name	firecrawl
description	Firecrawl gives AI agents and apps fast, reliable web context with strong search, scraping, and interaction tools. One install command sets up both live CLI tools and app-integration skills. Route the reader to the right usage path after install.

Firecrawl

Firecrawl helps agents search first, scrape clean content, and interact with live pages when plain extraction is not enough.

Install

One command installs everything — the Firecrawl CLI for live web work and the build skills for integrating Firecrawl into application code. It also opens browser auth so the human can sign in or create an account.

npx -y firecrawl-cli@latest init --all --browser

This gives you:

CLI tools — firecrawl search, firecrawl scrape, firecrawl interact, and more
CLI skills — firecrawl/cli, firecrawl-search, firecrawl-scrape, firecrawl-interact, firecrawl-crawl, firecrawl-map
Build skills — firecrawl-build, firecrawl-build-onboarding, firecrawl-build-scrape, firecrawl-build-search, firecrawl-build-interact, firecrawl-build-crawl, firecrawl-build-map
Browser auth — walks the human through sign-in or account creation

Before doing real work, verify the install:

mkdir -p .firecrawl
firecrawl --status
firecrawl scrape "https://firecrawl.dev" -o .firecrawl/install-check.md

Choose Your Path

Both paths use the same install above. The difference is what you do next.

Need web data during this session -> Path A (live tools)
Need to add Firecrawl to app code -> Path B (app integration)
Need both -> do both; the install already covers everything
Need an account or API key first -> Path C (auth only)
Don't want to install anything -> Path D (REST API directly)

Path A: Live Web Tools

Use this when you need web data during your work: searching the web, scraping known URLs, interacting with live pages, crawling docs, or mapping a site.

After install, hand off to the CLI skill:

firecrawl/cli for the overall command workflow
firecrawl-search when you need search first
firecrawl-scrape when you already have a URL
firecrawl-instruct when the page needs clicks, forms, or login
firecrawl-crawl for bulk extraction
firecrawl-map for URL discovery

Default flow for live web work:

start with search when you need discovery
move to scrape when you have a URL
use interact only when the page needs clicks, forms, or login

If the task becomes "wire Firecrawl into product code," switch to Path B.

Path B: Integrate Firecrawl Into an App

Use this when you're building an application, agent, or workflow that calls the Firecrawl API from code and needs FIRECRAWL_API_KEY in .env or runtime config.

The build skills are already installed from the same command above. No separate install needed.

Choose the project mode before writing code:

Fresh project -> pick the stack, install the SDK, add env vars, and run a smoke test
Existing project -> inspect the repo first, then integrate Firecrawl where the project already handles APIs and secrets

If you already have a key, save it:

FIRECRAWL_API_KEY=fc-...

Then use:

firecrawl-build-onboarding to finish auth and project setup
firecrawl-build to choose the right endpoint
the narrower firecrawl-build-* skills for implementation details

The required question in the build path is:

What should Firecrawl do in the product?

Use the answer to route to /search, /scrape, /interact, /crawl, or /map, then run one real Firecrawl request as a smoke test.

If you do not have a key yet, do Path C first.

Path C: Account Authorization Or API Key

Use this when the human still needs to sign up, sign in, authorize access, or obtain an API key.

If you ran the install command above with --browser, the human was already prompted to sign in. Check if the key is available before running this flow.

If you already have a valid FIRECRAWL_API_KEY, skip this path.

If you're the human reading this in the browser, create an account or sign in at:

https://www.firecrawl.dev/signin?view=signup&source=agent-suggested

If you're an agent and need the human to authorize an API key, use this flow:

Step 1 — Generate auth parameters:

SESSION_ID=$(openssl rand -hex 32)
CODE_VERIFIER=$(openssl rand -base64 32 | tr '+/' '-_' | tr -d '=\n' | head -c 43)
CODE_CHALLENGE=$(printf '%s' "$CODE_VERIFIER" | openssl dgst -sha256 -binary | openssl base64 -A | tr '+/' '-_' | tr -d '=')

Step 2 — Ask the human to open this URL:

https://www.firecrawl.dev/cli-auth?code_challenge=$CODE_CHALLENGE&source=coding-agent#session_id=$SESSION_ID

If they already have a Firecrawl account, they'll sign in and authorize. If not, they'll create one first and then authorize. The API key comes back to you automatically after they click "Authorize."

Step 3 — Poll for the API key:

POST https://www.firecrawl.dev/api/auth/cli/status
Content-Type: application/json

{"session_id": "$SESSION_ID", "code_verifier": "$CODE_VERIFIER"}

Poll every 3 seconds. Responses:

{"status": "pending"} — keep polling
{"status": "complete", "apiKey": "fc-...", "teamName": "..."} — done

Step 4 — Save the key and continue:

echo "FIRECRAWL_API_KEY=fc-..." >> .env

Path D: Use Firecrawl Without Installing Anything

Use this when you don't want to install a CLI or skills package. This works for both use cases:

Live web work — an agent calling the API directly for search, scrape, or interact during a session
Building with Firecrawl — integrating the REST API into app code

You still need an API key. Two ways to get one:

Human pastes it in — if you already have a key, just set FIRECRAWL_API_KEY=fc-... in your environment or pass it directly
Automated flow — do Path C to walk the human through browser auth and receive the key automatically

Base URL: https://api.firecrawl.dev/v2

Auth header: Authorization: Bearer fc-YOUR_API_KEY

Available endpoints

POST /search — discover pages by query, returns results with optional full-page content
POST /scrape — extract clean markdown from a single URL
POST /interact — browser actions on live pages (clicks, forms, navigation)

Documentation and references

The API docs are the source of truth for request/response schemas, parameters, and SDKs:

API reference: https://docs.firecrawl.dev
Skills repo (for agent integration patterns): https://github.com/firecrawl/skills

Session-specific auth

Set your Firecrawl API key as an environment variable before running any Firecrawl commands. Never commit API keys to source control.

FIRECRAWL_API_KEY=fc-replace-with-your-api-key

Copy .env.example to .env and fill in your key, or export it in your shell:

export FIRECRAWL_API_KEY="fc-replace-with-your-api-key"

name	firecrawl
description	Firecrawl gives AI agents and apps fast, reliable web context with strong search, scraping, and interaction tools. One install command sets up both live CLI tools and app-integration skills. Route the reader to the right usage path after install.