| name | agent-reach |
| description | MUST USE when the user wants to research/search/look up/find anything on the internet across social and content platforms — e.g. "research this topic on Twitter", "do a deep dive on X across Reddit", "search the web for X", "see what people say about X on XiaoHongShu", "look this up on YouTube". Also MUST USE when the user mentions any platform or shares any URL/link: Twitter/X, Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, GitHub, Bilibili, XiaoHongShu, Xiaoyuzhou Podcast, LinkedIn/jobs/recruiting, V2EX, Xueqiu (stocks), RSS. 15 platforms, multi-backend routing (OpenCLI / per-platform CLIs / APIs). Run `agent-reach doctor --json` to see which backend serves each platform right now. NOT for: writing reports/analysis/translation (this skill only FETCHES internet content); posting/commenting/liking (write operations); generic web scraping of arbitrary URLs (use the scrapling-agent's Scrapling tools for that). |
agent-reach — internet capability router
agent-reach is a capability layer, not yet another fetcher. It sits one level
above any specific implementation: it handles selection, installation, health
checks, and routing for 15 platforms. The actual reading is done by you (the
agent) calling the upstream CLI it tells you to use. There is no wrapper layer.
When to use
- The user names a platform: "search Twitter for X", "read this Reddit thread",
"what's on XiaoHongShu about Y", "transcribe this YouTube video", "read this
GitHub repo".
- The user shares a URL from any of the 15 supported platforms.
- The user asks to "research" or "deep dive" across social/content platforms.
When NOT to use
- Generic web scraping of an arbitrary URL with anti-bot bypass → use Scrapling
(
get / fetch / stealthy_fetch tools).
- Writing reports, analysis, or translation from fetched content → fetch first
with agent-reach, then do the writing yourself.
- Posting, commenting, liking, or any write operation → agent-reach is fetch-only.
First step: diagnose what's available
agent-reach doctor --json
This prints, per platform, which backend is currently active (OpenCLI /
per-platform CLI / MCP) and what's broken. Use it to decide which command to
call. If agent-reach is not installed, install it first:
pip install agent-reach
agent-reach install --env=auto
agent-reach install --env=auto --channels=twitter,xiaohongshu
agent-reach install --env=auto --channels=all
The 15 platforms and their commands
| Platform | Read with | Search with | Setup |
|---|
| Web (any URL) | jina (Jina Reader, zero config) | — | Zero config |
| Twitter/X | twitter tweet <id> / twitter thread <id> | twitter search "query" | Cookie (twitter-cli) |
| YouTube | yt-dlp (transcripts + metadata) | yt-dlp "ytsearch10:query" | Zero config |
| GitHub | gh repo view, gh issue list, gh pr view | gh search repos "query" | gh auth login |
| Bilibili | bili hot / bili rank / bili search "query" | bili search "query" | Zero config (bili-cli) |
| Reddit | opencli reddit ... (desktop) / rdt ... (server) | opencli reddit search "query" | Login required |
| Facebook | opencli facebook search "query" / opencli facebook profile <id> | opencli facebook search "query" | OpenCLI (desktop Chrome) |
| Instagram | opencli instagram search "query" / opencli instagram profile <id> | opencli instagram search "query" | OpenCLI (desktop Chrome) |
| XiaoHongShu | opencli xiaohongshu ... (desktop) / xiaohongshu-mcp (server) | opencli xiaohongshu search "query" | OpenCLI or xiaohongshu-mcp |
| LinkedIn | mcporter call 'linkedin.get_person_profile(...)' | mcporter call 'linkedin.search_people(...)' | linkedin-scraper-mcp |
| V2EX | v2ex hot / v2ex node <name> / |
Always run agent-reach doctor --json first to confirm which backend is
active for the platform you're about to query — the active backend can change
when an access path dies and agent-reach re-routes.
Multi-backend routing
Each platform is an ordered backend list (primary + fallbacks). When a backend
breaks, agent-reach switches to the next. Examples:
- Twitter:
twitter-cli → OpenCLI → bird
- Bilibili:
bili-cli → OpenCLI → search API (yt-dlp retired, 412-blocked)
- Reddit: OpenCLI → rdt-cli (no zero-config path, login required)
- XiaoHongShu: OpenCLI (desktop) → xiaohongshu-mcp (server) → xhs-cli (legacy)
agent-reach doctor --json tells you exactly which one is active right now.
Privacy
Cookies stay local. Never uploaded. agent-reach is fully open source — audit
anytime. For platforms that need cookies (Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, Instagram,
XiaoHongShu, Xueqiu), prefer a dedicated/secondary account to limit blast
radius if credentials are ever compromised.
Environment detection
agent-reach auto-detects local computer vs server:
- Local: OpenCLI reuses your Chrome login state (desktop only). No proxy
needed.
- Server: OpenCLI is skipped (needs a desktop Chrome). Use per-platform
CLIs or MCP backends instead. A proxy (~$1/month) may be needed for
region-locked platforms.
MCP companion (diagnostics only)
This agent also declares the @agent-reach/mcp MCP server. It exposes ONE
tool: get_status (returns the agent-reach doctor report as JSON). Use it to
check platform availability without shelling out. The actual fetching is done
by calling the upstream CLIs above, not via MCP.
