Tavily Web Skill

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🌐 Powerful web search, extraction, crawling, and research capabilities for Claude Code using Tavily API!

Introduction

Tavily Web Skill is a comprehensive Claude Code skill that provides advanced web interaction capabilities through the Tavily API. It enables intelligent web search, content extraction, site crawling, URL discovery, and structured research tasks.

Key Features

• 🔍 Web Search: Perform intelligent web searches with customizable parameters
• 📄 Content Extraction: Extract clean content from specific URLs
• 🕷️ Web Crawling: Crawl websites to discover and extract content
• 🗺️ Site Mapping: Discover all URLs within a website
• 📊 Research Tasks: Create structured research reports on any topic
• 🎯 Smart Triggers: Automatically activates when web research is needed
• 🌍 Bilingual Support: Supports both English and Chinese trigger keywords

Quick Start

Set up in 5 minutes

Installation

Option 1: Install via skills CLI (Recommended)

The easiest way to install this skill is using the skills CLI tool:

# Install globally to all detected agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, etc.)
npx skills add -g BenedictKing/tavily-web

# Or install to current project only
npx skills add BenedictKing/tavily-web

The skill will be automatically installed to ~/.claude/skills/tavily-web and loaded by Claude Code.

Option 2: Manual Installation via Git Clone

If you prefer manual installation or want to customize the setup:

1. Clone the Repository

# Clone to Claude Code's skills directory
git clone https://github.com/BenedictKing/tavily-web.git ~/.claude/skills/tavily-web

# Or clone to your preferred location
git clone https://github.com/BenedictKing/tavily-web.git
cd tavily-web

2. Get API Key

Visit tavily.com to register and get your API key.

3. Configure API Key

Create a .env file in the skill directory:

cd .claude/skills/tavily-web
cp .env.example .env

Edit the .env file and add your API key:

TAVILY_API_KEY=your_actual_api_key_here

4. Test the Script

Verify your configuration:

# Search the web
node .claude/skills/tavily-web/tavily-api.js search "latest AI developments"

# Extract content from a URL
node .claude/skills/tavily-web/tavily-api.js extract "https://example.com"

If you see JSON responses, your setup is successful!

Usage

The skill can be invoked manually or activates automatically when web research is needed.

Manual Invocation

Use the skill name directly:

You: /tavily-web search "React 19 new features"

Auto-Trigger

The skill automatically activates when detecting these keywords:

Search Queries

• Chinese: 搜索、查找、网页搜索
• English: search, find, web search, look up

Content Extraction

• Chinese: 提取、抓取内容
• English: extract, fetch content, get content

Web Crawling

• Chinese: 爬取、遍历网站
• English: crawl, spider, scrape

Research Tasks

• Chinese: 研究、调研、分析
• English: research, investigate, analyze

Available Commands

1. Search (search)

Perform intelligent web searches:

node tavily-api.js search "query" [options]

Options:
  --max-results <n>     Maximum number of results (default: 5)
  --include-domains     Comma-separated domains to include
  --exclude-domains     Comma-separated domains to exclude
  --search-depth        Search depth: basic or advanced

Example:

You: Search for "Next.js 15 middleware examples"
Claude: [Automatically calls Tavily search API]

2. Extract (extract)

Extract clean content from URLs:

node tavily-api.js extract "url1,url2,url3"

Example:

You: Extract content from https://example.com/article
Claude: [Automatically calls Tavily extract API]

3. Crawl (crawl)

Crawl websites to discover and extract content:

node tavily-api.js crawl "url" [options]

Options:
  --max-pages <n>       Maximum pages to crawl (default: 10)
  --include-patterns    URL patterns to include
  --exclude-patterns    URL patterns to exclude

Example:

You: Crawl https://docs.example.com for documentation
Claude: [Automatically calls Tavily crawl API]

4. Map (map)

Discover all URLs within a website:

node tavily-api.js map "url" [options]

Options:
  --max-urls <n>        Maximum URLs to discover (default: 100)
  --filter-pattern      Pattern to filter URLs

Example:

You: Map all URLs on https://example.com
Claude: [Automatically calls Tavily map API]

5. Research (research)

Create structured research reports:

node tavily-api.js research "topic" [options]

Options:
  --max-sources <n>     Maximum sources to use (default: 10)
  --report-format       Format: summary, detailed, or academic

Example:

You: Research "AI safety best practices"
Claude: [Automatically calls Tavily research API]

How It Works

Auto-Trigger Mechanism

The skill automatically activates when detecting:

Web Research Needs

• Questions requiring current information
• Requests to search or find information online
• Content extraction from specific URLs
• Website crawling or mapping tasks

Trigger Keywords

• Chinese: 搜索、查资料、最新、网页、爬取、研究
• English: search, find, latest, web, crawl, research, extract

FAQ

Q: Is an API key required?

A: Yes, you need a Tavily API key. Visit tavily.com to get one.

Q: Where should I put the .env file?

A: Place it at .claude/skills/tavily-web/.env

Q: How do I know if the skill is working?

A: When you ask questions requiring web research, Claude will automatically call the Tavily API. You'll see up-to-date information in the responses.

Q: What's the difference between search and research?

A:

• Search: Returns raw search results with URLs and snippets
• Research: Creates a structured report with synthesized information from multiple sources

Q: Can I limit searches to specific domains?

A: Yes, use the --include-domains option to specify allowed domains.

Example Conversations

Example 1: Web Search

You: What are the latest developments in AI in 2026?

Claude: [Automatically calls Tavily search API]
Based on recent web sources...
[Provides current information with citations]

Example 2: Content Extraction

You: Extract the main content from https://example.com/article

Claude: [Automatically calls Tavily extract API]
Here's the extracted content...
[Provides clean, formatted content]

Example 3: Research Task

You: Research the best practices for React performance optimization

Claude: [Automatically calls Tavily research API]
Here's a comprehensive research report...
[Provides structured report with multiple sources]

Next Steps

• Check .claude/skills/tavily-web/SKILL.md for technical details
• Start asking questions and let Claude automatically fetch the latest web information!

Troubleshooting

Script Execution Fails

# Ensure script has execute permissions
chmod +x .claude/skills/tavily-web/tavily-api.js

# Ensure Node.js is installed
node --version  # Should display version number

API Returns 401 Error

Check if API key is correctly configured:

# View .env file
cat .claude/skills/tavily-web/.env

# Ensure correct format
TAVILY_API_KEY=your_key_here  # ✅ Correct
TAVILY_API_KEY = your_key_here  # ❌ Wrong (has spaces)

API Returns 429 Error

Rate limit reached. Wait for some time or upgrade your API key quota.

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🎉 Setup complete! Now you can enjoy powerful web research capabilities!