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BytesAgainBytesAgain
🦀 ClawHub

Web Search

by @shikamaru-cc

Search the public web through Exa's hosted MCP endpoint without an API key. Use this whenever the user needs discovery rather than direct retrieval: finding...

Versionv1.0.1
Downloads1,350
TERMINAL
clawhub install shikamaru-web-search

📖 About This Skill


name: web-search description: "Search the public web through Exa's hosted MCP endpoint without an API key. Use this whenever the user needs discovery rather than direct retrieval: finding relevant documentation, recent announcements, product pages, blog posts, comparisons, or current external context. Prefer this skill when the user does not already have a specific URL, or when you should first identify the best sources before using web-fetch on one of them." compatibility: opencode metadata: transport: exa-mcp runtime: node

Web Search

Use this skill for web discovery.

Typical cases:

  • the user wants recent facts, news, releases, or announcements
  • you need to find the right docs page, blog post, repo, or product page
  • you need multiple external sources before summarizing or comparing them
  • the user asks vague things like “find the official docs”, “look up current pricing”, or “see what changed recently”
  • If the user already gave an exact URL and wants its contents, use web-fetch instead.

    Command

    Run:

    node ./search.mjs --query ""
    

    Optional flags:

  • --numResults
  • --type auto|fast|deep
  • --livecrawl fallback|preferred
  • --contextMaxCharacters
  • Example:

    node ./search.mjs \
      --query "Anthropic Model Context Protocol latest announcements" \
      --numResults 5 \
      --type fast
    

    How to form good queries

    Turn the user's request into a focused search query before running the tool.

    Prefer queries that include:

  • the exact product, company, library, framework, or topic name
  • the aspect you need, such as pricing, release notes, docs, migration guide, API reference, benchmark, or comparison
  • time qualifiers when relevant, like 2026, latest, recent, or a version number
  • source hints when useful, such as site:docs.example.com or site:github.com
  • When needed, do multiple narrower searches instead of one broad search.

    Examples:

  • next.js app router caching docs site:nextjs.org
  • openai responses api pricing 2026
  • cloudflare workers durable objects migration guide
  • site:github.com vercel ai sdk tool calling examples
  • Search strategy

    1. Start with a tight query. 2. Review the returned sources and snippets. 3. If results are weak, refine the query rather than repeating the same one. 4. If you identify a promising URL that needs close inspection, follow up with web-fetch. 5. For comparisons or research summaries, prefer gathering a few solid sources over many noisy ones.

    Choosing options

    Use the defaults unless the task clearly calls for something else.

  • --type auto: good default
  • --type fast: use for quick fact-finding and straightforward discovery
  • --type deep: use for harder research tasks where recall matters more than speed
  • --numResults: lower it for narrow queries, increase it when surveying a space
  • --contextMaxCharacters: increase only when you truly need more returned context
  • --livecrawl preferred: use when freshness matters and you want more live data
  • How to handle output

    The CLI returns raw search context from Exa.

    After searching:

  • summarize the findings instead of dumping the raw output unless the user asks for it
  • cite or mention the most relevant sources clearly
  • call out uncertainty, stale-looking results, or conflicts between sources
  • if the user asked a precise question and the search output is still ambiguous, fetch one or two authoritative pages and inspect them with web-fetch
  • Failure handling

    If the search fails or returns weak results:

  • tighten or reframe the query
  • reduce scope to a specific vendor, site, product, or timeframe
  • split a compound question into separate searches
  • tell the user plainly if the source quality is weak or current information is hard to verify
  • Notes

  • No API key is required.
  • The endpoint mirrors opencode's Exa-backed search flow.
  • This skill is for discovery first; pair it with web-fetch for detailed page retrieval.
  • 📋 Tips & Best Practices

  • No API key is required.
  • The endpoint mirrors opencode's Exa-backed search flow.
  • This skill is for discovery first; pair it with web-fetch for detailed page retrieval.