| name | fetch |
| description | Fetch content from a URL and save it to a file. Use this when you need to retrieve web content (documentation, API responses, articles). Content is saved to ~/workspace/.fetch_cache/ and you can read it with the Read tool. For complex research across multiple sources, use the web-researcher subagent instead. |
| version | 1.0.0 |
Fetch Skill
Downloads web content and saves it to a local file for you to read.
Usage
~/.claude/skills/fetch/fetch.py <url>
What It Does
- Fetches the URL with a realistic browser user-agent
- Converts HTML to clean Markdown (or formats JSON)
- Saves to
~/workspace/.fetch_cache/<hash>.md with metadata
- Returns the file path for you to read
Output File Format
---
url: https://example.com/docs
final_url: https://example.com/docs # after redirects
fetched_at: 2026-03-21T14:32:00+00:00
content_type: text/html
detected_type: html
size_bytes: 45230
status_code: 200
---
# Page Title
Content in markdown format...
Examples
Fetch documentation
~/.claude/skills/fetch/fetch.py https://docs.python.org/3/library/json.html
Fetch API schema
~/.claude/skills/fetch/fetch.py https://api.example.com/openapi.json
Reading the Content
After fetching, use the Read tool to access the content:
# Read entire file
Read: ~/workspace/.fetch_cache/a1b2c3d4e5f6.md
# Read first 100 lines only (for large files)
Read: ~/workspace/.fetch_cache/a1b2c3d4e5f6.md (limit: 100)
# Paginate through large files
Read: ~/workspace/.fetch_cache/a1b2c3d4e5f6.md (offset: 100, limit: 100)
When to Use This vs web-researcher
Use /fetch when... | Use web-researcher subagent when... |
|---|
| You need one specific URL | You need to research a topic |
| Quick lookup | Multiple sources needed |
| You know exactly what page has the info | You need to search first |
| Small to medium content | Synthesis across sources |
Cache Location
All fetched content is stored in:
~/workspace/.fetch_cache/
├── a1b2c3d4e5f6.md
├── f7e8d9c0b1a2.md
└── ...
Files persist across sessions. Delete manually if needed.
