting

No legal results: Try broader terms, remove jurisdiction filter, or use --deep mode with --alt-query variations.

Web fetch unavailable: Use --fallback to fall back to web search.