Search Skill

Search the web and get relevant results optimized for LLM consumption.

Authentication

The script uses OAuth via the Tavily MCP server. No manual setup required - on first run, it will:

• Check for existing tokens in ~/.mcp-auth/

• If none found, automatically open your browser for OAuth authentication

Note: You must have an existing Tavily account. The OAuth flow only supports login — account creation is not available through this flow. Sign up at tavily.com first if you don't have an account.

Alternative: API Key

If you prefer using an API key, get one at https://tavily.com and add to ~/.claude/settings.json :

{ "env": { "TAVILY_API_KEY": "tvly-your-api-key-here" } }

Quick Start

Using the Script

./scripts/search.sh '<json>'

Examples:

Basic search

./scripts/search.sh '{"query": "python async patterns"}'

With options

./scripts/search.sh '{"query": "React hooks tutorial", "max_results": 10}'

Advanced search with filters

./scripts/search.sh '{"query": "AI news", "time_range": "week", "max_results": 10}'

Domain-filtered search

./scripts/search.sh '{"query": "machine learning", "include_domains": ["arxiv.org", "github.com"], "search_depth": "advanced"}'

Basic Search

curl --request POST
--url https://api.tavily.com/search
--header "Authorization: Bearer $TAVILY_API_KEY"
--header 'Content-Type: application/json'
--data '{ "query": "latest developments in quantum computing", "max_results": 5 }'

Advanced Search

curl --request POST
--url https://api.tavily.com/search
--header "Authorization: Bearer $TAVILY_API_KEY"
--header 'Content-Type: application/json'
--data '{ "query": "machine learning best practices", "max_results": 10, "search_depth": "advanced", "include_domains": ["arxiv.org", "github.com"] }'

API Reference

Endpoint

POST https://api.tavily.com/search

Headers

Header Value

Authorization

Bearer <TAVILY_API_KEY>

Content-Type

application/json

Request Body

Field Type Default Description

query

string Required Search query (keep under 400 chars)

max_results

integer 10 Maximum results (0-20)

search_depth

string "basic"

ultra-fast , fast , basic , advanced

topic

string "general"

Search topic (general only)

time_range

string null day , week , month , year

start_date

string null Return results after this date (YYYY-MM-DD )

end_date

string null Return results before this date (YYYY-MM-DD )

include_domains

array [] Domains to include (max 300)

exclude_domains

array [] Domains to exclude (max 150)

country

string null Boost results from a specific country (general topic only)

include_raw_content

boolean false Include full page content

include_images

boolean false Include image results

include_image_descriptions

boolean false Include descriptions for images

include_favicon

boolean false Include favicon URL for each result

Response Format

{ "query": "latest developments in quantum computing", "results": [ { "title": "Page Title", "url": "https://example.com/page", "content": "Extracted text snippet...", "score": 0.85 } ], "response_time": 1.2 }

Search Depth

Depth Latency Relevance Content Type

ultra-fast

Lowest Lower NLP summary

fast

Low Good Chunks

basic

Medium High NLP summary

advanced

Higher Highest Chunks

When to use each:

• ultra-fast : Real-time chat, autocomplete

• fast : Need chunks but latency matters

• basic : General-purpose, balanced

• advanced : Precision matters (default recommendation)

Examples

Domain-Filtered Search

curl --request POST
--url https://api.tavily.com/search
--header "Authorization: Bearer $TAVILY_API_KEY"
--header 'Content-Type: application/json'
--data '{ "query": "Python async best practices", "include_domains": ["docs.python.org", "realpython.com", "github.com"], "search_depth": "advanced" }'

Search with Full Content

curl --request POST
--url https://api.tavily.com/search
--header "Authorization: Bearer $TAVILY_API_KEY"
--header 'Content-Type: application/json'
--data '{ "query": "React hooks tutorial", "max_results": 3, "include_raw_content": true }'

Tips

• Keep queries under 400 characters - Think search query, not prompt

• Break complex queries into sub-queries - Better results than one massive query

• Use include_domains to focus on trusted sources

• Use time_range for recent information

• Filter by score (0-1) to get highest relevance results